The former London Bari and Hackney Wick boss is the new manager of the Thurlow Nunn League First Division South outfit

Chris Davis is the new manager of Lopes Tavares and is excited about the season ahead in the Thurlow Nunn League First Division South.

The former London Bari boss is no stranger to the league after helping Hackney Wick to a sixth-place finish with an impressive total of 68 points during the most recent 2018/19 campaign.

Tavares, in their first term at this level, had to make do with 16th and yet things will be different at the club this time, according to the new man in charge.

"I was at Hackney Wick last season and we finished sixth, but didn't get promoted and I did want a new challenge," Davis explained.

"The chairman of Lopes Tavares (Ulisses Filipe Lopes Tavares) phoned me and said he was keen for me to come in, so I thought I'd give it a go and it's a big change."

Based at the Terence McMillan Stadium in Plaistow, the club only formed in 2015, but have made huge strides in the last four years.

Having started out as just a youth team, they moved from the Essex Alliance League into the Thurlow Nunn in no time and after a season of consolidation, Davis has plans to mount a promotion push with optimism rife on and off the pitch.

He said: "It's a Portuguese community team and that's what they set out to be, but they didn't have any success and things didn't seem to be run properly because the right people were not around.

"The chairman spoke to me and I thought he made a lot of sense when he was talking about what he wanted, but how he didn't have the right people around, so I felt like it was a good opportunity.

"I was already considering leaving Hackney Wick anyway and have brought some players over and kept some of the current group.

"The problem they had was players were apparently not committed to the cause and that's why things were difficult, so I weighed up the options and things have gone good since we took over.

"Our image has changed a bit because there was no one to do any publicity or social media and we have added that, so people want to know who we are now."

The Thurlow Nunn season starts on Saturday, but Lopes don't kick off until a week later on August 10.