Jamie Stevens has vowed to lay down some roots at Holbeach United after once again making the switch from rivals Spalding United.
The centre-back, widely regarded as the best defender in the South Holland area, confirmed he was re-joining the Tigers on Friday.
It’s the third time that Stevens has signed for Holbeach since 2012 and on the last two occasions he’s directly left the Tulips for Carter’s Park.
Spalding supremo Pat Rayment was determined to keep “Jamma” at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field and made him a formal offer to stay.
But Stevens admits that his day job just doesn’t fit in with the long distance travelling that comes hand-in-hand with playing in Evo-Stik League First Division South – and told The Voice that it’s time he made a definitive decision to play in the ChromaSport UCL Premier Division with Holbeach.
“The travelling just got too much,” admitted the two-time UCL title winner. “I’ve decided that enough is enough.
“Finishing work at 5.30pm, I was having to travel two hours to some away games in midweek. It just isn’t something I enjoyed doing.
“Everyone keeps telling me that I should play as high as I can. That’s something I’ve always tried to do, but there comes a time when you have to make a choice.
“My job has to come first now and I’ve decided that playing in the UCL just suits me and my life better.
“I need to stop being a yo-yo player and moving to and from Spalding and Holbeach.”
Stevens has nothing but respect for his former club Spalding, where he lifted the UCL Premier Division title in 2014. He admits that he and his team-mates should have at least secured a place in the play-offs last year, but has revealed that off-the-field issues left some of the players feeling a little disillusioned.
He has backed them to go one better without him this time around, though.
“Spalding is a family club,” added Stevens. “Everyone says hello to you there and there’s a nice atmosphere.
“We should have been promoted last season – and at the very least managed a play-off place.
“I’ll be honest, there were a few issues going on behind the scenes that distracted the players. But that has been sorted now and I’m sure they are heading in the right direction again.
“With the likes of Michael Frew signing, I expect them to be up there again.”
Despite his affinity with the Tulips, Stevens is excited about playing for Holbeach once again under the management team of boss Darren Jarvis and assistant Tom Roberts.
He captained the Tigers to a UCL and Lincs Cup double under John Chand back in 2013, before moving on to Spalding for the first time.
A brief spell under the joint charge of Chand and Graham Drury followed last season, but he opted to re-join Rayment’s Tulips once again in November last year.
However, he’s now back for good – and is expecting the Tigers to be in the title mix.
Stevens added: “I sat down with Robbo and Jarvo and their plans sound like something I can buy into.
“Obviously Holbeach is a club that I know and love and I’m happy to be back. The bosses are bringing in a lot of new players and we’ll take time to gel – but I’m here for the long haul.
“Having a strong bond in the dressing room is vital in the UCL and that’s something we’ll need to build.
“But if we can, I don’t see any reason why we can’t be in the title mix again.”
Delighted Tigers boss Jarvis admits that bringing Stevens back is a real coup for his side – and dubbed the defender a “club legend”.
He added: “Jamie is a legend at Holbeach United. Everybody from the committee to the fans love him here.
“As a manager at any level all the way up to step two, you’d want him in your side.
“I’m ecstatic and over the moon that he’s decided to come here. There are lots of reasons why he’s decided to and we’re just delighted that he’s bought into what we’re doing as a club.”
Holbeach have also agreed terms with winger ex-King’s Lynn Town winger Keiron Davies, while also agreeing deals to keep Matt Warfield and Ben Brown at Carter’s Park. But talented left-sider Craig Parker looks to be moving to Boston Town.
