Sussex Best

Littlehampton Town v Wandgas

Newhaven v Sutton Common Rovers

Peacehaven & Telscombe v Peacehaven & Telscombe

Worthing United v Mile Oak

Worthing v Watford U21s

I don't take much notice of the football when I'm at games normally, at pre-season friendlies, the attention lowers to almost zero. Combined with this, is that, due to a variety of reasons, friendlies kick off at all sorts of times. Therefore, my quest today was to try and get to watch some football at as many games as possible.

Sussex was my friend, as there were games fairly well spread out from 1100 until 1600. When planning a days football, there can be late changes to know kick off times and sometimes venues. However, this was like no other. In between planning the day on Monday, and attending the games;-

- One team went bust

- Two of the teams merged

- One new club stated

- Three opposition teams dropped out

- Two changes of kick off time

- One change of venue

- One game was delayed by two hours for a combination of reasons

All will be explained.

So it was the 0701 HST off Swindon, seen here leaving Reading after I had alighted.

I joined the 0734 Great Western unit heading for Gatwick, with the obligatory airport bound travellers rushing around with a huge suitcase.

The route is known as the North Downs line, following as it does the escarpment east of Guildford.

A well-kept secret on the line, is some trackside topiary. Known as Arthur's seat, it was first crafted a hundred years ago in memory of a rail worker who was struck by a train.

 

The mornings main activity seemed to be harvesting, with regular bailing action being observed en-route.

Into the mini-New Street black hole that is Gatwick station, with less than enthusiastic returning holiday makers trudging to the train. A noticeable lack of England tops was seen, only a 1982 red away kit being spotted.

Onwards was a rare event. A Southern train running, and almost to time. This service is one that splits on route, the front half going to Southampton and the rear half to Bognor.

Departing Gatwick right past the end of the runway.

My first game was an advertised 1100 kick off at Littlehampton Town for a friendly against the Unknown Wandegas. Littlehampton's ground is a lovely little venue near the town centre. Shared with the cricket club it has a rickety main stand and a quaint old pavilion.  Use of Google images here, so if does belong to you and there is an issue, just let me know. 

 

However, checking Twitter, this announcement had been made since I had last looked the previous evening.

So off to Bognor it was. This took me past the South Downs this time….

….and Arundel castle.

I alighted at the junction station of Barnham.

With a ten-minute connection, I grabbed a bacon sandwich, with the station cafe also selling copies of 2002/3 season Aston Villa programmes. Obviously.

Eventually my unit for the short hop to Bognor arrived, this being the back half of the train I had just got off, after it split at Horsham and this half having called all shacks down the Arun valley.

Into Bognor.

The station is relatively unchanged from its Victorian heyday, with the traditional newstand at the platform entrance.

Bognor isn't exactly a shithole, but when your population consists mostly of retired people from Crawley, you're up against it. The pedestrianised Main Street was like walking down the M25 but with mobility scooters instead of cars. I headed for the sea front.

The less than enticing pier was eschewed for the mini golf. However, it was noticeable that the holes were identical to those at Hastings. Broken dreams.

So instead it was off to the town's only guide pub. This had the least promising write up and of any GBG "This large town centre Whetherspoon was previously a Sainsburys store, part of a concrete 60s retail development at one end of the main shopping street, parking is available in the adjacent multi-storey". It was cleared with a Hepworth - Prospect, an Oakleaf - Donkeys Delight, and an Irving - Spinnaker.

Onward was a walk to the north of the town where the Leisure Centre was located, being part of a school.

Littlehampton Town 6 v Wandgas 2, pre-season friendly, attendance 7.

Littlehampton Town were formed in 1896 and played in the West Sussex league until joining the Sussex County league in 1926. Remarkably, they stayed in Division 1 for almost 70 seasons, before their first relegation in 1994. During that period, they had been runners up 6 times, but eventually won it in 1990. During that season they also got to the FA Cup first round. Normally record attendances are rough estimates of a crowd at floodlight opening game against, nearly always, Plymouth Argyle or 'Graham Taylors' Watford. However, the game against Northampton, as recently as 1990, when Health and Safety was yet to have 'gone mad', but was still very evident, somehow 4,000 spectators watched the game at Littlehampton, a ground with no terracing, a 200 seater stand and hard standing on two sides only as the ground is shared with a cricket pitch. Anyway, they have bounced between the divisions since, but won the title again two years ago, turning down promotion with the legendary response to the FA 'because we just don't want to'.

Wandgas. No idea. There has been a Wandgas Sports kicking no around the Surrey Leagues (all 25 of them) for years, playing at Worcester Park. It is a ground I've not ticked and I assume these to be the same outfit. You often get South London sides in Sussex for pre-season as they will play a Saturday afternoon friendly, then have a night out in Brighton. I assume this to be the case here.

Arriving near kick off time and it as obvious this was just a multi-use 3G pitch, with no spectator facilities. The match officials were waiting to start the game as a Portsmouth academy training session came to an end. From what I saw, if I was a Pompey supporter, come 2026, I wouldn't aim to be too reliant on your youth team. No Sammy Igoes here.

Eventually the game did get underway, but it was accompanied by an almighty downpour. I was using only my phone camera which doesn't like too much rain, and refused to co-operate. So this is a picture of the sodden players returning to the changing rooms at half time, with me taking advantage of the minimum amount of shelter here.

It was time to head off to my next game, and back to the station, which had seemed to dodged the worst of the weather.

Then it was back to Barnham.

Noticeable was the new platform edge signing. southern got a kicking for an incident involving a person falling between the platform and train, and being killed (of note, this was a guard worked train). One of the observations from RAIB was that the signage only mentioned a gap, not a step. So now the warning is very specific. Although 'gap/step' does sound like a genre of Drum and Bass.

My next service was a very crowded Coastway service.

This took me into the cavernous Brighton station.

Southern services were being cancelled all over the place. At least they are being creative on the phone information screens, one being cancelled due to a 'shortage of train crew', and the next one due to a 'train crew shortage'.

One of the casualties of Southern's emergency/permanent timetable reduction, has been the Seaford branch, with buses replacing trains. Happily, this is not the case at weekends, and I had a train taking me to my next destination, Newhaven, departing from the mysteriously wooden platform 8.

Departing Brighton along the East coast way, you immediately cross the imposing London Road viaduct, which was looking down on a very wet Brighton, with the rain having now caught us up.

Next of note was Falmer, with the Amex stadium behind.

We trundled along, through Lewes, and into Newhaven Town.

Newhaven sits on the river Ouse, and is very much the industrial port on the Sussex part of the South Coast. Despite not looking that big, the cross channel ferry port for the route to Dieppe is just on the left.

Occupational determined car parking, a new one on me.

Those council public health managers with their crazy sense of humour.

A riverside promenade has been created, ending in this lovely seating area. However, the views over the old derelict terminal and a scrap metal wharf, hadn't captured the public’s imagination.

I also passed on the opportunity, and instead headed towards Newhaven fort, as below it lies the Recreation Ground home of Newhaven FC.

Newhaven 1 v Sutton Common Rovers, pre-season friendly. Attendance 27.

Despite being a town of considerable size, Newhaven have never amounted to much on the non-league scene. They have a long history, back to 1889, and were founder members of the County league in 1920, but have always spent long periods in division 2. The brightest period for the club was in the late eighties and early nineties, when they were challenging at the top of the Sussex County league. However, the limited facilities at the ground forced them to spend big on one of the most hideous monstrosities in non-league, which as good as bankrupt the club, and has never been completed to this day.

At some point in the eighties, a group of sinister south-east Londoners got together, and decided that they were going to fuck up the heads of anyone involved in non-league. How they went about doing this was by setting up a series of clubs, circulating around the names of Sutton Common and Mole Valley. At any point, there would be one, two or three clubs in existence, but all changing their name, home ground, and kit each season, so that even a whole season of Who do You a Think You Are? couldn't hope to solve the genealogy of the clubs. At various points there have been predators, SCRs, Kingfishers, Ploughs, Grapes, centre 21s, even a bloody lit ten tree. Having said all that, the current set up with Sutton Common Rovers seems very enthusiastic and progressive, currently ground sharing with Sutton United and playing in the Combined Counties league. Their badge bears the motto 'Together we will make it happen', which sounds like the chorus of a Whitesnake power ballad.

The entrance was cheery with two young girls on the gate, the £2 entry being the only enforced charge of the day, but I was very happy to give it.

The game was originally advertised as a double header with the reserve teams, kicking off at 1400 and 1600 respectively. However, the reserves game dropped out, but this kick off remained at 1400, conveniently for me.

On my last visit to the ground, an evening game before an overnight sailing across to France, the ground was in a sorry state. It was pleasing to see that a lot of work had been done.

The main stand still stood, looking as brutal as it ever had. Still no attempt has been made to move the changing rooms or social club over, these instead occupying some ramshackle huts in the corner by the entrance. However, whereas before it looked decaying, the stand has been tidied up and window and doors secured.

The most notable change is that it is now actually in use for seating, a lower tier in place and stairways added at each end to access the upper stand.

The players tunnel has become the mower store.

Trying to walk round the pitch was all a bit krypton factor assault course, traipsing through undergrowth...

 

....hurdling rubbish bins....

 

.....and limboing under guy ropes as the pitch side railings were being used to hold the perimeter fence up.

Further seating had been added with temporary terracing at both ends. Why this is, I don't know. Either it was a quick fix to satisfy the ground graders, or an opportunity arose to acquire some seating. I would tend towards the latter because, much as most non-league grounds in London have some remnant from the Olympic aquatic arena, when Brighton vacated the Withdean, the Sussex league teams were locust like in devouring the temporary stands for their own use.

It doesn't matter how many proper seats there are in a ground, if there is a pile of bricks or a wooden bench, someone will always occupy that instead. Also, it does look like the bloke is chained to the floodlight, but there is a @nonleaguedogs on the end of the lead.

I was one of the very few to make use of this new seating, as I had spotted my second @keepers_towels of the season.

Rather more bizarrely, at the other end, the away keeper, as well as having no towel, wore a short sleeved Christiano Ronaldo Real Madrid shirt. The crazy world of non-league.

One last look across the ground to the docks. By the end of the game, the ferry had docked in the background.

After a very enjoyable period watching the game, it was time for me to head off, this time the bus being my chosen mode.

 

Out of Newhaven, we immediately climbed onto the cliff tops.

 

I alighted at the appropriately named Seaview part of Peacehaven.

My destination was Peacehaven and Telscombe. Despite having been here before, I had always thought they were called Peacehaven and Templecombe, so I learnt something today, though probably not something to change my life too drastically. That aside, this is one of the most bizarre games I been to.

Reason 1. The club went bust on Monday night. For reasons I'll come on to, the club was heavily in debt and was therefore wound up at the AGM. However, move forward two days to Wednesday night, and a meeting is called to set up a new club, Peacehaven and Telscombe community Football Club, to take on all the old clubs assets, but not the debts. Huzzah!

Reason 2. This was meant to be another double header, with Hellenic league Highmoor Ibis providing the first and reserve team opposition. However, they dropped out of both games yesterday evening, with various rumours circulating as to why (new club not sanctioned by FA, cancelled during week due to uncertainty, Highmoor in shit themselves). Rather than go without a fixture, instead it was decided that Peacehaven and Telscombe would have a 'competitive in-house' game.

So basically, a new club, that formed on Wednesday, using everything from a club that ceased to be on Monday, was playing its first ever game, against itself? Makes the Ronaldho keepers top seem normal.

Peacehaven & Telscombe ? V Peacehaven & Telscombe ?, pre-season friendly, att 130.

The cub was formed in the 1920s with the merger of Peacehaven Rangers and Telscombe Tye. They played in the Brighton leagues before climbing up to the Sussex county league in the late sixties, going on to become a force with five championship wins. However, by 2005 they found themselves in the third division. This resulted in a rapid rise up the leagues, winning their sixth title and moving up to the Isthmian, with promotion to the premier at the first attempt. However, decline has been just as rapid, being relegated straight away and then coming bottom of division 1 last season. I have no idea who (if anyone) was funding this, but it appears to have come to an abrupt halt, hence the winding up during the week. The new club are fan owned, with a target of 40k of share purchase being achieved.

The Wikipedia entry gives this overview of who you can expect to meet at the ground.

The ascent into the Isthmian, brought with it ground grading requirements.

In the county league, the club survived just with this covered extension from the club house. The DMAHWLP were very much in evidence.

On the farside, a multi section Atcost stand has been built, somewhat spooling the open views to the South Downs that have always been a feature of the ground.

Behind each goal, stands are present. This one offering some alternative cover, but no signs of the Hillbillies.

Not sure if this one is in the process of construction or dereliction.

Hilarious signage opportunities. It would have been even more hilarious if the play would actually have gone to this side of the pitch in the ten minutes I was waiting by the sign, so I could have got it as an action shot.

It was soon time to depart, back onto a Brighton and Hove coaster service.

This took us right along the famous white cliffs.

France was just about visible.

My intention on reaching Brighton was to get cheese. However, the excellent Brighton cheese shop appears to have closed, replaced by another appallingly punning hairdressers.

So it was back to the station, with its grand facade full of stag and hen parties, and British Transport Police.

For another packed East Coastway service....

....across to Lancing.

 

Worthing United 3 v Mile Oak 3, (Mile Oak won 3-4 on penalties). Grimbles and Snoobs memorial cup.

The match was being played in memory of Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt. These were Worthing United players who were on their way to a game last August when their car was hit by debris from a crashed jet which had been performing at the adjacent Shoreham air show.

An earlier game had taken place between friends of the two players, this game then followed, being the two clubs they were associated with.

Matthew Grimstone had played much of his time at Mile Oak, though at the time, both players were with Worthing United. Grimstone was also part of the ground staff at Brighton and Hove Albion.

Worthing United were formed in 1952 as Wigmore Athletic, named after a pub in the town. They immediately joined the Sussex County league, and were uneventful before merging with Southdown in the mid-eighties to form United. Since then, they have bobbed around the various divisions, but won division 2 in 2014, meaning they were in the premier division of the new Southern Combination.

Mile Oak and is a northern suburb of Portslade, to the west of Brighton. The football club was formed in 1960 and played in the Brighton league until the 1980s when promotion through the then combination took them to the County league. They have played there rather uneventfully since, and are currently in the Southern Combination division one.

The game was well attended, with entry by donation, the proceeds being split between two charities that the two players had previously represented. I decided I'd give whatever the highest away ticket price was in the Championship. I'd made this promise without knowing about Sheffield Wednesday's pricing structure. Still, a promise is a promise.

The game was actually being played at Culver Road, home of Lancing FC.

The ground however, is actually owned by the Sussex FA. Increasingly, cash rich county FAs (you know, the ones who moan about the lack of funding at grassroots level) are buying a non-league ground and using it as their headquarters. More often than not, they will add a very opulent stand, with masterful hospitality facilities and bars, but about three rows of ordinary spectator seating, which probably fits in with their view of how football should be.

The Sussex FA were forerunners in this, buying Lancing's ground in the early eighties. They immediately built an office complex alongside the main stand, which meant you couldn't see a quarter of the pitch. Speaking of the main stand, this was a wonderful old construction, that always looked like it was only a good sea wind from being blown down. However, it survived for over half a century until being replaced 10 years ago.

This was my first visit to the ground since the stand had been replaced. It is fair to say that the replacement offers more function wise, with dressing rooms, social club and refreshment facilities, along with a decent bank of seating. Much better than a normal FA provided facility, but lacking the appeal of its predecessor.

The pitch has also been replaced with a 3G offering, the garish pitch side markings coming straight from the sides of Peter Wrights head.

On the far touchline, is another backdrop of the South Downs, but far less impressive than Peacehaven.

The second @keepers_towel of the day.....

 

....and then the third.

Both teams appeared to have been working on visionary through balls in the close season. The snag is that these were actually from defenders attempting back passes. After a scramble at the Mile Oak end, the rather colossal number 23, threaded this back pass, through four defenders, for the striker to run onto, but was unable to beat the keeper.

However, Worthing went straight up the other end and did score.

This was going to be the last game of the day, but idle perusing of Twitter, revealed this.

So off it was, passed what at first glance was a very suspect outlet....

....but in reality, turned out marginally better.

Back to Lancing station...

....and onward to Worthing.

There is a strict rule in Worthing that any time a group of more than 8 adult males are present in the same place, they are obliged to form a non-league football club. Thus the town has Worthing FC, Worthing United, Worthing Town and Worthing Social, of the Isthmian, Southern Combination Premier, Brighton 1 and Brighton Premier, respectively. My original itinerary had United at the game I just attended, FC had a friendly against Watford U21s but this was at 1500, so it was the pick of Town or Social.

However, in more exiting mid-week developments, after long existences, the latter two clubs merged, and moved their game to 1500 on a playing field some way distant from any station. Oh Sussex football, why do you make things so difficult for me, although fair play to the inane transport planning for the traffic hold ups that game me this bonus game.

Worthing 2 v Watford U21s 0, Pre-season friendly. Att 336

Worthing FC are the premier team in the town. They are the oldest, being formed in 1886, playing in the West Susses league, before joining the Sussex county in the 1920s. The switch was due to a rule change which Worthing didn't like. This led to their nickname changing from the previous 'Mackerelmen' to 'the Rebels'. Given the choice between a tasty sounding Dagon, or someone who gets arsey about small print, I know which name I would rather have. As well as the ground, the club had been bequeathed massive amounts of land around it, which they were able to sell off bit by bit. This income gave them the opportunity to set their sights higher, and Straight after world war 2, they joined the London based Corinthian league, which developed through the Athenian, into the Isthmian by the late 1970s. They have stayed there ever since, currently residing in a long spell in division 1 south due to fluffing the play offs at such a rate to rival Reading. However, this was finally broken this season when they beat Faversham in the final to get promotion.

Watford had somehow managed to get promoted to, play a whole season in, and stay up, in the Premier League, without anyone noticing, primarily me. As to the rest of their history; allotment end, Elton John, Iveco, hornets, Graham Taylor, dodgy Italians, John Barnes, 1984 cup final, Loctite, blah blah blah.

All the land around the ground has long been sold off, including the training ground, and the stadium finds itself tightly hemmed in by post war development.

Dominating the ground is the main stand. This used to be a smaller wooden affair. However, in early May 1985, the stand caught fire. Luckily, no one got caught in the blaze, but the stand was completely gutted. The poignancy of the date is that it was the week before the Bradford fire. The replacement was this imposing structure, which is currently going through a refurb, hence only the back row of seats was in place.

On the far touchline is a small cover, constructed by the firm who built on the large training ground.

There is cover behind each goal, the near end is more popular as it also houses the supporters club.

Worthing's local rivals are Bognor Regis, aka the rocks. There were a couple of things to acknowledge this. Firstly, a banner behind the goal. It reads "I'd rather be a rebel than a rock", which is all a bit ‘bears beats battle star galatica’.

Secondly, some retro graffiti. No idea when it dates from, but I hope it is the mid-70s, as firstly, fair play to preserving it that long, and secondly, to have written this since then would just be embarrassing.

I had chance to walk round the ground, but on reaching the near end, Worthing scored from a free kick to make it 2-0.

However, the scorer remained on the floor, and the physio was called for. This remained the case, with more equipment and personnel being called for. After a 20-minute delay, an ambulance arrived. Checking train times, there was shortly a direct service to Gatwick, which I headed off to. This seemed to be the right choice as some time after, it was announced that the game was abandoned. I don't think this was out of any harrowing mindset, as the incident looked innocuous and the players were just stood around the pitch looking bored, more so that the game was now about two hours late.

I headed back to the station for my train.

On the journey we passed Shoreham airfield, where the air show was based that the plane had crashed at.

Further up the line at Three Bridges, we passed the new Thameslink depot with the new trains awaiting entry into service. These will eventually form a 2 minute headway service through central London.

Into Gatwick, with the airport still busy.

I changed for a North Downs service back to Reading, and onto a Bristol bound HST as far as Swindon. Leaving Didcot, the sun provided a fitting end of day backdrop across South Oxfordshire.