Jay Lovett

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Jay Lovett
Lovett playing for Eastbourne Borough
Personal information
Full name Jay Lovett[1]
Date of birth (1978-01-02) 2 January 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Brighton, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Full back
Team information
Current team
 Haywards Heath Town (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995 Lewes
1995–1997 Plymouth Argyle 0 (0)
1997–1998 Saltdean United
1998–2000 Crawley Town 80 (7)
2000–2003 Brentford 75 (1)
2001–2002 → Crawley Town (loan) 9 (0)
2003 → Hereford United (loan) 10 (1)
2003 → Gravesend & Northfleet (loan) 5 (0)
2003 Farnborough Town 9 (0)
2003–2006 Lewes 98 (7)
2004 → Aldershot Town (loan) 1 (0)
2006–2009 Eastbourne Borough 149 (7)
2009–2010 Whitehawk 31 (2)
2010 Horsham
2010–2011 Tooting & Mitcham United
2012 Metropolitan Police
2013–2014 Lewes 39 (4)
2014–2015 Eastbourne Borough 7 (0)
2014–2015 → Met Police (dual registration) 28 (2)
2015 Lewes 14 (3)
2015–2016 Metropolitan Police 25 (0)
2016 Burgess Hill Town 0 (0)
2016 Loxwood
2019 South Park 1 (0)
Managerial career
2018–2019 South Park
2019–2023 Burgess Hill Town
2023– Haywards Heath Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jay Lovett (born 2 January 1978) is an English football manager and former player who is currently manager of Haywards Heath Town.

He spent his career playing in league football as a defender and midfielder with Brentford and also non-League football in both county level, with Saltdean United, and in national level where he has played for the majority of his career with Crawley Town and Eastbourne Borough.

Playing career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Lovett started his career in East Sussex for Lewes,[2] making his debut for them 11 February 1995 as they lost 4–0 away at Leighton Town in Isthmian League Division Three.[3][4] Later that year he moved to the west country and Plymouth Argyle in Devon but was unable to start a first team game,[5] after which he moved back to Sussex and played for Saltdean United in Division One of the Sussex County League. He also spent time youth coaching at the University of Central Florida.[5] A season later he moved to Crawley Town in 1998 and played for two seasons. Second Division team Brentford took interest in Lovett, after watching him in a pre-season friendly and paid Crawley their record sum of £60,000 for the midfielder in July 2000,[6] with a further £15,000 to be paid after 15 appearances.[5]

Brentford[edit]

In his first year at Brentford he was back on loan to Crawley Town for nine games before making 28 appearances for the first team. In 2003, Lovett made two more loan signings, firstly at Hereford United where he played for two months,[7] and a month at Gravesend & Northfleet,[8] before his contract expired at the end of the 2002–03 season.

Non-League football[edit]

Farnborough Town manager, Tommy Taylor signed Lovett in June,[9] although he played nine games, he transferred to Lewes later in the year. In 2004, Aldershot Town signed Lovett on a month loan.[10]

Lovett joined Sussex rivals Eastbourne Borough in June 2006. He spent the end of their 2006–07 campaign with a broken collarbone, but helped the team win promotion into the Conference National league at the end of the 2007–08 season via the Conference South play-off final against Hampton & Richmond Borough, the game ending 2–0.

He played in Eastbourne's first ever season in the Conference National, scoring two goals and helping to win the Sussex Senior Cup in a 1–0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion reserves, before being released in May 2009 failing to agree to a new deal with the club,[11] scoring seven goals in 149 appearances.

At the start of the 2009–10 season, Lovett signed for Whitehawk despite having offers from clubs in higher divisions, such as Grays Athletic in the Conference National, Havant & Waterlooville in the Conference South and Worthing in Isthmian League Division One South.[12]

In June 2010, Lovett signed for Isthmian League Premier Division club Horsham.[13]

Failing to hold down a regular starting berth at Horsham, Lovett joined fellow Isthmian League club Tooting & Mitcham United in October 2010. During his spell at Imperial Fields, Lovett was made the club captain and was instrumental in ensuring that Tooting & Mitcham avoided relegation. In March 2011, Lovett left Tooting & Mitcham in order to take up a position as assistant manager with Vietnamese V-League side Đồng Tâm Long An, working as assistant to Simon McMenemy.[citation needed]

After a full season with Lewes in 2013–14, he re-signed as a player for Eastbourne Borough ahead of the 2014–15 season, already being a full-time academy manager there.[2] A dual registration deal between The Sports and Metropolitan Police materialised on 14 October 2014.[14]

On 23 May 2015, Lovett returned to Lewes to become the club's new assistant manager and academy director,[15] and in June he also registered as player.[16]

On 19 October 2015, he signed for a third spell with Metropolitan Police, as an assistant manager/player.[17]

He started the 2016–17 as an unused substitute in the two opening league games for Burgess Hill Town, before signing for Loxwood in September.[18]

While being the manager of South Park,[19] he made comeback as a player in the final game of the Isthmian League South Central Division 2018–19 season.[20] He was named the manager of Burgess Hill Town of the South East Division in November 2019.[21]

Lovett was sacked by Burgess Hill Town on 15 February 2023[22] and less than a week later appointed manager by Haywards Heath Town on 21 February 2023.[23]

Personal life[edit]

Lovett attended Dorothy Stringer High School and Varndean College.[5] While a player with Saltdean United, he worked as an IT recruiter and at the time he joined Brentford in July 2000, was working for TSB.[5] He is a Chelsea supporter.[5]

Honours[edit]

Brentford

Eastbourne Borough

Whitehawk

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2002). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003. Queen Anne Press. p. 258. ISBN 9781852916480.
  2. ^ a b "Why Lovett is valued at Borough". The Argus. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Lewes FC Player Statistics 2015–16". Lewes FC. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Isthmian League Division Three Results 1994–95". The Football Results Archive. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Brentford Football Club". Archived from the original on 11 August 2002. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Brentford capture Crawley defender". BBC Sport. 29 July 2000. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  7. ^ "Bulls extend Lovett loan". BBC Sport. 19 February 2003. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  8. ^ "Lovett goes to Gravesend". BBC Sport. 20 March 2003. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  9. ^ "Taylor to bag Lovett". BBC Sport. 9 June 2003. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  10. ^ "Shots sign Lovett". BBC Sport. 25 February 2004. Retrieved 30 November 2008.
  11. ^ "Hook and Lovett among Boro casualties". Eastbourne Herald. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  12. ^ "Lovett joins Hawks revolution". The Argus. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  13. ^ "Lovett joins Hornets as Acheampong quits". Non League News 24. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Met Police: Blues can sustain play-off push says chief Cooper". Your Local Guardian. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Ex-Bee Lovett looks to make mark at Lewes". Sutton Guardian. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Blewden and Wheeler leave Lewes, Crabb retires, eight agree to stay". The Argus. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  17. ^ "More Jurassic World than Back to the Future for the boys in Blue". Sutton Guardian. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Loxwood sign experienced ex-Football League player Lovett". West Sussex County Times. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  19. ^ Youlton, Clive (31 October 2018). "Former Brentford, Crawley Town and Met Police defender ready for South Park challenge". Surrey Advertiser. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  20. ^ "Lovett pulls off South Park's great escape as Step 4 status preserved". Surrey Live. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Jay Lovett left South Park 'in a good place' says football director". Surrey Live. 7 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Club Statement". Burgess Hill Town F.C. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Club Statement". Haywards Heath Town F.C. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  24. ^ "Vale vault Brentford to lift Vans trophy". BBC Sport. 22 April 2001. Retrieved 22 March 2024.

External links[edit]

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