Ex-Kingstonian boss Harris recals darkest hour (From Surrey Comet)

Ex-Kingstonian boss Harris recals darkest hour

4:00pm Friday 1st May 2009 in

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Former Kingstonian boss Kim Harris reckons the club would still own Kingsmeadow had current chairman Malcolm Winwright taken over in 2003 and not businessman Rajesh Kohsla.

Harris was in charge of Ks during the darkest period of their recent history when Kohsla pocketed more than £2million after flogging the stadium to current landlords AFC Wimbledon.

The former Walton Casuals boss famously accused his then-chairman of 'raping the club' as he sold-off the club's greatest assets, leaving it on the brink of collapse.

Winwright – through consortium Winwright & Associates – had tabled a bid to buy Kingstonian after it had gone into administration in 2001 with a £179,000 tax bill.

But administrators accepted Khosla's offer and it would took five more years for the long-time fan to team up with Mark Anderson and finally take the reigns at Jack Goodchild Way.

The club returned to the Ryman League Premier Division last weekend under Alan Dowson – three years after being relegated.

And Harris believes the club's rapid decline from FA Trophy winners in 2000 to the brink of Combined Counties League obscurity, would never have happened had the current regime been at the helm.

“It was a very difficult time. Probably the darkest of my career. It put me off football for a while because of the way things happened,” he said.

“The club had huge debts when it came out of the Conference and had players on big money. There was nothing left when I took charge. The players weren't even being paid.

“Malcolm put a bid into the administrators. If they had taken him on board at that time, Ks would still own the ground today and I don't think the last three years would have happened.

“Khosla was a businessman and in it to make money for himself.

“I'm just delighted to see them back. The people who run the club now have to take huge credit for that.”

Former Ks striker Harris, who was assistant to Steve Sedgley before taking sole charge, took the team to the Ryman League Premier Division play-offs in his only season in full control.

But the current Ks scout admits it is not an achievement he holds in highest regard.

“When I took over as manager it was just a case of keeping the club going. What I achieved was nothing special really,” he added.

“Mr Khosla promised the players a significant bonus – an hour before kick-off - if they won the play-off final, but that meant nothing because the players hadn't been paid for weeks.

“In the end the supporters club chairman Colin Dedman had to mediate between the pair of us. We couldn't be in the same room.”

And Harris believes with the sorry saga behind them and a league trophy in the cabinet, Ks fans can look forward with optimism.

“I have every reason to think the club will get back to where it was, thanks to the people that are there now,” he added.

“They are not spending money they don't have. There has been some stupid money going about in non-League and hopefully that has stopped.”