SPENDING the last eight years covering sport in north Hampshire has given me a unique opportunity to meet a whole host of sportspeople.

Over that time, north Hampshire has boasted a number of sporting heroes. Justin Rose, Alex Danson, Robert Tobin, Tom Rees, Tom Croft and Charlie Purdue have all achieved things on the world stage, but you know all about them.

I'm more interested in introducing you to local sporting stars there's a good chance you won't have heard of.

None of them have succeeded at the highest level, yet at least, but they are heroes just the same.

Some of them are mavericks, some of them are journeymen and some of them are club legends, but they all come with great stories that deserve to be heard, so sit back and enjoy as I take you through North Hampshire's Alternative Sporting Heroes.

Basingstoke Gazette: Keith Lovelock smashed his way to a half-century to see Hook through

Keith Lovelock

IN THE modern age, there is no bigger sign that you have hit the big time than having a parody Twitter account set up in your name.

It's a strange honour, but one that has been bestowed on long-serving Hook and Newnham Basics all-rounder Keith Lovelock. I won't share the Twitter handle here, some of the Tweets are a little fruity for a family publication, but it is a highly amusing account.

First things first, let's be clear. In his pomp, Lovelock was an excellent cricketer. In fact, his total of 3,656 runs at an average of 40.18 still has him third in the all-time list of Southern League Division Two batsmen.

By the time I started covering Hook, Lovelock was no longer a fixture in the first team, but I did have the pleasure of watching him play on one memorable occasion.

It was July 2010, and Lovelock had been handed a surprise call-up to the Hook first team to face defending Southern League Division One champions Rowledge.

Hook batted first and Lovelock came in at number eight, with his side in a decent position at 197-6.

It didn't take the veteran long to discover a liking for the bowling, hitting a string of extravagant strokes on his way to a quick-fire 26.

He then opened the bowling, being hit for just 24 runs in a tight eight-over spell that also saw him dismiss Chris Yates, the best batsman in the division, as Hook won by 32 runs.

However, as well as being a fine cricketer, Lovelock is a larger-than-life character, and it's for that reason that he makes this list.

While covering a game at Hartley Wintney, I was told of a time that Lovelock, in his customary manner, smashed the bowling to all parts, making a decent score.

As he came off, the Hartley scorer asked to take his name for the book. "Just put me down as Legend," came the reply. And who am I to argue?

However, when it comes to Hook and Newnham Basics, there can be no denying that Lovelock really lives up to his self-appointed title. The last time I checked, he was chairman, putting in countless hours for his beloved club, while still turning out on a Saturday, showing the young guns how it is done.

Basingstoke Gazette:

James Taylor

THE Green Day song St. Jimmy regularly pops up on my MP3 player while I am out running.

Every time it does, I cannot help but smile and remember James Taylor, Basingstoke Town's own St Jimmy. Billie Joe Armstrong probably didn't have the striker in mind when he penned the song, but the Californian somehow managed to sum him, and especially the way he played football, up perfectly.

If you asked anyone who saw Taylor play during his time at Bashley, Havant, Eastleigh, Town or Totton to describe him in one word, I can almost guarantee that aggressive would be the reply.

I think I'm right in saying that The Camrose still bears a scar of Taylor's aggression. One cold Tuesday night in early 2007, the striker took out his frustration at another defeat on the players' entrance door as he made his way back to the changing room.

It was one kick, but it made a big impression on the door, leaving a gaping hole.

This was around the time when Town players were regularly referred to as mercenaries, drawn to the club by money, but in that instant, Taylor demonstrated that his passion was for results, not cash.

Taylor was an old-fashioned centre-forward. He put himself about, with many a defender getting on the wrong end of his elbows and even more referees feeling the sharp end of his tongue.

He was a battering ram of a player, but his determination and work-rate could never be questioned, while he also played a massive part as Basingstoke pulled off a remarkable escape at the back end of the 2006-07 season.

It was my first season covering the club and despite a fantastic FA Cup run, which peaked with a spectacular victory over Chesterfield, they looked doomed to relegation at the turn of the year.

Taylor however, had other ideas, scoring 13 goals in the last 24 games of the season as Town completed the great escape.

He didn't do it alone, I remember Anthony Storey making a huge difference when he came in, but without Taylor's 20 goals, it's fair to say that Basingstoke would certainly have been relegated.

James Taylor, AKA St Jimmy, the patron saint of Basingstoke Town.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Jon Honney

DURING his career, Oakridge southpaw Jon Honney was pretty much the definition of a journeyman fighter.

He got off to a good start, winning his first two fights, but the losses soon began and he ended up with a rather unenviable record of six wins and 21 defeats.

During his worst period, Honney lost 10 consecutive fights, but he refused to give up the game, though it did get to the point where you sensed that he was doing it more for the money than anything else.

Whatever his motivation, Honney's persistence eventually paid off as he beat Nathan Ward on points to win the vacant Southern Area Super Lightweight title in February 2007.

Ironically, that victory proved to be the death knell for his career. He never fought again, probably because he was no longer seen as an easy man to beat.

Basingstoke Gazette: Pace bowler Tommy Flanders will make his seasonal debut this weekend.

Tommy Flanders

WHATEVER Hartley Wintney bowler Tommy Flanders does, he does it in his own indomitable style.

He's actually a very good bowler, pushing the ball through at a very good pace, and while he can be a little wayward at times, even his bad balls can tempt batsmen into getting themselves out.

However, when it comes to fielding, he has a highly idiosyncratic approach.

To say he likes to relax between deliveries is an understatement. If anybody leaves a chair unattended anywhere near the boundary, the chances are they will come back to find it inhabited by Flanders, resting up ahead of his next spell and rising only if the ball approaches him, letting off a stream of expletives for every misfield.

His approach to batting is equally entertaining. If he has ever played a defensive shot, I've certainly never seen it.

I once saw him hit the winning runs in a match. It was the final over and he was the last man in, with only a couple of runs needed for victory.

Did he take a single and give the strike to the already set batsman at the other end? No chance. Instead, he waltzed down the pitch, smashing the ball back past the bowler for four, while for some reason shouting "Barry!" at the top of his voice.

He's a strange fellow, but watching Hartley Wintney is a far duller experience when he is not in action.

Basingstoke Gazette: Hartley Wintney manager Ben Dillon

Ben Dillon

A RIDDLE, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma.

I never really saw it for myself, but from what I am told, Ben Dillon was, and indeed still is, an incredibly talented footballer, capable of moments of genius.

However, the fact that his Sunday League team-mates referred to him as Berba, in homage to the former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov, probably reveals why Dillon possibly never fulfilled his potential as a player. It's a nickname that doesn't exactly give you the impression that he did much in the way of tracking back.

For a while, when he was ripping it up playing for Basingstoke Town's reserve team, there was something of a clamour for him to get a call up to the senior squad. It never happened, and Dillon eventually left the club, dropping down to play at a lower level.

It's not a playing career, or reputation, that makes you think somebody would make a good manager. But somebody at Hartley Wintney FC clearly saw something special in the striker, appointing him as manager at the tender age of 23.

It turned out to be a fabulous appointment. When he took over, Hartley looked certainties to be relegated from the Combined Counties League Premier Division, but thanks to an insane late-season run, they avoided the drop.

A run to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup followed the following season, but even more impressively, Dillon turned Hartley from relegation battlers into a top-10 team over the next couple of seasons.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Joe Flitcroft

IF THERE is a more dedicated club man in north Hampshire than Joe Flitcroft, I am yet to meet them.

The Basingstoke and Mid Hants man is a hammer thrower by definition, but I'm not sure I've ever seen him compete in his chosen event.

Whenever the Down Grange Club compete in the British Athletics League, Flitcroft selflessly fills in the gaps.

I've seen him do all sorts, pretty much whatever is required, which generally means dragging his powerful frame over long distances on the track, sometimes over steeplechase barriers.

Joe Flitcroft, we mere mortals salute you.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Phil Perkins

WHILE we are on the subject of dedicated club men, may I introduce you to Basingstoke RFC prop Phil Perkins.

Perkins makes this list partly because he looks exactly how a prop forward should look. He's a big guy and his teeth in particular are proof of how tough life is in the front row.

However, he is also a highly dedicated member of the club, something he proved last season by coming out of retirement to put his body on the line once more.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Chris Chandler

THERE can have been few better servants to Basingstoke and North Hants Cricket Club than Chris Chandler.

The seam bowler, affectionately known as Tugboat by his team-mates, has been in and around the first team for the best part of two decades.

Every time you think you have seen the last of him, he gets called up again, and if the 2015 season is anything to go by, expect to see him in action again next summer.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Nigel Williamson

FOR years, he was Chandler's partner in crime, the wicket-keeper who clung on to all of the edges.

Watching Williamson with the gloves at his peak must have been a delight. I only saw him play when he was in his late 40s, and he was still one hell of a wicket-keeper, keeping much younger men out of the side.

In one match, he stood up to the stumps as Gavin Tonge, who went on to play for the West Indies, sent down 85mph bombs. He didn't even wear a helmet. Legend.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Scott Tarr

I NEVER saw Scott Tarr play for Basingstoke Town, but he makes this list because of what he represents.

These days, non-league football is an extension of the professional game. Wages are high and as a result, it's taken seriously.

However, rewind 20 years and it was a different story. There were less career non-league players, with the ranks full of youngsters on the way up and veterans on the way down.

It was in this environment that the overweight non-league goalkeeper thrived. Capable of barging forwards out of the way to claim high balls, they were often surprisingly agile.

However, running out of the area to chase an under-hit back-pass left them requiring oxygen. Or a cigarette. Or both.

By all accounts, Tarr was a very good goalkeeper, but he was the last of a dying breed.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Stuart Archibald

WHENEVER I think about Stuart Archibald, I am left wondering whether his golfing talent is a blessing or a curse.

Stuart, who is a great guy and has always been very helpful to me, is an exceptional golfer. You do not win three tournaments on the EuroPro Tour, the third tier of competition in Europe, without being a serious player.

However, that talent is, in many ways, his Achilles heel. He knows what he is capable of, so he's loathe to give up on his dream of playing at the highest level.

If he was less talented, he could have stopped playing years ago, saving himself a lot of money and heartache.

There have been times when I've thought he is on the cusp of quitting, but he then tends to get some good results and the next time we speak, he's as enthusiastic as ever.

At other times, he seems to be close to breaking through, only to be struck down by injury or illness - but he never gives in.

If I was writing a dictionary, Archibald would be in there as an example underneath the entry for persistence - and for that reason, he is one of north Hampshire's alternative sporting heroes.