WEST SUSSEX-BY-THE-SEA

It’s the first league game, of a season already like no other, and a trip to Shoreham to see them take on Billinghurst in the Southern Combination Division One (just below the Southern Combination Premier, cos every league apparently now needs a premier division). You always get a warm welcome at Shoreham from their co-chair Stuart Slaney who over the past few years has overseen gradual transformation of the facilities as well as soccer schools, networking events and more teams under the Shoreham umbrella.

A disastrous promotion a few seasons back saw a brief spell in the Isthmian League before two relegations on the bounce. Football is like no other business, where doing the right thing and not bankrupting your club can get you punished on the pitch by others that roll the financial dice. So it was good to see the club getting a break and winning £25,000 from the Buildbase funding scheme to spend on improving facilities to attract more youth and girls teams.

Both clubs had already fallen at the first FA Cup hurdle with the Musselman taking a 9-1 hammering away to a Alford who are no doubt Premier league material.

I was hoping they would get a few more than the 89 through the gate...surely there most be plenty of Brighton fans in need of their live football fix? For a fiver with a pint in hand we got treated to a feast of goals with Shoreham turning round a 3-1 disadvantaged to finish the game 4-4.

Just down the road, and things were looking bleak for very near neighbours Southwick.

What should have been a joyful renaissance when the club became supporters owned, instead saw them booted out of their ground and relegated to park football. In fact it is the park next door so close the floodlights peered overhead from their Old Barn Way ground which now resembled more of an old farm yard.

Over the years the council were happy to lease to owners who only cared about profits from the bar but not the football club. One ended up in prison for drugs while the most recent tenant walked away when the pandemic closed the pubs. The council then shut the place down saying it needed half a million quids worth of repairs. Er, shouldn’t the council have had a duty of care to look at their property occasionally? It seems such was their disinterest when they came to turn off the electrics they were told they couldn’t because of the phone masts on the floodlights – something they apparently didn’t even know the previous leaseholder had installed and pocketed the cash.

The new club were understandably unwilling to take on the previous debt but are willing to do the place up a lot cheaper than the quoted repair bill.

Meanwhile people who refused to set foot while the club was run by crooks are now their biggest cheerleaders – including local resident John Baine aka Attila the Stockbroker with the sort of contacts and campaigning nous that was key to getting the Albion back home to Brighton.

The club are certainty playing a blinder with their Bring Home the Wickers campaign. Nearly 200 turning up for a hard fought 2-1 win against Ashurst Wood in the Mid Sussex Championship (just below the Mid Sussex Premier). Most of last seasons squad including their manager were happy to drop down the divisions while Ashurst named 67 players in the programme - more than double what Southwick used to average at home! With local councillors and the local MP in attendance and seeing first hand the strength of feeling, hopefully it wont be long before a rebooted, rejuvenated club can get back to where they belong.

CORINTHIAN SPIRIT

 

Newhaven 1 Corinthian 2 FA Cup Preliminary Round Saturday 12^th September 2020

I'm currently half way through The Farther Corner by When Saturday Comes contributor Harry Pearson who rekindled his love of the Northern League as a cure for a mid life crisis. It’s a great read that focuses as much about the characters in the crowd as the football on the pitch. When Dunston sensationally knock Chester out of the FA Cup it’s the story of his first ever football that gets centre stage. As Slough have gone up the leagues your voice can get lost in the crowd but just like every club we have supporters shouting the same slogan in a timeless loop season after season. In an ever changing world its kind of reassuring. But it wasn’t so long ago when a stray word on a sparsely populated terrace would lead to some lively player-crowd debates.

I should have beared this in mind when I headed to Newhaven to see them take on Corinthian in the FA Cup preliminary round

Newhaven as a club continue to grow on and off the field. Todays attendance was 184 plus numerous youngsters helping and I reckon they could easily compete in the Isthmian League. All they need is some young Ultra Dockers to get the place rocking, oh and winning the Southern Combination League.

My mate Gavin is the only Northampton Town supporter I know, and likes to get involved in a game at the best of times. Six months of lock down with two small children while trying to work he informed me that under that mask on the bus to the game he was grinning from ear to ear about the prospect of actually watching a live game. Especially after having to listen to Northampton's improbable Wembley play off promotion on the radio. Gavin is also a football tactics encyclopedia. He sees the changing formations on the pitch and what players to watch out for just from observing the warm up while my brain comes up with ‘Shoot.’

Meanwhile fellow non league supporter Duncan also starved of football, noticed the Newhaven stand was named after one of their players who I later found out has been with the club for ten years.

Corinthian meanwhile were founded in 1972 by a Mr RJ Billings to ‘provide football in a safe environment whilst teaching the players the principles that he believed to be important in sport.’ Somewhere along the way, the old Corinthian motto of ‘hard but fair’ has got lost.

While nursing a beer just before the half time rush I stood by the Corinthian dugout. As soon as they scored one of their officials barked instructions to start wasting as much time as possible while continuing to needle the lino. By the second half the ref finally had a little chat about his behaviour while the Newhaven fans in the stand were having a bit more than just a word. At one point a stray ball that might well have been aimed at their dugout hit a bloke with a pint where I had previously been standing. While wiping beer from his clothes and enjoying one of the biggest cheers of the day he nonchalantly continued to Vape away.

Watching my eldest play football you can see how the opposition coaches set the tone for their players. Grown adults cheering when my then 11 year old was rightfully sent off was a particularly highpoint. Beating that very same team to the league title the following season was lets just say, satisfying.

In this topsy-turvy pandemic world where competitions begin before the last lot ended, Corinthian had only just lost on penalties in the FA Vase semi final. There a good side and as soon as Newhaven draw level, they started to play again until they got the winning goal a few minutes from the end. So why the constant earache to the officials? Eventually I’d had enough of the abuse and with my Slough mouth on might have asked one of their players how they did in their FA Vase semi final.

My old dad used to remind me that if you can’t take it then don’t dish it out, and as we left the building, let’s just say I wont be getting any Christmas cards from them anytime soon.

With more teams having to forfeit cup and league games because of covid, you feel the season is on borrowed time so while the sun still shines we should get behind Non Leagues biggest cheerleader Tony Incenzo idea to promote lower league football. With Non League Day postponed it seems a simple message #footballforatenner to include entrance, a pint and a pie is a good place to start.

Maybe we can put that slogan on the side of a bus.

SALTDEAN PROMISE, EASTBOURNE FLARES

Saltdean United 1 Eastbourne Town 3

FA Cup extra preliminary round Tuesday 1st September 2020

Last time I went to Saltdean I nearly got hit by a tractor; this time round I was hoping to dodge the corona virus while satisfying my need for some live football after a five month forced abstention. But this wasn’t just any old match but a good old FA Cup knees up.

The first competitive game of the season. The extra preliminary round. Later than usual and on a Tuesday night.

Replays have been cut, extra time has been cut, prize money has been cut and capacities limited to just 300. Under normal circumstances this wouldn’t be a problem but with so many people denied their football fix including me (I support an elite club don’t you know, yeah Slough Town) it was obvious it was going to be a bumper crowd so I bought my ticket on line.

Especially as near neighbours and arguably the biggest team in Southern Combination Eastbourne Town were rolling into town along the coast road. Surprisingly, they had never met each other before in the Cup. The Tigers have never been past the 3rd qualifying round while Eastbourne have never got past the 4th qualifying.

Arriving by bus you get a panoramic view of the place, nestled into a valley with grand art deco buildings, including one that was once a Butlins camp and another that is now a community owned lido.

The football club is on the outer edge and entrance is along a dirt track towards farmers fields and the South Downs. With two small stands either side of the pitch there is also a massive grass bank giving spectacular views and a chance for some roly-poly celebrations if that's your sort of thing. 

Maybe I shouldn’t judge a club on its social media presence but its such an easy win and Saltdean had been busy on theirs. They’ve also been busy off the pitch. The place looked smart, the pitch in much bigger shape – and the game had sold out on line with an attendance of 235 rather than last seasons average of 66.

One of the newest clubs on the block, Saltdean were only formed in 1966 while Town are the oldest senior club in Sussex having been founded in 1881. The Saffrons has a listed turnstile block, while Saltdean have a table. My phone scanned a barcode and wanting to help clubs out in these driven-to-drink times I headed to the bar.

Within a minute of the game starting the Saltdean keeper, who had a great game, pulled off a top save. This set the tone for the next 20 minutes but slowly the Tigers started to compete. Then just after the half hour mark Eastbourne scored and their Ultras amassed behind the goal, finally found their voices, their drums and blue flares. Another goal just before half time and the Ultras were starting to dream of Faversham away in the next round.

Despite plenty of probing in the second half, the Tigers couldn’t find a way in until getting a soft penalty at the death. But then Eastbourne went the other end and got a third, queue more flares that put air and sea rescue on high alert.

Like any club that means business Saltdean have a multitude of teams behind them and their young cubs went through the Premier league song book behind the goal. One of the lads next to us admitted one was his little brother ‘Yeah he’s annoying and mouthy like that at home.’

This is certaintly going to be a season like no other and the last one was pretty out there. Three clubs had to pull out before a ball was kicked because of the virus. I will grab games where I can. In fact it feels like my football loving public duty that I should.

But the FA have missed a trick not distributing prize money more evenly especially this season, unconvincingly explaining that they cant do that as the big prize money makes the top clubs take the FA Cup more serious. Really? It hardly touches their sides but can throw a financial lifeboat for those that really need it. Just look at Chichester City and Maldon and Tiptree last season. But its more than that. When clubs like Eastbourne Town have Ultras you know that many football fans are turning their backs on the elite many of whom have just become money laundering exercises or excuses to sportswash their countries owners sins (‘yeah ok, so we behead our political opponents but just look at how much we have spent on a new striker for the club’).

What this pandemic has shown more than ever is that people want to belong, to be part of something. Up and down the country clubs like Saltdean United have an important role to play in being a big part of that community glue.