MORE TRAIN STATIONS THAN FANS

Printed in the National League South game v Hemel Hempstead Town Bank Holiday Monday 18^th April 2022  We won 2-0 in front of 744

I will always remember the look on the faces of Wrexham supporters as their coaches trundled along the cobbled streets of Lewes to watch their team. But this wasn’t an FA Cup jolly but a league match. Welcome to the hell of the National League, where former league clubs spend an eternity trying to escape.

As Slough fans weaved through the passageways of Dorking to their Meadowbank ground, I wondered if Wrexham fans would have that same feeling again next season, coming to this sleepy Surrey town with panoramic views.

Dorking have powered up the leagues thanks to one man, but just like Lewes how far can you take a market town up the football pyramid? (If you’ve got wind assisted pockets, quite a way looking at Forest Green Rovers). With their deep pockets and never ending conveyor belt of players, they demolished Slough in the wind, snow and sun as we tried not to take off like a beach kite holding on for dear life to the biggest Slough flag ever made.

Lewes had no money for the National League and there were rumours that the sacking of manager Steve King at the end of their promotion season was because the board didn’t actually want promotion. They were beaten nearly every week and it knocked the club for six and took them years to recover.

I was contemplating all this as I wandered the mean streets of East Worthing.

With Slough pretty safe and my bank balance depleted, I thought I would jump on the Shoreham play-off push band wagon.

Worthing will be joining Slough next season in the league, but the place has as many train stations as Dorking with the added bonus of three senior football teams. I was here to see the one of the outskirts - Worthing United (The other is Worthing Town since you ask). People might have heard of the club for the tragic deaths of two of their players, killed on their way to a game in the Shoreham airshow disaster. As you can imagine, the loss of their players was deeply felt but the club have done them proud, with the Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt stand, photos in their small clubhouse and a memorial garden. When Worthing United did eventually begin playing again, a crowd of 1,000 came along to show their respects. As one official pointed out “the biggest game in the clubs history, sadly for the wrong reasons.”

It was slightly smaller today with just 89 coming along, with a healthy smattering of away fans. With a lot of injuries their youngsters frustrated a much more experienced Shoreham who never troubled the 18 year goalkeeper in the first half. A goalkeeper who was playing for Shoreham Under 18s the week before!

Despite the megastores and giant carparks behind the ground it’s another picturesque Sussex football club. There’s a stand that straddles most of one side and cleverly combines terracing with seating and has Constable-esque vistas of the South Downs. There was a women feeding her horses, sheep in the background, gorse in flower and daisy's growing on the hard pitch for their last home game of the season.

But this was no A259 classic. One Shoreham supporter had finally given up his Brighton season ticket enjoying non league football more. The final straw being the Dear Customer email as he failed to renew. But he couldn’t help feel he’d made the wrong decision giving up an away ticket to the Arsenal for this; as his son who had decided to go let him know: they were beating the team whose fans annually win most entitled of the year. ‘We should be beating teams like Brighton’ I think is the derogatory catch phrase.

You know a games poor when its highlights include a Shoreham spectator being sent off and the chairman getting soaked by his own pint. Still, the Shoreham forward who took out the beer, eventually scored the clubs 100 goal of the season that helped them pick up 3 vital points. I think play-offs at every level is a great idea to keep interest going but one of those in the Southern Combination Division One play off places is Dorking Reserves who can’t get promoted. So why not pick a team below them to play instead? Er, no the FA ruled this week that whoever draws them in the play offs will get a bye! Which is hardly fair play.

Worthing is a funny old place. What happened in Hove, is happening here. Slowly occupied by people who can’t afford to live in Brighton with the council make up changing from staunch blue to red and green; there’s numerous micropubs replacing the more traditional boozers that are becoming as rare as a Worthing bus on a Saturday.

As I tried to catch a bus, a broken shelter with no information summed up the public transport system in this country. The government promised millions to sort this out, but unsurprisingly it’s another promise that has failed to materialise. Sussex will be on the forefront of climate change - a small sea level rise will put paid to much of the seafront infrastructure, so governments need to get their finger out and invest now if we want to encourage people to get out their cars. Otherwise like me, they will be running down the road to catch the East Worthing train back to Brighton with the sound of two Worthing United youngsters complaints ringing in my ears ‘I can’t believe we lost to a team like Shoreham.’