Dave Kevan

David John Kevan (born 31 August 1968) is a Scottish football coach and former player.

A midfielder, he made his debut in the English Football League for Notts County in February 1986. He spent the next four years at the club, also enjoying a brief loan spell at Cardiff City. He signed with Stoke City in February 1990 and broke into the first-team in the 1991–92 season following a short loan spell at Maidstone United the previous season. He helped Stoke to win the Football League Trophy in 1992 and then the Second Division title in 1992–93, before he ended his career at Bournemouth in 1994. His career over by the age of 26, he made a total of 221 appearances in league and cup competitions, scoring six goals.

He remained in the game as a coach, serving Stoke City, Burnley, Notts County, Stockport County, Hereford United, Cheltenham Town, Forest Green Rovers, Port Vale and Hanley Town. He also had three spells as a caretaker manager, once at Stoke City in October 2002 and twice at Notts County in the 2009–10 season.

Playing career Notts County Kevan began his career with English Third Division club Notts County. He made his debut for the "Magpies" against Gillingham in February 1986, one of three appearances he made during the 1985–86 season under the stewardship of Jimmy Sirrel. He forced his way into the first team at Meadow Lane in the 1986–87 season, making 38 appearances and scoring one goal. He played in 40 games in the 1987–88 campaign as Notts missed out on promotion by a single point under John Barnwell's tenure as manager. He played 24 times in 1988–89, but lost his place under new manager Neil Warnock in the 1989–90 campaign and spent a month on loan at league rivals Cardiff City, making seven appearances at Ninian Park.

Stoke City In February 1990, Kevan joined Stoke City under the management of Alan Ball. Reminiscing on the goal many years later he said that "It was late on in front of the Boothen End. I remember Mark Stein hit the bar and for whatever reason I was in the 18-yard box and put in the rebound. I don't think anyone in the ground was more surprised than me". He became the club's caretaker manager after Steve Cotterill resigned on 10 October 2002. City lost all four of their games under Kevan's stewardship before Tony Pulis was appointed on 1 November. He went on to work as a coach at Burnley, before he was appointed as assistant manager at former club Notts County in 2007. He rejected an approach from Crewe Alexandra to become their assistant manager in June 2009. Following the sacking of Ian McParland on 13 October 2009, Kevan and Michael Johnson took charge for the next two games before Hans Backe was named as the new permanent Notts County manager on 27 October. Kevan again became caretaker manager when Backe resigned on 15 December. He remained in charge until he reverted to his previous role as assistant upon the appointment of Steve Cotterill as manager on 23 February 2010, just seven days later after telling the media he had 'reluctantly' agreed to stay in the role until the summer after chairman Ray Trew reasoned that "Dave's record is fantastic so why change a winning formula?" following County's FA Cup giant-killing over Premier League side Wigan Athletic. Kevan left the club when then-manager Craig Short was sacked on 24 October 2010.

Kevan joined the coaching staff at Stockport County in December 2010. He then joined Hereford United in January 2011. He re-joined former club Stoke City in June 2011, taking the position of academy team manager; this was despite signing a new contract with Hereford earlier in the month. He left Stoke in May 2013. In September 2013, Kevan joined Cheltenham Town as the first-team coach. Two months later, he joined Forest Green Rovers as assistant manager following the appointment of his former Stoke colleague, Adrian Pennock, to the managerial role at The New Lawn. Despite having helped Forest Green to a top-five place in the Conference and with just five games left in the 2014–15 season, he quit the club and re-joined Notts County as first-team coach on 31 March. He left the club when Ricardo Moniz was sacked in December 2015. He was named as new Port Vale manager John Askey's assistant in February 2019. Askey and Kevan left the club on 4 January 2021. Four months later, he accepted an offer to become Carl Dickinson's assistant at North West Counties Premier Division club Hanley Town. The club won the Midland League Premier Division title at the end of the 2021–22 season. In October 2022, Dickinson and Kevan left Hanley Town by mutual consent due to "increased business costs".

Career statistics As a player

A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, English Football League play-offs and Football League Trophy.

As a manager

Honours Stoke City Football League Trophy: 1992 Football League Second Division: 1992–93