The man who guided Berkhamsted to the brink of national football glory has returned to Broadwater with unfinished business on his mind.

Approaching 16 years after taking what was then Berkhamsted Town to the final of the FA Vase at Villa Park, Steve Bateman is back in charge at the Spartan South Midlands League club after they parted company with Tommy Garrett following a run of six defeats in seven games in all competitions.

The 51-year-old took a conscious decision to step back from football at the end of last season when he stepped down as Aylesbury FC boss and he admitted the opportunity to return to the club where he first made his name in management “was probably the only thing I would have listened to”.

“When I look back to 2001 obviously it stirred something within me, it’s an experience you don’t forget and it kind of raised my profile back then as a young manager,” the former Everton defender said of reaching the Vase final where Berko were beaten 2-1 by Taunton Town.

“I was very ambitious, as I was a player, and wanted to test myself. It was a very difficult decision because we had things moving in the right direction at Berkhamsted but Chesham came calling and I was probably going to do that [move on] if I was going to have success in management.

“Whether it was the right time with hindsight I don’t know. I don’t regret too much what I’ve done in my football life but I always felt I’d left the club in a good position, it was moving in the right direction, I’d raised the profile but I hadn’t quite seen the job to where I wanted to take it which was up the levels.

“It’s really as simple as that. I wasn’t actively looking to jump back into football management but the chairman asked a question of me and he talked about how he felt the club had bottomed out in a sense because they’d been on an upward lift and I could sense the enthusiasm to keep that journey going. That’s the appeal of it.”

Commenting on Bateman's return, chairman Steve Davis said in a statement: "After back-to-back promotions and six seasons in the South Midlands Premier Division, where we have competed in the top eight in every season, we feel it's time to push the club to the next level. We feel that Steve ticks all the right boxes in what we want to achieve as a club."

The former Hemel Hempstead, Harrow Borough and Slough Town manager’s hopes of overseeing his new charges in competitive action for the first time have been frustrated by the weather after Saturday’s trip to Welwyn Garden City and Tuesday night’s home clash with Holmer Green were both postponed.

Bateman will be hoping it’s a case of third time lucky when the Comrades, who are eighth in the Premier Division, are due to entertain Biggleswade United tomorrow. But he has been pleased by the response of his players so far in training.

He said: “As I said to the players when I met them at the weekend, there’s no entourage behind me. I’m going to have a good look at you, give you the opportunity to be the next steps of the club which for me is some unfinished business with the Vase which we’ll have an opportunity to do next year assuming something really major doesn’t happen, it’s a tall ask the league this year. But for next year I want to get the club up to Step four and be a familiar name in the latter stages of the Vase.”

He continued: “The scenario is not where is their next point coming from.

“There’s a group of players that I think have just gone a little bit flat and need some guidance, some experience, an arm putting round one or two of them and hopefully those things that I’ve learnt while I’ve been on this journey away from Berkhamsted will come into play.”