Gary Elphick's career has come full circle. Once a teenage star at Lewes, Elphick returns to the Dripping Pan next season.

There, he will coach the next generation of youngsters aspiring to emulate this season's FA Cup heroics.

Before then, the 41-year-old can sit back and enjoy a mouth-watering clash between two of his former clubs.

Not many people can count both Stoke City and Lewes among their former clubs but Elphick can.

Next Sunday those two meet in the first round of the FA Cup at the Britannia Stadium and it is a contest Elphick thought he would never see.

His associations with Lewes over the years are frequent. After launching his career there as a fresh-faced teenager, Elphick returned after dropping out of professional football and later managed the club during one of the lowest points in its history.

Now Elphick has been invited back to run the Rooks' under-18 side next season.

His spell as manager came in the mid-Nineties when he worked alongside Derek Southouse. Elphick explained: "I was asked to go back there to help Colin Woffinden. One of the nicest moments of the FA Cup result the other night against Mangotsfield was that there were players out there who were brought to the club by Colin Woffinden who played for him and then for myself when Colin resigned.

"The likes of Paul Stokes, Ross Standen, the Johnson twins and Reece Head. They were all players we had. We also signed Marc Cable but lost him to a County League club because we couldn't compete financially.

"It is so pleasing to see some of the players from that time are now the stars of today. I am just so thrilled for the club and the fact that they have this tie with Stoke is a remarkable thing."

It was after breaking into the Lewes first team at the age of 16 that Elphick was recommended to Stoke by Gary Brown, who had a connection with the Potteries outfit via former Albion player Wally Gould.

Elphick impressed during a month's trial and was signed on a professional contract.

He said: "Stoke were in the old Second Division then. They were managed by Alan Durban and got promoted the same season as Brighton got into the First Division. I was fortunate to be part of a very successful reserves side that finished runners-up to Liverpool in the Central League.

"That side produced Lee Chapman, Steve Bould, Adrian Heath and Paul Bracewell. It was a great bunch of kids."

Elphick's second year at Stoke was hampered by a knee injury. Keyhole surgery would have easily rectified the problem but it was not available in those days and his League career was effectively ended by injury.