Portsmouth Bevis was born in
Warsash, Hampshire and played football as a youth with
Gosport Borough before joining
Portsmouth as a trainee in February 1934. He signed a professional contract with Portsmouth in July 1936, but failed to break through into the first team at
Fratton Park.
Southampton In July 1937, he was one of several players recruited by
Southampton's newly appointed manager
Tom Parker, who was trying to build a side to push for promotion from
Division Two. Bevis was immediately drafted into the first team as an 18-year-old, replacing the injured
John Summers, for his debut in a 0–0 draw with
Aston Villa on 4 September 1937. Bevis soon gained a reputation as a speedy right-winger and made 31 appearances in
the 1937–38 season, scoring five goals. In
the following season he only missed five matches, making 37 appearances and scoring six goals, including a "spectacular" At the end of the season,
Newcastle United made an enquiry about Bevis's availability. Bevis's football career was then interrupted by the outbreak of the
Second World War, although he continued to appear for the Saints in the wartime leagues in the early months of the war. He then joined the
Merchant navy as a
petty officer gunner and during the war the ships on which he was serving were
torpedoed three times and
mined once. After one of these attacks, he spent seven days adrift in the
Atlantic before being rescued. One of the crew who rescued him was a former colleague from
Southampton, reserve team goalkeeper Alec Warnock. Bevis was later presented with the
Distinguished Service Medal by King
George VI at
Buckingham Palace. After being
demobbed in November 1945, Bevis returned to
The Dell. He made 14 appearances, scoring five goals, in
the 1946–47 season before losing his place on the right wing to
Wilf Grant. At the end of the season, despite receiving an offer from
Plymouth Argyle, he decided to retire. ==Later career==