After having replaced player manager Keith Rutter in 1967/68 with Reg Flewin, Hastings United opted for a period under a non playing Manager. Flewin was to remain in post until December 1968 when he was released for “economy reasons”. Reg Flewin, who had captained Portsmouth when they won the first Division titles in 1948/49 and 1949/50 went on to manage a holiday camp on the Isle of Wight after his spell at Hastings!
 David Stone was born in December 1942 in Bristol and attended Portway School in the city. He played as a child for Bristol Boys, and won the English Schools' Shield with them in 1958. He also played for Sneyd Park, before joining League side Bristol Rovers as a junior in 1959.He graduated through the Rovers junior and youth teams, and signed his first professional contract in March 1960, but it was a further two years before he made his first team debut against Northampton Town in August 1962. He went on to make 148 appearances and score six goals for The Pirates until leaving to join Southend United on a free transfer in 1968. His time in Southend was less successful than his spell with Rovers, and although he played in their first five games of the 1968–69 season, he only made one more appearance in the remainder of the campaign.
Stone joined United in December  1968  and took up his position for the home match against Bexley United on 14 December. He played as a traditional centre half and the match programme for the Tonbridge Christmas clash confirmed that he had moved into the area with his family and “ was able to maintain the control on club affairs which is so vital to the ultimate success”.
The team remained positioned in the lower reaches of the division  but had shown signs of developing as a cohesive side. Stone scored three goals for the side, being particularly dangerous at set pieces, and signed off his programme notes for the last match of the season against Corby Town in an optimistic vein. He thanked the squad and supporters for doing the club proud since Christmas and acknowledged that the period since his arrival had been most enjoyable. Lining up in the side that afternoon was forward Cyril Jeans a former Portsmouth and Margate favourite.
Stone was to depart the club at the end of that ending season, allegedly following the Club’s refusal to give him a long-term contract. He returned to his native West Country, when he joined Glastonbury as a player, and spent three months with Minehead before joining Welton Rovers .
After two years as a player, Welton appointed him as their player-manager, and he picked up his first trophy as a manager by winning the Premier Division of the Western League in 1973–74. He spent five years as a player with Weston-super-Mare between 1978 and 1981, the last three years of which he spent as player-manager, and in 1981 he was appointed player-manager of Portway Bristol. He twice won the Western League First Division with Portway, but both times they were denied promotion to the Premier Division due to their ground not meeting minimum requirements. He spent five years as manager of Clevedon Town from 1986, and also returned to his former club Welton Rovers, where he managed from 1991 until 1992.
Back at Hastings, Stone’s departure at the end of the 1968/69 season left a managerial vacancy, allowing team colleague Cyril Jeans to step up as player manager in time for the pre season preparations  for 1969/70.