Two days after agreeing to stay on as coach of St. David's, Andrew Bascome dropped a bombshell on Wednesday night by announcing he had changed his mind.

The news came just before football chairman Stuart Crockwell was to meet with the club's senior players in an attempt to persuade them to remain with the relegated club.

Getting Bascome to stay was seen as vital to that cause. But now Crockwell accepts that players will follow through with their transfers.

After Bascome confirmed his decision to quit, the club appointed Eugene Crockwell, his assistant last season, as coach.

"Everybody's disappointed,'' admitted Stuart Crockwell. "He had just given me a commitment on Monday night after meetings on the weekend. We thought he was coming down here (to the meeting) to tell the players what he wanted from them. But out of the blue he told me he's not coaching at all.

"The main thing now is to let the guys know we still have a prosperous programme and it's not like we have left the coaching position open. We had always said that if Andrew didn't take it, Eugene Crockwell would.

"I'm sure he will do a great job. I don't see a problem with St. David's being a force in the Second Division. The club have invested, with sponsorship, in the football programme.'' St. David's endured ups and downs in their first season back in the First Division last season, reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and the semi-finals of the Friendship Trophy.

However, in the end they failed to hold onto their place in the top flight, finishing ninth in the standings.

Boulevard, winners of both the Martonmere and FA Cup last season, have signed up Herbie Bascome, Andrew's brother, to replace Donnie Hill as head coach.

The Blazers decided to look within their own ranks for Hill's replacement, eventually deciding on Bascome, who was a regular member of their defence last season.

New club president Lou Matthews, a maths teacher at Berkeley, announced the change this week. Hill ended a two-year stint as coach, originally having come to the club's rescue after they had lost former coach Albert Smith through injury.

"Donnie Hill came in at a time when we really needed him. He has done extremely well. We had a lot of injuries at the beginning of last season but he did well to take us through to win two major trophies,'' said Matthews.

"Before he stepped down he recommended Herbie as his replacement and we were glad to take him on. We are really excited about what's in store for Boulevard right now.'' Bascome returns to coaching after standing down as head coach of St. George's two seasons ago. It remains to be seen whether he will continue to play for Boulevard.

Matthews said that Hill would be an integral part of the programme and would assist the team by working on various committees and helping the development and restructuring of their youth and community programmes.

"We have started a rebuilding programme that takes into account our youth, the community and corporate partnerships. We are excited about the plans ahead. We are refitting all of our youth teams, at this point designing a new team logo on the lines of the pro teams abroad. We are going a whole different way,'' said Matthews.

"We hope to announce really soon two things. One is the addition of a major corporate sponsor and the other the formation of a women's team ... perhaps not in time for next season, but definitely for the following one.'' In addition to putting an emphasis on development, the club have plans to initiate a building programme with the intention of getting their own facilities. Another aim is to implement a programme to give educational assistance to their members.

ANDREW BASCOME -- quit as coach of St. David's.