"It's all a bit weird really," said Fone who was a Sheffield Steelers fan when Hand and Courtenay were playing at the peak of their careers in the old ice hockey Superleague.
Now the 42-year-old Hand and 41-year-old Courtenay are developing Fone's blossoming career in Altrincham.
"The first game I ever saw was in Sheffield when Tony and Eddie were playing.
"I actually grew up watching them play. I was pretty young and I thought the goalies looked pretty cool in those big pads and I suppose that's why I ended up playing there."
Fone impressed player-coach Hand when the Coventry back-up stood in for the injured Scott Fankhouser a couple of seasons ago and the Phoenix player-coach had no hesitation in targeting him for the English Premier League campaign.
"It was pretty much a no-brainer. When I played here on-loan from Coventry the fans really treated me well and I liked the set-up.
"As soon as I got the call it was a pretty much a done deal."
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