- 1 year ago
Matt Pole is joined by Sussex sport guru Steve Bone and returning special guest, Will Hugall, who knows everything there is to know about Sussex sport and covers plenty of it for SussexWorld and the Sussex Express.
On this episode, we’ll be looking at the newly released Isthmian League fixtures which concern no fewer than 13 Sussex non-league sides across West and East Sussex, while we’ll also be asking Will about summer goings-on at Lewes and Eastbourne Borough, and looking at the latest developments at clubs including Worthing and Horsham.
On this episode, we’ll be looking at the newly released Isthmian League fixtures which concern no fewer than 13 Sussex non-league sides across West and East Sussex, while we’ll also be asking Will about summer goings-on at Lewes and Eastbourne Borough, and looking at the latest developments at clubs including Worthing and Horsham.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of the Sussex Non-League Podcast, where we'll take a look at all the
00:04latest goings-on at grassroots football across the county. I'm Matt Powell, and on this
00:08edition I'm joined by Sussex Sport Guru Steve Bone and a returning special guest, Will Huggle,
00:12who knows everything there is to know about Sussex Sport and covers plenty of it for us
00:15at Sussex World and for the Sussex Express. On this episode, we'll be looking at the newly
00:20released Isthmian League fixtures which concern no fewer than 13 Sussex Non-League sides across
00:25Western East Sussex, while we'll also be asking Will about summer goings-on at Lewiston East
00:29and Borough, and looking at the latest developments at clubs including Worthing and Horsham.
00:33So, let's start with those Isthmian fixtures. Clubs and fans discovered their schedules on
00:38Thursday afternoon, and Steve, as there are again more Sussex teams in the Isthmian South
00:41East Division and the other divisions, let's start there. Well, when do all our clubs begin
00:47their league campaigns and what are some of the highlights from the rest of the South East
00:50Division fixture list? We've got time, don't rush. Yes, good job too, because there's a lot
00:56of teams and a lot of fixtures to talk about. So in the South East Division this season, we've
01:00actually, from last season, we've lost four and gained three, I think, or something like
01:06that. But anyway, we've got seven teams in there. We've got Broadbridge Heath, Crowborough,
01:11East Grinstead, Hassex, Hastings, Three Bridges and Eastbourne Town all applying their trade in
01:17the South East Division in 25-26. The season starts for all Isthmian league teams on Saturday,
01:24August the 9th. So as we speak now, that's what, three weeks away. So that's coming around
01:29pretty quickly. The summer seems to drag on for a while, doesn't it? And then all of a
01:32sudden, we're moments away from the big kickoff. Store on our website, as you say, listing all
01:40the sort of Isthmian fixture highlights for all our clubs. But I'm just going to pick out
01:44a few highlights from the South East season. And we actually start on August the 9th with
01:50two Sussex derbies, which is quite nice. They had a bit of interest. Crowborough, newly
01:56promoted from SCFL Premier via the playoffs, are off to Broadbridge Heath on that first
02:01day. And Three Bridges host Eastbourne Town on the same day. Other sides kicking off that
02:09day are Hastings United, who, of course, back in step four after a few years in step three.
02:13So they'll be looking to do well and get off to a good start. They're at home to Erith
02:17on that first day, August the 9th. Hessex, in their first ever season at step four, kick
02:24off at home to Herne Bay. And East Grinstead are off to Whiteleaf on that day. There's then
02:31an immediate set of midweek fixtures, which actually throw up three Sussex derbies, which is
02:37quite nice, nice sort of spicy first week for us. Eastbourne Town against Hastings is
02:42the standout one, probably of the three. That looks like a good one, a lot of links between
02:47those two clubs. There's a lot of players have played for both at different times. And
02:52I think, in fact, Eastbourne Town have lost a couple of players to Hastings this summer
02:56as well. So that could be interesting. East Grinstead against Three Bridges the same night,
03:01and Crobra against Hessex, a battle of the two promoted teams. And an interesting one
03:08in that first week, and interesting that it's a Tuesday night, Jersey Bulls against Broadbridge
03:13Heath. So Broadbridge Heath are the first team to do the channel hop off to Jersey. How that's
03:19going to work in a midweek? I don't know.
03:20I don't know. It sounds like it's going to need all their players to take half a week
03:24off work. I'm sure they're busy looking at that already. And then just quickly looking
03:30at a few other dates from the season, we've got three more Sussex derbies to come on August
03:36Bank Holy Monday, August the 25th. Namely, Broadbridge Heath against Three Bridges, Crobra against
03:42Hastings and Hessex against Eastbourne Town. On the same day, East Grinstead play home to
03:48Sevenoaks. On not quite Boxing Day, but Christmas Saturday, we might call it Saturday. There's
03:54games on Saturday, the 27th of December, instead of Boxing Day this year. Crobra against Eastbourne
04:00Town and Hessex against Three Bridges of the Derby games. East Grinstead at home to Jersey
04:06Bulls, and I'm sure they'll be glad they're not away to Jersey Bulls that day. Hastings
04:10go to Ashford. Always a bit of rivalry between those two. Broadbridge Heath are at home to
04:15Sevenoaks. End of March brings non-league day. I imagine it's tying in with an international
04:21break where there'll be no Premier League Championship games. No Sussex derbies that
04:26day, but the standout Sussex game that day is Jersey against Crobra. And then we come
04:33to the final day. Before we know it, it'll all be over for another year. 25th of April is
04:38the final day. A quick run through of who's playing who for the Sussex teams. It's Ashford
04:43United against Hessex. Crobra against Merstam. East Grinstead against Margate. Eastbourne
04:48Town against Sevenoaks. Erith against Broadbridge Heath. Favisham against Three Bridges. And wait
04:54for it, could be a party to be had here. Jersey against Hastings is up for the weekend. So Hastings
05:02will be hoping they've maybe wrapped up the title that weekend and can go away and celebrate
05:07in style. But that's a long way off. And as they say, a lot of football to be played in
05:12the meantime.
05:13Absolutely. Do you think we're too early on in the season to make predictions as to where
05:18teams are going to finish, Steve? I know it's still just less than a month now, isn't it?
05:23It is, yeah. I think you could have a good go at it. I won't name the person who tipped
05:29Hastings to be at the top end of the Premier Division last season. And was it Lansing to
05:34be at the top end of the Eastman South East Division? That person won't be named at all
05:38because that would be humiliating. I think in the South East Division, you've got to look
05:43at Hastings and Three Bridges as the two most likely candidates among those Sussex teams to
05:49be at the top end. Hastings should do well. They'll be looking to bounce straight back.
05:53Lee Carey's been pretty busy, brought in a few good local young players, bringing them
05:59into the first-team squad. Signed a couple of experienced guys as well. So if you were
06:04to say to me at this point, which of those seven are going to finish highest, I would
06:07say Hastings. And if it's a title-winning season for them, great. That'll give them a bit
06:12of momentum to get back up with.
06:14I hope whoever made those predictions isn't allowed on the podcast again, Steve.
06:17No, we keep him a long way away now.
06:21Yeah, as you should do.
06:24As well you should. Will, same question to you. As I say, we're still quite a way out
06:29from the season actually starting, but from the position we're at now, who are you
06:32tipping to do well and maybe not so well next season in the Eastman South East?
06:38Ooh, that's a good question actually. I mean, I would go along the same lines as Steve
06:42there. I would say Hastings should do well. I mean, I've been impressed by everything
06:47that's happened at Broadbridge Heath. I think if they could put together another mid-table,
06:52maybe push for the playoff sort of season, that would be really good. But I'm excited
06:56to see how Crowbridge do as well. I think that's a really interesting one that they've
07:01kind of gone over the border between Kent and Sussex the last few years and now get
07:05to play a lot of teams that they've faced in the two of those leagues. So I don't think
07:09the travelling will harm them in any way. But it will be really interesting to see how
07:13they get on as well. And hopefully it's not one that, you know, goes straight back down
07:17like some examples previously, like Stenning. But no, I think all the Sussex teams should
07:23do decent. There's enough of them to have a decent chance of getting promotion as well.
07:27Absolutely. Fingers crossed they do. Well, while we're with you, Will, you've been looking
07:30at the Eastman Premier fixtures. Which Sussex sides are in step three for the upcoming season
07:36and where do those campaigns begin? And what are some other fixture highlights for fans
07:40to look out for this season? Well, it's interesting that it's just down
07:45to four teams now because we had a whole bunch of Sussex teams in the Premier last season and
07:50now we've lost Horsham to the National League South. We've lost Bogdor and Hastings being
07:55relegated. So it's down to Chichester, Lewis and Whitehawk now joined by Burgess Hill after
08:01their playoff promotion, which is very exciting, of course. Slight delay on Burgess Hill having
08:07been some home fixtures, of course, this season with pitch renovation where it's going
08:11to the artificial pitch. But they've stated that their first home game should be Tuesday
08:16the 9th of September. They expect that to be the case against Carl Shulton. So everyone
08:21will be looking towards that and a lot of ground hoppers will be trying to go back there and
08:25try and tick that one off after all the improvement works. Yep. As Steve said, the season starts
08:31on Saturday 9th of August. So Lewis and Chichester at home. Lewis have got Hashtag United, who
08:36had a brilliant end to last season. So they'll be expecting to carry that on. Chichester have
08:41got Folkestone and Victor and that'll be an interesting one as well. Both teams almost got
08:47in the playoffs last season. So it'll be a really good way to start the season. Whitehawk have
08:52got the ideal tie. Early August, away at Ramsgate. Love it. Nice day by the beach. I was at
08:59Margate a couple of weeks ago. I love it down there. So if I was a Whitehawk fan, I'd be
09:03straight on the bus there. Perfect. And Burgess Hill kicking off the slightly less glamorous
09:08surroundings of Potters Bar town. But it's fine. They'll be excited anyway. New league,
09:13everything. The following Tuesday, Whitehawk have got Chichester at home, which will be a
09:18really good game. Then on to Bank Holiday Monday, later in August, Lewis have got Burgess
09:24Hill. It was meant to be Burgess Hill against Lewis, but of course, because it's been switched,
09:28Lewis will be the home team. Chichester will be away at Carl Shulton. And Whitehawk have
09:34got another brilliant game at home against Dulwich Hamlet, which should be absolute carnage
09:38on a Bank Holiday Monday. All those Dulwich fans down on the train, I reckon. So that'll
09:42be an interesting one. Yep. No Boxing Day fixtures, as Steve said, but 27th of December.
09:48So a little bit of a trade-off. It's okay. Burgess Hill have got Chichester and Lewis going
09:54away to Whitehawk. I know a lot of Lewis fans would rather that be the other way around.
09:58after what happened, I think it was New Year's Day this year. Absolute whitewash at Whitehawk.
10:06You know, the water dripping off the hills. Absolute carnage, abandoned at half-time. So
10:11let's hope that doesn't happen again. 3rd of January, start of the new year. Burgess Hill
10:18will get the chance to host Lewis this time. Whitehawk are going away to Dulwich Hamlet.
10:22Oh! That was an exciting intro. Someone's happy with it. The Dogs have woken up. The Dogs
10:31want to have their say on the East Moon Premier Division. They're very excited. I'll silence
10:35them. Brilliant. Non-league day. Yes. Saturday, 28th of March. We've got the reverse fixtures
10:44from earlier in the season. We've got Chichester at home against Ramsgate. Lewis at home against
10:49Canby Island. Whitehawk away at Chesant. Burgess Hill away at Billericke. So some decent ties
10:55in there. Get to see the world. And then towards the end of the season, Eastern Monday, Lewis
11:00have got Whitehawk at home. Chichester have got Burgess Hill at home. It's all very nice and easy
11:04having four clubs, isn't it? You don't have to go all over the place. It's great. Then
11:09last game of the season, 25th of April. Let's hope there's potentially promotion on the line.
11:14I think at least playoffs. I think Chichester and Lewis will have a good push. Whitehawk
11:19will be hoping for a better season. Burgess Hill, anything could happen. Chichester have
11:23proven that you can go straight up and do very well. So it'll be interesting to see how
11:27they finish with Burgess Hill at home against Cray Wanderers. Whitehawk at home against
11:31Potter's Bar. Lewis, a very tough day away at Chatham. So they'll be hoping that they won't
11:37be relying on a result there. And Chichester away at Brentwood Town, who are a bit of an
11:41unknown quantity. So it'll be a very exciting end as well. So yeah, it should be a really
11:45good season for all of them. Should be indeed. And you mentioned Ramsgate there, Will, which
11:49jogged a memory in me. I remember I've been down there a few times to watch Horsham play,
11:53probably about 15, 20 years ago, and it's always in midwinter. And the ground, I don't know
11:57if they're still there. It might possibly be the bleakest place on earth.
12:00And before anyone from Ramsgate has a pop at me, I'm from Kent, so I'm allowed to say
12:05that. Exactly. It's much better to go in August than mid-December.
12:10Absolutely. That's what I'm saying. I'm sure it's delightful in the summer, Will. You've
12:14kind of touched upon it there, but you expected Lewis and Chichester potentially to be the Sussex
12:18frontrunners in that division this year?
12:20I would say so. I think Chichester had on their side last season that teams didn't really
12:26know that much about them. They might have scouted them a little bit, but you
12:30never have the time to invest as much when you've got your own scheduler course.
12:35So being newly promoted, I think they had that on their side, which will be different this
12:39season. And I think they're keeping the core of their squad. So teams will figure them out
12:44a bit more. Whereas Lewis are, you know, thrown up in the air. Another season of restarting,
12:49new managing squad, which, you know, conversely could work in their favour.
12:54I expect Lewis, considering their recruitment, to have a good season. Obviously, we'll touch
13:00on that slightly later in the podcast. But yes, Lewis and Chichester, I would expect them
13:05both to fancy themselves for certainly a play-off push, if not a definite play-off place.
13:12Do you see Chichester lightning striking twice this season, Steve? Or do you think, as Will
13:16said, teams might get more of an idea of what Chichester are about?
13:19Yeah, I think it will be a bit harder for them, because they were an unknown quantity
13:24last year. I still think they'll do okay. They have kept most of their squad together,
13:30pretty much all of it. Actually, I think they've only lost one, maybe two. But they are going
13:34to be without Jimmy Wilde for the first half of the season. He's had major knee surgery,
13:39recovering from that now. He's not going to be back in a hurry. They've been looking at
13:43Billy Vigar, the ex. He was at Arsenal as a youngster, and he's been at Eastbourne Borough
13:48and Hastings. So they've been running the rule over him as a potential replacement.
13:53But I think it will be hard for them. But to be honest, I spoke to the Chichester chairman
13:57a few weeks ago, and I said, how do you start the season? What's the outlook? And he said,
14:02it hasn't changed. We just want to stay up. And that was how they started last season,
14:05and that's how they'll start this season. And I think they will stay up. I think they'll
14:09stay up with a bit to spare, and I think they'll be top half. But I don't think
14:12they will be Sussex's top finishing team in that division.
14:17OK.
14:18Which begs the question, who do I think will be? I'm going to put my reputation,
14:24if I've got one, on the line, and say Burgess Hill. I think Burgess Hill will do really well.
14:28I think they're a little bit like Chichester last year. Teams won't really know what's
14:33in with Burgess Hill. I know they've got a new pitch to adapt to, and that even for a home
14:37team can take a little while. But they've kept almost all of last season's squad.
14:42Which has got some really good players and a couple of good goal scorers. They've also
14:46made some good additions. They've brought in Jadon Perez, ex-Eastbourne Borough,
14:50Rocco Rees, ex-Worthing keeper, Josh Spinks, defender.
14:55And with Jay and Gary there, who we've had on this podcast a couple of times,
15:00I just think they're well set up for a good season.
15:02And it could be them pushing for a playoff place. I also think Lewis and Whitehawk will
15:06do OK. Probably looking at mid-table, which I don't think either would be unhappy with.
15:12I think any of those teams that can stay well away from the bottom six will be reasonably
15:18happy, really.
15:19Absolutely. Well, best of luck to all four of those teams this season and this Isthmian
15:23Premier. In a new departure, if I can say it, for Sussex, we have two clubs in the Isthmian
15:28South Central Division, which is the Step 4 equivalent of the South East Division.
15:32Steve, remind us of those two clubs. And what have they been set up to face this year?
15:37Yeah, so Bognor and Littlehampton, as we have discussed on this podcast already once or
15:42twice, we had Michael Burmey on last week, didn't we, from the Rocks. They've both been
15:47moved into the Isthmian South Central. So for Littlehampton, that's a sideways move from
15:52the South East that they were in last season, stayed up with a couple of games to spare.
15:55For Bognor, Bognor are dropping down from Step 3 to Step 4. A lot of people thought they
15:59would go into South East with all the other Sussex clubs. But the make-up of Step 4 this year
16:04is a bit different. So a couple of the West Sussex clubs there have moved over to join.
16:09It's largely sort of Hampshire, Surrey, Greater London clubs in that division. There's quite
16:15a lot of Hampshire clubs actually in sort of South East Hampshire. So there'll be a lot
16:18of West Sussex derbies, which I think could be quite spicy. And just running through some
16:23pictures for our two Sussex teams. They both kick off, as do all the others on Saturday,
16:29August the 9th. Bognor are off to Porchester, one of those Hampshire teams who've been on the
16:34up in recent years and done really well to get to Step 4. Littlehampton start off at home
16:40to Ascot United. A lot of teams in that league that Littlehampton and Bognor won't have played
16:45before. So it's very hard. It's hard for us to judge it. And it's probably hard for them
16:50to judge it as well until they've played a few games. They won't really know the style
16:54and the standard that they'll be up against. But I'm sure they'll both soon find their feet.
16:58And we have an early West Sussex derby as well. But Bognor against Littlehampton is the first
17:04midweek. So probably Tuesday, August the 12th. Won't be played at Bognor because their pitch
17:10is being relayed like a lot of clubs are doing at the moment. The 3G is going down at Bognor.
17:14They're about to start on that any day. So they will be ground sharing Chichester for
17:20the first two or three months of the season. So Oakland's Park will host that Bognor-Littlehampton
17:24game. That'll be a good one there. You can imagine Mitch and George taking Littlehampton
17:28there thinking they've got a chance of a bit of a scalp there. They don't fear those sort
17:34of games. Both at home on August Bank holiday Monday. Bognor play Horndeen. Littlehampton
17:41play Farham Town. So another two of those sort of South East Hampshire sides that we've talked
17:45about. The return game between Littlehampton and Bognor at the sports field. A bit of a
17:52shame actually. It's a midweek. It's been going on November the 11th, which I think both clubs
17:57will be a bit disappointed about. I think they could have got a much bigger crowd if it was
18:02that Christmas Saturday or one of those holidays really. I don't really know why that's been
18:07done, but there it is. That's the vagaries of the fixture computer for you. This Christmas
18:13Saturday, they're both at home, so they will at least be pleased about that. Bognor playing
18:17Farham, Littlehampton playing Moneyfields. Non-league day I've picked out again, both away from home,
18:22so they won't be able to do any special initiatives themselves. But Bognor go to South Park,
18:27Littlehampton go to Southall. Easter Monday, they're both on the road as well.
18:33Another holiday, got another couple of sort of Hampshire West Sussex games there. So
18:37it's Fairham against Bognor. Moneyfields against Littlehampton on Easter Monday. And on the final
18:42day, Bognor are home to Binfield, who I must admit I don't know much about. And I suspect at the
18:47moment, Bognor probably don't know much about them during the season. And Littlehampton away to
18:53Horndeen, which an added bit of interest with Horndeen in that league is that that's where Michael
18:58Birmingham now at Bognor was for nine and a half years, I think we said last week, didn't we? So
19:04yeah, there'll be some old friendships and rivalries renewed down there.
19:09Will, both me and Steve have quite openly admitted that we don't really know much about
19:13the Isthmian South Central. Do you? Do you? Can you enlighten us potentially?
19:18Oh, I would love to say yes. I really would. But no, it's certainly not really my area of expertise.
19:26And as you say, a lot of Hampshire teams, a lot of Southwest, London, Surrey sort of teams in there,
19:32that to be honest, you only ever draw FA Cup, FA Vars, FA Trophy, and you do a bit of research into
19:38them then, of course. But otherwise, no, it's a bit of an unknown quantity as far as I'm concerned.
19:45And yeah, looking out for both Littlehampton and Bognor this season would be really interesting,
19:49because we have no real yardstick of how to measure how they'll get on. So they've got to be the
19:56guinea pigs for it, really. And potentially others will follow in future.
20:01Absolutely. Well, best of luck to both sides. And don't forget, you can see those Isthmian fixture
20:05highlights on a story we were parted yesterday at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport. And we'll
20:10be adding stories on individual clubs list in the days and weeks to come. Now, once other matters,
20:15and with Will on this podcast, it's time to catch up on all the happenings,
20:19the latest goings on at Lewis FC. Will, first of all, on the men's side of the rooks set up,
20:23there's a new manager and many, many new players in place ahead of the new campaign.
20:27Tell us a little bit about what's happening, if you may.
20:30Well, yes, it has been a very busy summer ever since we all learnt. I mean, the public essentially
20:37learnt at the same time as the board that Craig Nelson would be leaving to go to Tunbridge Angels and
20:42take a fantastic opportunity. And of course, he's taken about half a dozen players with him from
20:48Lewis to Tunbridge Angels, which was not unexpected. Of course, all of these players
20:53were performing to a very high standard at Lewis and, you know, barring injuries and so on, they
20:58could have potentially made the playoffs last season and had a bit more fortune, so they deserve
21:02their opportunity. Ever since then, Bradley Pritchard has come in, made a very positive impression,
21:08certainly to myself, when we've discussed various different matters, such as players, the club,
21:15noise around the club from Telegraph this summer. It's been a very interesting few weeks to cover
21:23without any football having been played, really. There's a lot of noise around Lewis, concern from
21:29fans and owners and obviously non-owners as well, people who only have passing interest in the club,
21:36that the boards have made their best efforts to respond to and certainly through talking to me and
21:45through putting their own messages out on forums and social media. They have responded to a lot of
21:51the rumors and all of the conjecture is blown out of proportion, certainly. There are not significant
21:59concerns about the finances, but they had concerns about getting through the summer, which I think was
22:03understandable. I think all clubs do and credit to them for being open and honest about it. They
22:08made their call for financial support and they received it. As far as I'm concerned, all of the
22:14financial side of things is fine. The club will proceed this season and they will aim to achieve
22:23good things on the men's team, on the men's side. I think the signings that Bradley Pritchard has made
22:28have been very impressive. The 12 confirmed players so far all have a pedigree either of
22:35Isthmian Premier or above and that's fantastic. Maybe one or two actually have only been playing
22:41South East, but they are teenagers or 20, 21 year olds themselves and have the pedigree potentially to
22:50perform on this level. So I think if you build it from the back, you've got a great goalkeeper in
22:55Louis Rogers, who's coming from Hastings. There's several seasons of experience now with Hastings,
23:00Lansing, even back at Upfield back in the day when I was watching him there. In front of him,
23:06you've got two great defenders in Daniel Bowery and Ian Gale, who played in the Isthmian Premier for
23:12Yonks now. You've got a really good midfielder, Hassan Ibrahim, who played for Cray Valley.
23:19Claire Masiedu, who was very impressive at wingback for Cray Valley last season. Both of them played in the
23:24FA Cup run they had when they played Charlton Athletic. You've got interesting young players
23:29like Finlay Chadwick in midfield coming from Worthing. I believe Ollie Starkey is all but
23:35confirmed. There was a confirmation that went out and then it was withdrawn, but I think he should be
23:41at Lewis going forward. So that's another good signing. And the most impressive one they left until
23:45last in terms of a couple of weeks ago now, Jordan Maguire Drew. I think a name that anyone in Sussex
23:53would recognize either from his Brighton Academy days or his spell at Worthing or his spells at
23:59various different football league teams. So a winger slash number 10 slash potentially a striker who could
24:05do a lot of damage in the Isthmian Premier and he hasn't played that low for about a decade. So he should
24:12bring a lot of experience there to help a younger squad in some regards, but also the goal scoring
24:19pedigree and the assisting pedigree and the one remaining spot that needs to be filled is a striker
24:27and out and out number nine, which Lewis had their struggles with last season. And there were hopes
24:32maybe that Gianluca Botti would return having left Tumbridge Angels, surprisingly, when Craig Nelson
24:37came in, but he's decided to go to Horsham, which is great for him. So Lewis will be on the lookout and
24:44they've done all right in their two friendly so far. They beat Eastbourne United 3-1 last Saturday.
24:51They went away to Kent a bit closer to Bradley Pritchard and some of the players in midweek. They
24:56won 4-0 there against Corinthian FC. So, you know, everything looks good so far. And I even heard that
25:04Bradley Pritchard brought himself on at centre-back for the second half of the game against Eastbourne
25:08United, which considering his height and considering the fact he told me that he wasn't going to be
25:13playing this season, it was rather surprising, but needs must, I suppose. And it will probably
25:18only be at this stage of pre-season that he does it. But no, I think positive signs on the men's side
25:23so far and they'll keep building and look at the trialists they've had in these two games and
25:29potentially announce a few more signings in the next couple of weeks, I would say.
25:33And we're sticking with the Lewis team, Will. The women have been in the news again this week with a
25:37perhaps surprising development about their future. What's the latest there?
25:42Well, it's a very interesting case, to be honest, because this picks up where we left off almost two
25:51years ago now. And I believe it was November 2023 when the Lewis FC board of directors stated that
25:58the proposed investment from the Mercury 13 sort of conglomerate, putting together various people in
26:06sports media, sports, well, former players, sports business, so on, they were going to take over
26:13the Lewis FC women. They were going to buy out the club, essentially. But it fell apart at the time.
26:19And I don't believe that it was left with either we're going to continue with other potential investors
26:30or we're going to be now sort of bending off the idea of selling off the club, basically.
26:37I don't think there was a definitive answer either way. So you could look at it that this latest news
26:44isn't surprising, or you could look at it that it is. I think, as a Lewis FC owner myself, and I have
26:51been for several years, and I should probably say that before anything. So I do have a personal opinion
26:56on the matter, while also being a journalist and a reporter and looking at both sides.
27:01I found it surprising, personally, that the news came out now, that they were looking for new
27:09investors, particularly so soon before the start of the season. I would have thought, had they been
27:15planning this, it would have come out in early May, for example. And then you have the whole summer
27:20to gauge opinion, to hold a vote, and to then have an outcome. Now that we're in mid-July,
27:27mid to late July, the news came out last week, via an email to all owners, saying that the board
27:35have come to a conclusion on this idea, and they do want to sell off the women's team, ideally a
27:40majority stake, in order to get the biggest investment to go back into the club. And they
27:46have said that there will be an owner's vote on it. It will take place over the course of a week,
27:50from next Thursday, the 24th, until the following Thursday. Whether that allows enough time for
27:56people to submit their thoughts, that's not really down to me. Some people will have opinions that
28:02it doesn't, some people will. Really, it doesn't allow for a democratic process, you could argue,
28:11because they have said that regardless of the outcome of the vote, they will proceed with their
28:17proposal, essentially. And they aim to sell off the women's club by September, if I understand
28:26correctly, all the information that was sent to the owners last week. So they have admitted that
28:34they may not be able to tell owners the identity of potential investors to the club, because that
28:39could scupper a deal if the identity is revealed, and then it gets out into the press and to the public. And
28:44I think they fear the same result of the Mercury 13 investment or proposed investment from 2023.
28:54So they don't want a repeat of that. What they do want is cash coming into the club. I think they
29:01have admitted that being a fan owned club, they do not have the resources to support the Equality FC
29:07model, which they do believe in to their very core. And they are willing to die on that hill of Equality
29:12FC and paying their women's team and their men's team and treating them both very much the same,
29:17which I applaud. And I think is the future, you know, ideally, because it's used in tennis,
29:24it's been used in other sports. Now, every sport is trying to jump on improving women's sport and
29:30supporting women's sport and having equality in both. And I think that that will be the future for
29:36non-league football eventually. But Lewis feel that they can't support it with a fan-owned model
29:42right now. So whether that sticks to their constitution or whether they will divert from
29:49their constitution and have to review it and make changes, that's up in the air at the moment.
29:55I think as far as being an owner goes, when you've signed up to be an owner, you signed up to be an
30:01owner of the men's team, the women's team, and all other operations that the club run. If you're no
30:06longer than an owner of the women's team, does your ownership then have to be reviewed? I think that
30:11leads to a very important and interesting conversation there. So there are a lot of questions unanswered at
30:18the moment. And to their credit, the board of directors have tried to answer as many questions that they
30:23believe people will have in their email. And as I say, it was a 5,500 word plus email sent out to
30:30owners. So they've tried to cover all bases where they can, but there are a lot of conversations still
30:36to be had. There was a conversation between owners. There was a meeting of owners at the club on
30:42Wednesday night. And there will be a lot of back and forth between owners, fans, and the board at the
30:48moment. But the board have their way, and the board will proceed with what they believe is the
30:56right route. And they've been voted in, and they think they have the right to do that. They think
31:01based on the vote that was held in 2023 to accept the Mercury 13 investment, that they have the right to
31:08explore investment. So that's their decision right now. And ultimately, owners have to respect it. But
31:14there will be a lot more conversation about the whole topic, really.
31:19Yeah, plenty going on there. And I'm sure you'll be all over it for us at sussexworld.co.uk
31:23forward slash sport. With the National League South fixtures having come out last week, and as we
31:28discussed on our previous podcast, we thought we'd take a look at other news coming out of our three
31:33Sussex Step 2 sides, starting with Worthing, where Steve, you've been talking to Chris Adita about his
31:37latest signings, one of whom's had quite an impact already.
31:41Yes. There was two or three, well, two new signings and one retention announced sort of
31:48towards the end of last week. Brad Dollahan has come back to Worthing. He had a, he's made quite a
31:55big impact with them before, sort of came through the ranks, broke into the first team and did very
31:59well at the end of the, not this season, just on the previous one, as Worthing was seeking promotion.
32:05He then went off to West Ham, but he has now been released by West Ham, and Worthing got him back.
32:12And on the day that they announced they'd got him back, they were playing at West Ham 11 in a friendly.
32:18Brad came on and scored a hat-trick. Just to sort of prove the point to West Ham a little bit of,
32:24you know, maybe you shouldn't have let me go. So great signing for Worthing because they, you know,
32:30they've now got some really good options up front. I spoke to Chris, I've been speaking to Chris Adita
32:35most weeks over the close season about how the squad's coming together. And he's very happy with
32:39his sort of mixture of forwards. He's got five different forwards, all a little bit different,
32:45different potential partnerships there, different combinations if he wanted to play sort of three
32:50across the front with a couple of wide guys. So yeah, he's very happy on that front. And they beat
32:58West Ham 4-1 last weekend, although they can't read too much into results for friendlies. I think
33:04very big crowd there. They've managed to attract 2,600 to that game, which for a friendly is amazing.
33:09Yeah.
33:11I'm pleased by that. And I think, you know, Chris Adita was hoping that most of those would have gone
33:15away quite positive about how the squad for the new season is coming together. The other bit of work
33:20he's done is at the other end of the pitch where he signed Stacey on loan from MK Dons, his goalkeeper,
33:28and played against the West Ham 11 and actually got an assist for the first Worthing goal. Long
33:34kick upfield that Bailey Smith then put away quite nicely. Some people may have seen that goal on
33:40YouTube, not a really nice finish. So Chris Adita was worried about the goalkeeping situation. He
33:48thought it was a bit of a weakness with a couple of guys they had last season. He felt they conceded
33:53too many goals from set pieces. He thinks that the goalkeeper he's got in, the number one choice
33:58for goalie he's got in, Seb Stacey, will mean they are much improved in that area. They've also re-signed
34:07Taylor Seymour, a very promising goalkeeper, will be very well known around Sussex, played for a number
34:12of Sussex clubs. He's had a tough couple of years with injury, but he is now very close to
34:18full fitness, had an ACL injury that kept him out most of last season. He's likely to be fit again
34:25sometime in August, I think by the end of August. So he will be starting the season number two,
34:30pushing Stacey for that starting spot in the league. But Chris Agata has started to have four
34:37sessions a week with his players, Worthing are moving, quite sensible I think, moving gradually to
34:43a full-time model. They haven't gone full-time overnight, but four sessions a week instead of
34:48two. And Chris Agata said that's already making a world of difference. So much more time to get
34:53ideas across to players, to get them to put things into practice, rather than just having them on a
34:59Tuesday night and Thursday night, and not even a Tuesday night if there was a game, that sort of thing.
35:03So him and his staff are really sort of feeling the benefit of that, and he thinks that's going to
35:08make a big difference. And he feels that the type of players they've signed are the ones that will
35:13buy into that. They're good listeners, they're good characters. He's brought a couple of experienced
35:20people that will be sort of leaders on the pitch. Aaron Rossin, of course, back in the playing
35:24squad as well, is another one in that category. So yeah, all very positive so far, they're not worthy.
35:29I think they've got another friendly this Saturday, 19th at home to Chatham, and a few more games to
35:34come over that. I think they're going to Chris's old club, Hastings, later in July for a friendly,
35:40so that'd be an interesting one. Two sort of new-look teams there going head-to-head.
35:45But yeah, generally, a lot of optimism in the air down at Woodside Road.
35:49And Will, it's well chronicled that East Von Borough go into the new season, the new manager,
35:52following Matt Gray's appointment. You were the first reporter to interview him on the day he was
35:56appointed. What did you make of him and what did he have to say? And what do you think the
36:00business borough have done so far this summer? Yeah, it was a very interesting experience going
36:06down there and being the first on the ground to break the news really, because nobody was told in
36:12advance who it was going to be. So I rocked up there at Pirie Lane and was introduced to Matt Gray and
36:19a great big imposing figure, a great big hunk of a man. They love a ball manager down at East
36:26Vaughan Borough. So, you know, I'm looking already at the trend there. Fewer hair models are better.
36:33And literally, I had about five minutes to get to know the fella before going to camera to interview
36:39him. So it was really interesting actually getting to know a bit about his background,
36:43about being at Spurs before having an injury when he was young and then making a career of it,
36:49of course, but not quite achieving the things he wanted to on the playing side. But then
36:53on the management side, he was very much an assistant, more of a backroom guy before
36:59being handed the role at Sutton and doing transformative things with the team really.
37:05Obviously that coincided with a bit of investment in the club and the whole ambition around Sutton very
37:11much increased at the time. But to change the results on the pitch the way he did there and
37:16to inspire them to win in the National League and getting into League Two was tremendous and
37:22had a great first season in League Two and things didn't quite pan out in the second season. They had
37:28a bit of struggle there and then he ultimately left the club. He's had a bit of time out of management
37:32and then has come back at East Vaughan Borough for the right kind of opportunity at the right time.
37:37And it's very easy for him to get down to East Vaughan Borough to spend time with the club to
37:44spending, you know, all the necessary required time that he has with the owners, the players,
37:49the committee, everything like that. And yeah, I think I was very impressed on the day by the scale
37:57of his ambition and the scale of Simon Leslie's ambition as well, because I was very lucky to meet
38:02Simon on the day and chat a little bit through with him. Obviously, everyone knows East Vaughan
38:07Borough are a very ambitious club at the moment and going full time and wanting to achieve National
38:13League and potentially things beyond that is very much their stated aim at the moment. So nobody should
38:20be surprised by the stature, I suppose, of the signings that they've made this summer. They're bringing in
38:27quite a few players with EFL experience, maybe not directly from the EFL club, some of them are,
38:34but they are of a standard where you should expect that Borough will be competing again, very much at
38:41the top of the division. And, you know, albeit, you know, their friendly result on Saturday
38:46was a 3-1 defeat away at Farman Town. But yeah, what can you read into a first friendly where
38:5320 players were used and they all had about 45 minutes maximum each. There were trialists in
38:59there alongside the players that they've signed and obviously players to bed in because half of
39:04last season's squad have ultimately left the club. And that is something I was surprised by because I
39:09spoke to Matt and I said, do you want to keep the squad here because we've had a very successful
39:13season and so on. But while he said yes and made all the right noises on the day,
39:19ultimately some things haven't panned out. Some players have left for bigger opportunities,
39:22of course. You know, Yaya Bamber going to Forest Green Rovers, excellent for him. And
39:28Courtney Clark going to Walsall, you know, tremendous opportunities for these players. Having
39:33had a good season, they've been spotted and they're taking an opportunity, which is absolutely right
39:36to support. But some other players being released and
39:42I suppose some very tough decisions being made on who's going to remain in the squad. So
39:47the scale of the players they brought in, you know, led by Craig Eastmond as captain,
39:52I think impresses upon everyone just how badly they want to escape from the National League
39:59South this season. And, you know, they could be blown out of the water by the scale of ambition of
40:03other clubs. Dagenham and Redbridge, Cotario signing Andy Carroll. They've stolen all the
40:08headlines in the last week or so. Good for them, but Borough will fancy their chances of
40:14certainly going up or potentially even winning the league.
40:18And Matt, if you don't mind us questioning the question,
40:21master, turning the tables a little bit. We need to talk about Horsham. They're obviously gearing
40:26up for their first National South season after winning the title last year and doing the double.
40:33You've been talking to Dom this week. There's a little bit of talk about the budget, isn't there?
40:37And maybe a little bit of surprising news on that front. But how's Dom and how do you think
40:41they're coming together for the start? Yeah, Dom's fine. I think, as we mentioned
40:45many times before, 15 of last season's double winning squad have been retained for this season,
40:51with three being Joel Daly, Dan Adjikai and Chris Dixon departing. But chatting to Dom,
40:58I think it was this week. And I think partly the reason that they went is due to budgetary reasons.
41:06And Horsham chairman, Kevin Borough, he conducted a three-part interview,
41:10which you can read on Horsham's website. He basically said that players will let go
41:14for budgetary reasons. And this budget means that the team will have a smaller squad this season.
41:20And quoting directly from Horsham's website, the chairman said, I'm sure Dom would have loved
41:24a bigger budget than we can afford for next season. That has meant that he's had to make some tough
41:28decisions to make the available funds go as far as he can. You will see a few new faces, but the bulk
41:32of the side will be the very good players who won the title in the Sussex Senior Cup with a couple
41:36of new additions. Sadly, he's all been given a budget, which means he has also had
41:40to let some players go. Most of those have now been announced on the club website.
41:44There's one or two final pieces in the jigsaw to be completed there. But the overall size of the
41:48top tier of our squad for next season is going to have to be a little bit smaller than this season,
41:52but just finished for budget reasons. Chatting to Dom as well, it's quite surprising,
41:58chatting to Dom as well, their business is done. That's them done and dusted. I don't know
42:03if that's them done and dusted in the sense that they have the players they have in now,
42:07but just haven't got around to announcing them yet. They've so far announced three forwards,
42:12Gianluca Botti, James Roberts and Rhys Murphy, formerly of Dorkin Wanderers.
42:20But to kind of combat that, they've released something called, I think it's the 1881 club,
42:24where you can pay a little bit more on your season ticket and that goes directly towards
42:29Dom's playing budget, basically. An interesting tactic, and we see many people pick up on that.
42:38But I think you can look at the budget news of one of two ways. You can think that's a really
42:43sensible thing to do because you don't want to spend loads of money to finish bottom,
42:47and then you're in a bit of a hole in the Isthmian Premier when you've got no money, basically.
42:53But at the same time, I think fans are quite keen to see investment, so they can have quite a good
42:57a good fist of it. It's not to say that the players that they've kept on aren't good enough.
43:01Famous FA Cup runs where they've knocked out Dorkin Wanderers twice and run Barnsley Close would
43:05suggest that, yes, the players that he has at his disposal at the moment are good enough.
43:11But I think people wanted to see a bit of quality on top of that. I know that Greg Luer has been
43:15training with the team at the moment, another forward. He played for Horsham a little bit last
43:20season, and then I don't know how to describe it other than the fact that he just disappeared.
43:24He played for a month and was never seen ever again. So while nothing is announced,
43:28Horsham have named him as one of their players in pre-season, not giving him the name Trialist,
43:33so it's not as if it's a secret that they're trying to hide necessarily. But yeah, it'll be
43:39a very interesting season. I've spoken chatting to Dom, it's another angle that we're going for next week.
43:44He did say quite interestingly that a good season for Horsham will be them just to be
43:48solely staying in the division. It's hard to tell with Dom because he does like to play things down,
43:53bless him. He never gets too giddy. But I think with the news of the budget, I think that that would be,
43:58and as Will said, there's quite a lot of heavy hitters in that division this season. You look at
44:02Dagenham have also got Torquay United, Dorkin, as well as Eastbourne Borough and Worthing. Yeah,
44:08I think they would gladly bite your hand off for a place won above relegation. They're at home to Bromley
44:14on Saturday in pre-season before another home game against AFC Wimbledon under-19. They're yet to win
44:20in pre-season, losing to Chittista 2-1 and drawing one-on with Walton and Horsham and Burgess Hill,
44:25but as we've said before, and as Dom quite rightly says, what can you glean from pre-season friendly
44:31when half the squad probably won't play for that team next season. So yeah, are we going to make early
44:37predictions for the National League South? We're on the topic. Go on, Steve, we'll start with you.
44:40I'm going to put the kiss of death on it. I do apologise, Worthing fans, but I think they will
44:47finish highest of the three clubs. Whether or not they gain promotion, I'm not sure.
44:52Yeah, it's very difficult to call. Just for what it's worth, you're saying that what Dom is predicting
44:58for Horsham, Chris Agata rates Horsham's squad very highly, as it is at the moment, and thinks they
45:04will do well and thinks they could even be pushing for the playoffs. So there we go. We'll have to see what
45:09Dom thinks of that opinion. Yeah. We'll have to get them both on the same podcast and just leave
45:13them to it. It'll be good fun. I think it's very difficult to call which of Worthing and Eastbourne
45:20are going to do best this season. I think Horsham will do it. I think Horsham will stay up. I think
45:25they might be bottom half, but I think they'll stay up. Might be around 14th, 15th, 16th, which they'd be happy with.
45:32Yeah, that's a good first season for them, isn't it?
45:36At the moment, I'd say Worthing to be the top Sussex finisher. I think Worthing and Eastbourne will
45:42both be right in the promotion and playoff mix again. Will they have improved enough to make
45:51that leap and actually be one of the clubs that goes up? Not sure, because a lot of other clubs down
45:55down the road. You talked about Dagenham. Torquay will have a good go again. Maidstone will have
46:00a good go again. Only just missed out in the final, didn't they? So it's going to be very, very hard.
46:04It's one of those leagues that gets harder every year, really. But I would go for Worthing to be
46:09the top Sussex team, but Worthing and Eastbourne both to be in that top seven for a playoff place again.
46:14Will, how do you see it at this early stage?
46:18I really do hate to chime in with everyone else, but I agree. I think Worthing will benefit from
46:24the continuity and the consistency they have, and they get a lot of praise for their work,
46:29the work that Chris does, the work that George does running it all, and the work that the squad
46:34do, bringing it all together. I think they're a very impressive club from top to bottom, and
46:39I can only see them doing well this season. I think the model is set up for success there,
46:46and there will be new things to announce, and it will be a very exciting season there, I'm sure.
46:52So yeah, I think they'll do very well. I think Eastbourne Borough, their ambition is very clear,
46:59and that can put pressure on at times. I think if they get off to a slightly bad start, people might
47:04look in on themselves and say, why aren't we doing this right? Why aren't we doing that right?
47:08And you could lead to a lot of sticky situations by doing that. I think both will be roughly where they
47:15were last season. I think they will both be in that playoff top six, top seven area of the table.
47:23I can't see anything other than that. But Horsham, I was really impressed by what I saw last season
47:29when they played Lewis and other occasions when I've seen them play as well. I think they will have
47:34a strong season. I think they could well be mid-table. I really hope they're not in the relegation
47:41battle because they are a really good example of Sussex non-league football at its best.
47:46Very well-run club, great facilities, great players, real good community spirit around the club. So
47:52I wish them all the best. I hope they can be in mid-table and have a really good season like that.
47:58Absolutely. My only one request for Horsham this season would be no FA Cup run, please,
48:02because the first round falls the day before I fly to Japan for three weeks and I can't be going
48:07up to Barrow on the day before. If you could arrange that for me, Dom, I know you listen. That'd be
48:15brilliant. Thank you very much. And finally, we'll ring the AFC, a team you cover extensively are
48:20looking forward to playing in SCFL Division One this season after earning promotion from the
48:23mid-Sussex Premier Division. How have things been going in the off-season?
48:27Have there been many incomings and outgoings and how has pre-season as a whole been going?
48:33Yes. Well, you will probably have noticed I've brought out my Ringmer mug in solidarity here.
48:38And because, well, exactly. You can promote them in any way you can. Well, I've joined the
48:45committee this summer and I'm now head of media at the club. So, you know, shameless marketing is
48:50basically my job now. So, yeah, I'm very happy to report that it's been a very good summer at Ringmer.
48:58Tuesday and Thursday training sessions for the first team, sort of ramping up all the
49:01professionalism all the time. Previously, it was just Tuesday nights. I think everyone expects
49:07that it will be a difficult season because you're stepping up from the mid-Sussex where there were 13
49:12teams last season and had 24 league matches plus like two or three cup matches. So you have some
49:19weeks where you aren't playing. And this season now in Southern Combination, you'll have 40 plus
49:26fixtures with league and cup and FA Vars, all of these things included. So it will be a strenuous season.
49:33It will take its toll and there will be obviously a bigger squad. There'll be bigger demands on the
49:40volunteers, the committee, the management staff, everyone who's involved in the club. But it's
49:46been going well so far. Been really good responses at training, some decent players joining the club,
49:51decent young talent that's been confirmed so far, coming in from under 18 teams, under 23 teams
49:56elsewhere in Sussex, Eastbourne Town, Eastbourne United, Whitehawk, Lewis. So yeah, Ringma are the
50:04club now that can be looked towards to being a great opportunity for young players, great facilities
50:10there, 3G pitch set up for senior teams. So players, you know, it's competitive to get in the first team.
50:18And even if they don't get in the first team, they go second, third, fourth team. And as a club
50:23coming up from mid Sussex to Southern Combination, it's really exciting time. Yeah, I mean, friendly
50:30so far have been a decent barometer of where Ringma are at, because there were two wins over Southern
50:37Combination Division two sides, Howsham and Worthingtown. But then there were defeats to Southern
50:42Combination Prem teams. Nittle Common lost 3-1 and then Hayward Teeth on Tuesday night lost 6-1. Now, 6-1
50:48sounds extreme, but it wasn't really a 6-1 kind of game. Of course, I would say that. But there were
50:53three goals in the last 10 minutes. And really at that stage, everyone was thinking, oh, 3-1,
50:58that's a decent result to take from this game. And maybe you take your eye off the ball a little
51:02bit, but it wasn't really a 6-1 game. The better, you know, yardstick by which to measure it again
51:08will be this Saturday going away to Seaford. So obviously recently promoted from Division One,
51:15led the way last season. Paul Wise, a very impressive manager, and a lot of players and staff who've
51:21been at both clubs in the past. So it'll be a really good battle to see where Ringmer are right
51:26now. And yeah, it'll be a really useful learning as well ahead of some difficult tests this season,
51:32because the likes of Godalming, those London, sort of South London, Surrey-based teams will be
51:40expected to do very well in Division One. And the rest of Sussex, it's a bit uncertain.
51:45If teams have got money, then they might do well. But Ringmer unabashedly say, we're not playing
51:52players. So, you know, they've got to stick to that. And we'll see how it goes. We're not
51:56expecting to pull up any trees, but hopefully have a good season, consolidate and move forward
52:02from there. It'll be really good. Absolutely. Best of luck to Ringmer,
52:05and best of luck to all the sides we have mentioned in this week's podcast. Our thanks to Will for joining
52:10us, as well as Steve, for all his insights. Don't forget to keep checking out sussexworld.co.uk
52:16for all the best coverage of local football, plus your local Sussex weekly newspapers. Thank you
52:21very much for listening and watching, and we will see you when we see you. Thank you.
Comments