DAVE Hopkins is looking to bring some local pride back to Devizes Town after securing the manager's position at Nursteed Road on a permanent basis.

The long-serving defender, 30, was handed control of first team by chairman Chris Belcher affairs after a relatively successful stint as caretaker boss in the final month of the season.

Devizes had won only three Screwfix Direct Premier Division games when Hopkins took over from Pete Tripp with a month of the season remaining, but victories over Backwell, Bridport and Dawlish in the final seven matches saw them double their miserable tally.

While Hopkins was unable to lift his side off the bottom of the Premier Division table, the support he received from his fellow Devizes-based players encouraged him to apply for his first ever managerial role.

He said: "I'm pleased to have got the job, but if the likes of Andy Coombes, David Lloyd and Gary Campbell had said they weren't going to continue to play for the club then I wouldn't have taken it.

"Last season was an awful one and it is critical for all the players that we don't have another season like that.

"Target-wise it is important that we stay away from the relegation zone and push for the top half of the league. Financially, it is crucial that we do well in the cup competitions as well.

"I want it to go well because I'm a Devizes lad myself. I'll be the one people in the pub will be having a go at if things aren't going right on the field."

Hopkins has appointed Shaun Moffatt as his assistant manager and former Devizes player Kevin Whitbread as physio/coach. Moffatt manages the Selectabook Sunday league team that features a host of Devizes players.

Said Hopkins: "I've been good friends with Shaun for a number of years and he'll do a good job. He is a good guy, very good with people, and will bring a lot of morale to the side.

"Kev played at Western League level for 15 or 16 years and his experience will be important on a Saturday while I'm out there playing."

Former U18s manager Phil Ireson will take charge of the reserves, with Kevin Kingsbury and Robbie Campbell running the youth team. Hopkins hopes the new structure will help youngsters from the town make a smooth transition to the senior ranks.

He said: "The youth and men's teams at Devizes have been very separate in the past and I don't want that. I want people there who can tell me who is coming through.

"It is important to me that I see what is around youth-wise and if any players want to play men's football they are given the chance in the reserves first. All too often our reserve side have gone out to win the Wiltshire League, but that's not what it is about. Our main priority is the Western League side."

Hopkins has retained the services of the local players who performed with distinction in the final weeks of the season and has tempted Nathan Perkins back from Salisbury City.

Target man Neil Dix has also committed himself to the cause, and Hopkins is looking to add at least eight new facesbefore the season starts.

The club will hold a signing-on evening for all three sides on June 12 at 7pm. Hopkins wants anyone interested in playing to turn up for pre-season training on June 24 at 6.30pm.

He said: "Anyone who turns up will not be turned away. I don't care what ability they've got. I want to see them and judge them for myself."

The club will also stage a working party on June 29. Volunteers will spend a day painting goalposts and repairing broken advertising hoardings at run-down Nursteed Road.

Said Hopkins: "We need people to start caring about the club again. It is important we get people watching us and, if I can get the football sorted out, hopefully that will bring success behind the scenes."

Meanwhile, the club are looking for a new football secretary after Roy King's decision to stand down. The move comes after a turbulent 2002/03 campaign, in which the club were kicked out of the Wiltshire Senior Cup for fielding two ineligible players and almost shut down by the Wiltshire FA for late payment of fines.

Said King: "I'm leaving on good terms, but the last seven or eight months has crippled me. "