MATCH SPONSOR
Welcome Welcome everyone to The Continental Pilot Field as we welcome the staff, management, players and supporters of Hythe Town.
Club CEO/Chairman
Billy Wood
Today also marks the 600th appearance of club legend, ‘Super’ Sammy Adams. The word legend gets used a lot in football, but there is no denying the word fits perfectly for Sam. Congratulations to Mr Hastings himself! 600 not out! In the words of Ben Pope ‘Ashford get battered everywhere they go’ and on Saturday our team went to Ashford and in my opinion outplayed them for 90 minutes and we got our deserved 3 points, taking us 6 points clear at the top of the table. It’s one game at a time and hopefully today we deliver more points on the board.
Today let’s make it special for Sam by making as much noise as possible. You are the 12th man … BE PROUD, BE LOUD, BE UNITED!
COYU ...
Billy Billy Wood HUFC Chairman / Chief Executive Officer
‘SUPER’
SAMMY ADAMS 600 th APPEARANCE
Photo: Scott White Photography
www.hastingsunited.com www.facebook.com/HastingsUtd Twitter: @hastingsufc
Tributes to Sam Adams on reaching 600 appearances from Club President Dave Ormerod & Co-owner Daren Burney Back in November 2018 I had the honour of being one of the parties to make a presentation to Sam to mark his 500th appearance for the club. Since that date Sam was given a well-deserved testimonial match and today reaches an incredible milestone as he makes his 600th appearance for the club. Sam first signed for the club as an 18-year-old in 2005 and except for a brief spell at Hythe Town in season 2016-17 Sam has been a real loyal servant to the club. Congratulations on your fantastic achievement Sam and hopefully you will have many more years ahead of you playing for this great club.
Dave Ormerod President
In July of last year we were delighted to honour Sam with a thoroughly deserved testimonial game against Tottenham Hotspur. Since then he has given his commitment in every game wearing ‘The Claret’, to a point where today he will reach an incredible milestone of 600 appearances. A club record that may never be beaten in the modern-day game. Sam, on behalf of everyone at the Club we are proud to say you are truly ‘one of our own‘ and look forward to hearing the chant of ‘Super Sammy Adams’ for a long time to come.
Daren Burney Non Exec Director
HASTINGS UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB DIRECTORS, MANAGEMENT & OFFICIALS
CLUB DETAILS
DIRECTORS & SECRETARY
Co Name: Hastings United Football Club Limited Continental Pilot Field Elphinstone Rd Hastings TN34 2AX
Chairman / CEO / Director Billy Wood Vice Chairman / Director Pat McCrossan Director Hayley Clout Director Craig Barrow Director Ross Shewry-Maryan Director Peter Sherlock Non-Executive Director Daren Burney Company Secretary Dane Martin
Private Limited Company: Incorporated 24/9/1997 Company Registration Number: 03441850 Registered office address:
36 Cambridge Road Hastings East Sussex TN341DU
Ownership - Major shareholders: Bohemia Hastings LLP - 95.27% Daren Burney & Peter Sherlock 100% controlling party Telephone
01424 444635
CLUB PRESIDENT Dave Ormerod
Email club@hastingsunited.com Website www.hastingsunited.com
MEMBERS OF
FOOTBALL MANAGEMENT
Pitching In Isthmian Football League Sussex County Football Association
Director of Football Dean White FIRST TEAM MANAGEMENT & STAFF First Team Manager Gary Elphick Assistant Manager Andrew Brown First Team Coach Jon Meeney Coach Peter Heritage GK Coach / Opposition Scout Ben Cornelius Kit Coordinator/Matchday Physio Dane Martin Sports Therapist / Physio Paige Wise Performance Analyst James McCrossan
LIFE MEMBERS Les Britton Peter Eastman David Harding David Nessling Dave Ormerod Charles Pilbeam Tony Cosens
VICE PRESIDENTS C Barrow
J Downton
A Keen
U23 DEVELOPMENT SQUAD MANAGEMENT
OFFICIALS
U23 Manager
Club Secretary
Dane Martin
Commercial Director
Hayley Clout
Programme Editor
Paul Hoggard
Press Officer
Billy Wood
Public Address/Matchday Media Team: Eddie Denyer Pat McCrossan Nick Clarke Adam Smith (Twitter) Adam Carder (Radio) Matchday Liaison Officer Steph McCrossan 1st Team Photographer (M & W )
Scott White
1st Team Videographer (M & W )
Joseph Knight
U23/U18 Photographer
Joe Knight
Health & Safety Officer
David Russell
Deputy Safety Officer
Greg Agathocli
Club Shop Managers Ged Clout & Sue Gallop Pilot Bar Manager
Dane Martin
Kit/Laundry Manager
Sue Cornelius
Head Groundsman
Simon Rudkins
www.hastingsunited.com
U18 SQUAD MANAGEMENT
U18 Manager
Andrew Brown Ben Cornelius
ACADEMY Coaching Partner Skiltek Education Scheme Partner East Sussex College Hastings Head of Academy Senior Development Phase Lead Andrew Brown Management Group Craig Barrow, Andrew Brown, Sean Ray Welfare Roger Bond / Louise Chalmers Administration Roger Bond Discipline Hannah Smith Social Media & Press Officer Charmaine Ridgers Recruitment Andrew Brown, Sean Ray U16 Manager Bernie Walker U15 Manager Tony Field U13 Manager Guiseppe Lombardelli U11 Manager Russell Small U10 Manager Neil Cornwell U9 Manager Sean Ray U8 Manager Shane Ridgers U7 Manager Jake Daniels
Good afternoon and welcome to the Continental Pilot Field.
The Gaffer
A warm welcome to Hythe Town FC and their officials. They are in a tough position as a football club at the moment, but Jamie Rodger’s has done a superb job and at the moment they find themselves with their heads above water.
Gary Elphick
Obviously we’re coming off the back of a superb win against Ashford but if anything this makes me more alert to today’s fixture. We mustn’t get complacent and we require hard work once again. Today we celebrate Sam Adams 600th game. An incredible achievement from an incredible person. I’ll go on record and say he is the best teammate I’ve ever played with. Unselfish and puts the team first. I want the win more for him than anything else today, he is a club legend. Onwards and upwards!
Gary Photo:
Gary Elphick HUFC First Team Manager
Scott White Photography
MATCH MASCOTS
Wilfie Adams - Age 5 Hastings! Supports Tottenham and play footHe loves watching Sam be mascot ball and is very excited to He has with his friends today.ll training started going to footba enjoying. himself which he’s really
Frankie Shields-Pain - Age
9
under 11’s. Plays for Pass and Move feet and his at l bal a t hou wit Never meeting dreams of one day Ronaldo.
Mason Pogue - Age 7 playing He loves watching andkeen and football and is a very Hastings skilled player. He plays foron within Utd and trains with Bright He is a their youth academy. massive Tottenham fan.
Hudson Shields-Pain - Age
5
ited. Can’t Supports Manchester Unm like his wait to play in a tea his slide brother and show off tackles.
Good afternoon everyone. Welcome back to the Pilot Field after a brilliant and deserved away win on Saturday at Ashford United. It was a great atmosphere thanks to all our amazing fans and topped off with picking up 3 very important points at this stage of the season to put us 6 points clear at the top of the table, long may that continue. Today is a very special occasion for our Sammy Adams! What a huge achievement to reach 600 games and fully deserved. What a great player and person too. Congratulations Sammy! I would like to welcome and thank our Match Sponsor to today's game, Paws And Whiskers Sussex (P.A.W.S) Ltd who are a foster-based cat and dog rescue operating all over the UK from its Sussex base. P.A.W.S was established on 19th January 2021 by a small group of individuals who have experience in the world of animal rescue. They rehome cats and dogs from both here in the UK and abroad. Animal welfare is at the heart of everything they do, which is why they have a branch of P.A.W.S specifically for harder to rehome animals, including golden oldies, animals with disabilities, or long-term health issues. A huge focus for them is spaying, neutering and ethical breeding. They hope to improve the lives on animals everywhere with their Save a Life, Spay Another campaign and their #PawsLaw petition which pushes for better breeding laws in the UK. Just over a year on and P.A.W.S has rescued 34 cats
Commercial Director
Hayley Clout and 49 dogs, has an ever-growing team ofdedicated foster homes, has over 4500 followers and has hallmarked the #togetherwesavemorepaws. P.A.W.S also Sponsor Finn's Home and Away kit and we thank them for their continued support here at the Club. You can find and follow P.A.W.S on Facebook and Instagram @pawsussex or visit the website www.paws-rescue.org. We hope Lynda, Matt and their guests enjoy the day with us. I would also like to welcome and continually thank Bob H who is our Matchball Sponsor for every league game, Bob does so much for the Club and we thank him for his continued support both with the first and the ladies team. I would finally like to welcome and thank our Mascots to today's game, Wilfie, Mason, Frankie and Hudson. We hope you all enjoy your day with us and the complete matchday experience. Enjoy the game and hopefully 3 points!
Hayley If you would like any further details on our Commercial side, please call me on 07766 825573
SAM ADAMS
SUPER
Sam, played for the Hastings Youth team and also spent time with Rye and Iden United FC before signing for the senior team at the Pilot Field in 2005. He was part of the excellent squad that sealed promotion in 2007, and although he has had spells at Rye United and today’s visitors, Hythe Town, he has been an important and influential mainstay of United’s first XI ever since. For Sam’s 500th senior appearance for Hastings United Football Club, in 2018, we asked him a few questions ... worth a reminder on a truly momentous occasion, his 600th, of some of the answers he gave ... When growing up as a schoolboy who were your football heroes?
Most memorable/important HUFC match?
Winning the promotion play-offs
Paul Scholes & Stevie Gerrard
Most memorable/important goal you have scored for HUFC?
Who in football has influenced/helped your playing career the most? As a Youth … manager/coach?
vs Ashford away - scoring the winner after Ade being sent off in the promotion season
Paul Chandler & Robin Gunn Match details of first appearance for HUFC?
August 2005 vs Corinthian Casuals Match details of first goal scored for HUFC?
I think my first goal was in the FA Cup at home vs Tonbridge Angels (Sept 2005)
Do you have a special routine or superstition before you play a game?
Always put left boot/shin pads on first In his spare time Sam likes Carp fishing.
600 146 Goals to date and counting ...
His favourite music is Old Skool Garage. Of course Sam loves his football and is an absolute mad keen Spurs fan. ... and he loves his Mum’s Roast Pork!
600 th
APPEARANCE
Born: 11th December 1986 Hastings
THE ADAMS FAMILY Behind United’s Superhero is a Super Wife and family. When Sam is off the field of play he enjoys his family time with wife, Kay, and their four children, Lola, Lexi, Wilfie and baby, Winnie Bea.
ON THIS DAY - 5 FEBRUARY
Source credit: www.footballsite.co.uk
1913 A century or so ago massive attendances saw some serious crowd problems. A sell-out crowd at a Manchester City v Sunderland FA Cup tie was abandoned when spectators encroached onto the pitch. Four days later - on February 5th 1913 - the replay was staged at Roker Park and another capacity crowd saw spectators injured, as reported in the national press. Sunderland won the League title in 1912/13 but missed out on the double when Aston Villa defeated them in the FA Cup final. The attendance for that final, at Crystal Palace, was a mahoosive 120,081 with only the 1923 FA Cup final ever having topped that figure for a football match in England.
1972 In a Fourth Round FA Cup replay Southern League Hereford United defeated First Division Newcastle United 2-1 on a quagmire of a pitch at Edgar Street. It was the first time in 23 years that a non-league side had defeated a First Division side in the FA Cup. Newcastle took the lead in the 82nd minute, against the run of play, with a goal from Malcolm Macdonald. With only 4 minutes remaining Ronnie Radford equalised with a spectacular 30-yard effort and during extra time Ricky George hit the winner. Amazing. The famous 'Oh, what a goal! Radford the scorer, Ronnie Radford' quote was said by John Motson in his Match of the Day commentary that evening. The 26-year-old Motty was in his very early days on TV and later credited that match as being his big breakthrough in TV. He later wrote is his autobiography 'It changed my life because my boss on Match of the Day realised I could be trusted to commentate on a big match.'
HUFC vs BURGESS HILL TOWN MAN OF THE MATCH CRAIG STONE ISTHMIAN LEAGUE SE LEADING GOALSCORERS
Craig Stone was awarded ‘Man Of The Match’ by Match Sponsor Tom Newman
Name
Club
Goals
Ajayi, Joshua Adebayo
Ramsgate
18
Bamba, Youssuf
VCD Athletic
15
Barrington, Marcel Omar
Cray Valley PM
15
Ansah, Zak Andy
Herne Bay
11
Pope, Benjamin Joseph
HASTINGS UNITED 11
Adesite, Anthony
VCD Athletic
10
Perry, Daniel Frederick
Three Bridges
10
Overton, Callum
Chichester City
9
Splatt, Javaun DelMarco
Whitehawk
9
Abdulla, Ahmed Mohamed Sittingbourne Pogue, Kenny
8
HASTINGS UNITED 8
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE SOUTH EAST DIVISION TABLE 2021/22 WEDNESDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2022 # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Team HASTINGS UNITED Ramsgate Cray Valley PM Ashford United Haywards Heath T Herne Bay Burgess Hill Town Sittingbourne VCD Athletic Chichester City Corinthian East Grinstead Town Three Bridges Faversham Town Hythe Town Whitehawk Sevenoaks Town Whitstable Town Lancing Phoenix Sports
P HW HD 25 8 1 24 7 3 25 6 4 24 8 3 24 7 2 23 7 2 25 7 3 25 8 2 25 6 3 24 8 2 25 4 5 24 5 4 25 3 3 24 5 1 24 2 2 24 3 3 25 4 1 25 2 4 25 3 3 25 2 2
HL AW AD 3 9 1 3 7 2 2 7 4 2 6 1 2 6 5 3 5 3 3 5 2 2 4 2 3 5 2 2 2 5 4 5 2 3 2 3 6 3 6 5 2 3 8 5 2 6 3 3 7 3 1 7 4 0 7 2 4 9 2 2
AL 3 2 2 4 2 3 5 7 6 5 5 7 4 8 5 6 9 8 6 8
2021/22 APPEARANCES & GOALSCORERS STARTS PLAYER
Sam Adams Lanre Azeez Jack Bates Ollie Black Tom Chalmers Tommy Cooney Lloyd Dawes Jack Dixon Gary Elphick Marcus Goldsmith Harvey Greig Sam Hasler James Hull Nathan Jenkins Freddie Legg Dave Martin Finn O’Mara Kane Penn Kenny Pogue Ben Pope Louis Rogers (GK) Knory Scott Andrew Sesay Harry Simmons Craig Stone Ryan Worrall
24 9 3 31 29 1 6 31 14 17 1 24 1 4 1 18 14 10 12 27 35 10 9 31 23
SEASON CAREER SUB TOTAL GOALS APPS GOALS
6 8 3 1 3 5 1 2 2 3 8 1 7 7 7 17 8 2 1 4
30 17 6 32 32 1 11 32 14 19 3 27 9 5 8 25 14 17 29 27 35 18 11 1 31 27
3 2 4 6 3 4 3 9 1 1 3 3 11 16 1 1 1 2
599 146 77 4 6 116 4 57 12 1 12 3 278 38 67 8 28 4 27 9 10 1 5 8 1 25 3 14 3 17 233 65 77 45 100 22 1 11 1 1 79 6 70 6
W 17 14 13 14 13 12 12 12 11 10 9 7 6 7 7 6 7 6 5 4
D 2 5 8 4 7 5 5 4 5 7 7 7 9 4 4 6 2 4 7 4
L 6 5 4 6 4 6 8 9 9 7 9 10 10 13 13 12 16 15 13 17
F 54 54 50 48 39 38 37 37 49 36 29 25 35 28 26 24 29 30 22 24
A 27 31 28 26 21 25 33 32 34 24 29 37 49 43 52 34 50 50 43 46
+/27 23 22 22 18 13 4 5 15 12 0 -12 -14 -15 -26 -10 -21 -20 -21 -22
Pts 53 47 47 46 46 41 41 40 38 37 34 28 27 25 25 24 23 22 22 16
Home
Away
2-0 W 1073 2-3 1-2 L 1003 1-3 L 1303 2-1 0-2 1-1 D 949 2-0 2-3 L 1502 3-2 2-1 W 734 2-2 2-0 W 733 1-2 5-0 W 801 2-1 4-0 W 901 3-0 2-0 W 1214 1-0 4-1 4-1 W 790 1-0 1-0 W 2017 4-2
L 648 W L W W
1134 412 420 325
D 201 L 127 W 189 W W W W
225 479 206 455
W 174
Pitching In Isthmian League South East FIXTURES - Saturday 5th February 2022 Cray Valley PM
v Whitstable Town
Faversham Town
v Burgess Hill Town
HASTINGS UNITED v HYTHE TOWN Haywards Heath T v Phoenix Sports Herne Bay
v East Grinstead Town
Sevenoaks Town
v Lancing
Sittingbourne
v Chichester City
Three Bridges
v Ashford United
VCD Athletic
v Ramsgate
Whitehawk
v Corinthian
2021/22 UNITED’S TOP GOALSCORERS PLAYER
TOTAL COMPETITION
Ben Pope
16 11 ILSE 2 FAC 3 FAT
Kenny Pogue
11 8 ILSE 2 FAC 1 FAT
Sam Hasler
9 5 ILSE 3 FAC 1 FAT
Gut Feeling Simon Stoddart My waffle and opinions, I don't speak for Hastings United. Personal observations on the world of semi-pro football and sport in general.
John Wills videoed post match celebrations at Homelands, look who joined in!
OHHHHH YEA And not before time eh? Three points off Ashford United for the first time in three seasons. January 2019 was the last win, 2-0 at Homelands. Five games since had seen just a single draw and zilch from the other four. OK, there was the FA Trophy win this season but I suspect most of us would've happily swapped that for a win in the league game that followed a few days later. Whatever, wasn't it good to extend their recent poor sequence of home results. They'd been unbeaten on their artificial surface till very recently when Haywards Heath beat them. They'd also been held to draws by Faversham and Lancing and our fine win a week ago means Ashford have taken two points from their last four home games. Our New Year's Day win over Lancing incidentally - a tough, determined side working hard to adjust to Isthmian SE football - looks better than ever given that they have taken points off other sides involved in the promotion race. Be interesting to know what our lads thought of that artificial surface at Homelands. It looked bumpy and every time the ball bounced, there was a mini eruption of material from the pitch. But never mind, 2-1, three vital points to go some way towards making up for the Burgess Hill defeat a fortnight ago. Several hundred U's supporters swelled the attendance to 1,134 and Joe Knight's video of the goals made for great viewing. Ryan Worral's goal celebration revived memories from 20 years ago of Mylobatics following every Stuart Myall goal.
Non-League Paper front page
And you can't keep our Billy away either!
RUB IT IN Tommy Reid performed heroically in the Burgess Hill goal when they ended our fine run two weeks back. Or should I say, HE ended our run. He was outstanding. Turns out he's only 16, on loan from Brighton and AND comes from Hastings. Ist team Isthmian SE football will do him plenty of good, just wish it hadn't been here.
TUESDAY Couple of games. Cray Valley beat Sevenoaks 3-0 to go third, that was their game in hand on us. Burgess Hill have been on a great run after an abysmal start to the season and having gotten to within sight of the play off places, were beaten 2-1 at ever improving Chichester City. The league table is as tight as it could be - 2nd to 5th divided by one point with Herne Bay and Burgess Hill a further five points back. This all reminds me of 01-02 when we scrapped for the Southern League's East division title with Grantham, Dorchester and Histon. You find yourself top and then it's continually looking over your shoulder. 20 years ago there was none of this play off nonsense, promotion was decided properly! And having said that, after losing here to Cray Valley in November, I wouldn't have been the only one settling for the 'That'll do' option - the play offs!
EMBARRASSED? Littlehampton (Southern Combination) are at home to Brockenhurst (Wessex League) on Feb 12th, a 5th round FA Vase tie - it's down to the last 16 and beginning to get really interesting. They find themselves in that game on the back of a 0-5 hammering at home to Athletic Newham (Essex League) in the 4th round. Turned out Newham had an ineligible player and the tie was awarded to Littlehampton. Who must surely be hanging their heads a little as they prepare for the Brockenhurst game. People make honest mistakes and presumably that's how the player was included who shouldn't have been. I don't know the circumstances but surely it would've been better to replay the game? Rules'n Regs, yes I know, but is there no room for common sense here?
Disallowed. Should've been 2-0. Reaction unprintable. of clubs will be breathing sighs of relief come April! Summary - National Leagues 72 clubs (66 - 6 short), Step 3 - 88 clubs (87 - 1 short), Step 4 - 160 clubs (157 - 3 short).
UPS AND DOWNS Hmmmm. Interesting. For one reason or another, some divisions in Steps 1 to 4 (That's National League to the level we play at) have been running short of clubs. Isthmian South Central for example - that is one club down following the demise of Whyteleafe last summer. All divisions at our level should be 20 clubs each, step 3 should be 22 clubs each and National League South and North plus the top tier National League should be 24 clubs each. In order to get to correct numbers, there will be adjustments made by reprieve from relegation. National League (Step 1) for example, 1 club short, will relegate 3 to National S/N (Step 2) - while taking 4 clubs promoted from those divisions - thus getting up to 24 clubs. And so it goes on. National S/N are 5 (FIVE!) clubs short between them so there will be a relegation reprieve fest like never before. Instead of 8 clubs relegated to Step 3, only TWO will go down this season. 8 clubs will go up from Step 3 (Isthmian Premier etc) and that ultimately gets all 3 National divisions up to 24 clubs each. Step 3 another relegation reprieve fest in order to get those four divisions up to 22 clubs each. Step 4 - where we are - 8 divisions. Three of them are a club short. Step 3 - where we'd like to be - 4 divisions - one club short. It's a domino's process of adjustments to get all steps up to full compliment. The play offs between Step 4 and Step 5 won't go ahead - all part of getting the numbers right. Lots
Remember Justin Gregory? 25 years ago or so. Still going strong.
STAYING GROUNDED Every game is tough, aiming for that promotion spot is huge with the lottery of the play offs the other option. Last week was the biz, but Hythe will be here today and if - with the off pitch problems they've been enduring - if they're anything like our Hastings Town squad were at the tail end of 98-99 (Turmoil) they will be uber hard to beat.
SAM ADAMS 599 not out. Must be in with a shout of making the squad today? Well played, fella.
Tom Chalmers put the ‘U’s in front at Ashford ...
Photos: Scott White Photography
Substitutes used A,B,C,D,E replaced in brackets Goalscorers in bold
OUR VISITORS HYTHE TOW N FC Club: Hythe Town Football Club Nickname: The Cannons Original Club Formed: 1910 President: Paul Markland Chairman: Vacant
HISTORY Hythe Town Football Club was formed in August 1910 although football in Hythe can be traced back into the previous century. The club joined the Folkestone and District Leagues and after the First World War had some success with four championships and only once outside the top three in fourteen seasons. They moved up into the Kent Amateur League in 1936 and were promoted into Division One before the Second World War intervened. The 50s and 60s saw little league success but that changed in the early 70s under manager Bob Davis with three successive league titles and a Kent Junior Cup win. Hythe were granted senior status and elected into the Kent League in 1977, playing at the newly acquired Reachfields, a former army sports ground on the edge of the town’s firing ranges. The club were runners-up in the Kent League on three occasions. When property developer Tony Walton took over Hythe Town in February 1988 there was a rapid rise on and off the pitch. That summer saw the ground developed to Southern League standard with new seating and a social club, with viewing balconies, above new dressing rooms. Standing cover extended behind one goal and for the whole of the far side, and floodlights were installed. The ground capacity still remains at 3,000 with the majority under cover. The chairman proved to be a high-profile character who attracted much media attention with his high spending on the ground and team. Town won the 1988/9 Kent League title by 14
Ground: Reachfields Stadium Capacity: 3,000 (2,400 under cover) Record Attendance: 2,147 1990 vs Yeading Manager: James Rogers Assistant Manager: Tom Wynter points and set a league record of 133 goals. The club moved up into the Southern League. The next season saw another promotion as the main aim, but the club’s great run to the FA Vase semifinals handicapped their league ambitions, with four games a week at times, and a sixth-place finish. Hythe lost out to the eventual Vase winners Yeading, winning the home leg 3-2 in front of the club’s record attendance of 2,147, but losing the second leg 2-0 with the crucial goal coming from a big deflection. Hythe did have one trophy success, winning the Eastern Professional Floodlight Cup at their first attempt. The following season was very similar, topping the table in November but runs in four cups again caused fixture congestion and a final placing of eighth. Hythe lost out to Trowbridge Town in a Vase quarter-final second replay, lost to Chelmsford City over two legs in the Southern League Cup final, but won the Kent Senior Trophy and retained the Eastern Professional Floodlight Cup. The club played 40 league games and 33 cup ties. In 1991/2 Hythe again topped the table in the early months but the money was beginning to run out. With little cup success, the exit from the Vase at Evesham United in February saw many of the team sold and their replacements could only finish thirteenth. The club did reach the final of the Kent Senior Cup, losing in extra-time to Bromley at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium. That match proved to be Walton’s last game, and he put the club into liquidation soon after.
Supporters rallied round and entered a scratch side, as Hythe United, into the following season’s Kent County League and negotiated continued use of Reachfields Stadium. After three seasons the club regained senior status and in 1995 were elected back into the Kent League. The early seasons saw the club struggle in the wrong half of the table. In 2001 Hythe dropped the “United” suffix, reverting to “Town” and in November 2002 appointed Paul Fisk as manager. This proved a turning point and Hythe became a regular top-six Kent League club. Season 2007/8 saw Hythe top of the table in March but fall away to finish fourth. The highlight was a fantastic FA Cup win over Andy Hessenthaler’s Dover Athletic before a crowd of 1,109 at Reachfields, and achieving the important League ground grading. The club achieved the runners-up spot the following season and then Scott Porter, who had been Paul Fisk’s assistant, took over as manager for the 2009/10 season with Clive Cook as his number two. There was a third-place finish in the league and another good FA Cup performance, holding Woking to a draw at Reachfields before losing the replay. The 2010/11 season was possibly the most successful in the history of the club, with Porter leading the side to the Kent League Championship for the first time in over twenty years and promotion to the Ryman League. After a 22-match unbeaten run in the new year, dropped points over Easter took the championship to the wire and the league title was clinched in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season thanks to a last-minute equaliser at Tunbridge Wells. Brendan Cass won the Kent League Golden Boot. This fine achievement was coupled with the club’s best ever F.A. Cup run, and the best for any Kent League side since the 1950s. Hythe negotiated their way through six rounds, including memorable wins over higher-league opposition at Concord Rangers of the Ryman Premier and at home to Staines Town of the Blue Square Bet South. The prize was an away draw in the First Round Proper to League Two side Hereford United. It was one round too far on the pitch, the hosts comfortably winning 5-1 with Gary Mickelborough getting the Hythe goal. During the 2011/2 season the club maintained their progress and finished in eighth place in Ryman Division One South. Hythe were also able to get their
hands on some silverware as wins over Ebbsfleet United and Dover Athletic were followed by a single goal victory in the final at Dartford to lift the Kent Senior Cup. The following season ended with a 17-match unbeaten run and a fourth-place finish. This brought about the club’s first play-off appearance but there was defeat at Faversham Town in the semi-final. Dave Cook scored 28 goals in total and won the Ryman One South Golden Boot. After another eighth-place finish Porter and Cook left the club at the end of 2013/4. Tim Dixon was appointed as the new manager but it was a disappointing season that saw Hythe finish in sixteenth position. After a poor start to 2015/6 the club parted company with Dixon in September. Clive Cook returned to take over, this time as manager and led a remarkable turnaround from the relegation places to finish fourth as the club qualified for the Ryman One South play-offs for a second time. Defeat followed at Worthing in the semi-final. Alfie May’s 49 goals in 65 Hythe appearances from September 2015 to December 2016 attracted the attention of League Two Doncaster Rovers, who signed him in January 2017. He played there for three years before moving to his current club, Cheltenham Town, in January 2020. Hythe parted company with Cook in January 2017 and appointed ex-Herne Bay manager Sam Denly in his place. The club finished in seventh place, six points outside the play-offs. The following season, 2017/8, saw Hythe unbeaten in the last 14 games but missing the play-offs on goal difference. Only drawing on the last day of the season was the difference, and seventh place again. In 2018/9 Hythe again claimed seventh position but this time a distant eleven points from the play-offs. Zak Ansah scored 32 goals during the season and won the Ryman One South Golden Boot. A poor start to the following season resulted in the departure of Denly, to be replaced by Steve Watt in September 2019. The season was brought to a premature end due to the Covid-19 pandemic with Hythe in eleventh position after 29 games. The 2020/1 season hardly started, with Hythe eighth after only six matches when it was curtailed. The club looks forward to a new and hopefully uninterrupted season. Earlier this season Steve Watt stood down for James Rogers to take over as Manager.
HYTHE TOWN PLAYER PROFILES Henry Newcombe
Goalkeeper Age 24 Goalkeeper, Henry Newcombe came to Hythe from Chatham Town, having played for a number of clubs including the Cannons. A Gillingham scholar, he signed a professional deal there before moving to Wycombe Wanderers, and also spent time on loan at Canvey Island. He later played for Margate and Folkestone Invicta.
Tom Wynter Defender Age 31 A highly experienced defender who joined us from Ramsgate in December 2019. Tom started his career with Gillingham where he made eight first team appearances before he had spells at Dover Athletic, Dartford & Margate. Tom has recently taken the role of Assistant Manager. Cameron Reardon
Defender Age 22 Centre-Back Cameron Reardon joined us during the close season. He came through the youth ranks at Kingstonian. Cameron played for East Grinstead Town last season but has also had a spell with Greenwich Borough.
Liam Smith
Defender Age 21 Full Back, Liam joined us from Tonbridge Angels at the start of this season where he came up through the Youth System. He spent a short period of time on loan at Sevenoaks Town.
James Rogers Midfielder Age 36 A highly experienced strong defender who started his career at Dartford before moving onto Dover Athletic. He spent three years at Maidstone United before joining Margate. He joined Hythe in October 2019. Has taken the role of Player Manager. Charlie Webster Midfielder Age 24 Former Gillingham youth player, Charlie joined Tonbridge Angels following a short loan spell after being released by the Gills. He joined Hythe in the summer of 2016 and is now starting his fourth year with the Cannons as the current club captain. Alex Brown
Midfielder Age 27 Alex started his career at Gillingham. During that time, he had loan spells with Whitstable Town, Corby Town and Maidstone United. He was then to sign permanently with the Stones. He then went on loan to Leatherhead and made the move permanent in January 2016. He then joined Dartford before joining Margate.
Luca Woodhouse Midfielder Age 17 Joined us from the Tonbridge Wells Academy, Luca is a very exciting young talent who scored on his league debut for the Cannons. He has a bright future in the game. Tyler Sterling Midfielder Age 19 Tyler has joined on a long-term loan from Folkestone Invicta where he came through the youth set up. He is a creative midfield player who can play up front. Jack Mayhew
Midfielder Jack joined us from Maidstone United where he was in the Under 23 squad. He is a lively midfielder who shows great promise for the future.
Jacob Gilbert
Midfielder Age 19 Jacob, a midfielder, came in from Maidstone United where he went through the youth setup there, but has also turned out for Corinthian, and spent a little time on loan with Haywards Heath Town last season.
George Sibley
Midfielder Age 17 George is a very promising young midfielder at the start of his career. He came to us from K Sports in the summer. He is on a dual registration with Lordswood and has made a first team appearance for them in the FA Cup.
Morgan Williamson
Midfielder Age 17 Youngster, Morgan joined us from the Maidstone United youth set up during the Summer. He is a player with a lot of potential for the future and showed his potential with one great goal in pre-season.
Tom Walmsley Striker Age 20 Local lad, Tom is a midfielder who started his senior career at Folkestone Invicta before moving to Whitstable Town. He moved to Hythe in the latter part of season 2018/2019. Jordan Sarfo
Striker Age 21 Jordan is an exciting winger who joined the club at the beginning of the season after impressing in pre-season. A student in Canterbury, he came from Bedfont Sports and also had a spell with Bedfont & Feltham.
Riley Alford Striker Age 26 Riley joined us from ground sharing partners Ashford FC where he was a prolific goal scorer. Started his career with the Cannons with a goal in his debut game in the Kent Senior Cup versus Faversham Town. Jack Nelson Striker Age 18 Jack is a young Dover Athletic Academy striker where he has scored at a rate of nearly two goals a game. Scored his first tow goals for Hythe in a Verlocity Trophy against South Park.
HYTHE TOWN PREVIOUS MEETINGS & RECORDS
PREVIOUS MEETINGS vs HYTHE TOWN
Date
Venue
Competition
Since 2015/16 our twelve meetings have finished as follows:
P Away 6 Home 6 Overall 12 Result
Record Attendance: 2,147 vs Yeading – March 1990 – FA Vase Semi-Final
Best FA Vase Performance: Semi-Final – 1990/91 Most Club appearances: Dave Cook Most Club goals: Dave Cook Biggest win: 10-1 vs Sporting Bengal United – 2008/09 Heaviest defeat: 10-1 vs Swanley Furness – 1997/98
D 3 1 4
Gate Scorers
HYTHE TOWN RECORDS Best FA Cup Performance: 1st Round Proper – 1989/90
W 2 4 6
L 1 1 2
GF GA 10 8 13 8 23 16
LEAGUE NEWS From: Ian Townsend
South East Division Saturday January 29 - Results Round Up
Hastings go six clear after winning the battle of the big two ... The Rams are up to second, Heath’s new boss has a positive start, Hill win again - as do the Wasps - and the Lancers win a thriller. It’s our Pitching In Isthmian South East round up of last Saturday. Ashford United and Hastings United met in our match of the day, second hosting first with only four points between them and the Nuts and Bolts with a game in hand. Could Ashford give themselves an advantage? Sadly for themselves and the rest of the chasing pack, the answer was no! The visitors took the lead on twelve minutes, Tom Chalmers with the goal, and although Luke Burden equalised for the hosts on the stroke of half time the winner, ten minutes after the break, went to Ryan Worrall for Hastings. 1,134 watched on, and those travelling home through the Romney marshes would have been delighted with the outcome. Ramsgate replace the Nuts and Bolts in second place, courtesy of a hard-fought derby win over Herne Bay. Both goals came after the break, Lee Prescott opening the scoring just before the hour before Joshua Ajayi made quite sure of the points with his twentieth goal of the season four minutes from time. A rather incredible 1,625 watched that one. Haywards Heath Town, under new management, moved up to fourth with the only goal of the game at Chichester City. It came just after half-time, and it went to Davigildo Cravid, a fourth of the campaign for the Heath number eleven.
A second goalless draw in two matches saw Cray Valley PM slip to fifth. This one was against bottom side Phoenix Sports, who will be delighted with the point- the Millers, not so much. Burgess Hill Town are up to seventh place, only three points behind the top five. The Hillians have been in fine form of late, and their one-nil win over Whitehawk was their fifth in a row; although their current run has but one defeat in nine. Martin Box scored the goal- and he’s now scored the winner in three consecutive matches. Sittingbourne are a point behind the Hillians after getting back to winning ways at Whitstable Town. After a goalless first half Kane Rowland gave the Brickies the lead just after the hour, and thirteen minutes later Toby Bancroft gave them a cushion and confirmed that the three points would be heading back to Woodstock. We have no news on whether the Brickies have asked for their music to removed from Spotify in solidarity with that other Woodstock favourite, Neil Young- but we hope not, as their song about Chatham Town is rather popular in the Sittingbourne area! Corinthian recorded a fine three-nil win over previously in form VCD Athletic. Jamie Miller got our first South East goal of the afternoon after just five minutes, Frankie Morgan added a second right on the cusp of half time, and Ryan Sawyer put paid to any thoughts of a Vickers comeback just before the end. East Grinstead Town were on top form as they hosted Sevenoaks Town, and the Wasps made it eight games unbeaten with another victory. Miles Cornwell gave the hosts the lead on eighteen minutes, and although Louis Collins thirteenth of the season drew Oaks level just before the hour the last word went to Andrew Briggs, who gave
Grinstead the points with twentytwo minutes remaining. His side are up to twelfth. A Kentish derby saw Hythe Town defeat Faversham Town two-one. Riley Alford was at the double for the Cannons, two in six minutes soon after the start of the second half, and although Marcus Elliott scored a late goal for the Lilywhites there was no time for an equaliser. Last but must definitely not least, Lancing continued to boost their survival hopes - this time by winning a seven goal thriller against Three Bridges. In a topsy turvey match the Lancers managed to be two goals up, three-two down, and come back to win four-three despite ending the game with ten men! Matt Daniel and James Rhodes gave them that twonil lead, before Ryan Brackpool halved it seven minutes before the break. Brannon O’Neill drew Bridges level midway through the secondhalf, and then Brackpool completed the turnaround soon afterwards but that sparked the hosts into life once more. Daniel’s second of the game thirteen minutes from time drew them level, and then Lorenzo Lewis grabbed a winner for the hosts two minutes from time - but still had time to get himself sent off! Lancing remain second bottom, but now there are only three points between them and Faversham Town in fourteenth.
UNITED SIGN TOMMY COONEY Hastings United Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of Irish full-back Tommy Cooney who joins from Pitching In Isthmian Premier side Leatherhead. Cooney joins the ‘U’s following spells in Sweden and Finland and made his debut last Saturday against Ashford United. Tommy Cooney: “I am really happy to have joined such an ambitious club, when Gary sold me the club’s long-term plans and where he sees me in that made it a pretty easy decision. The main thing that attracted me was the way the team play, I like to get forward on the ball and I feel the style of football Gary wants to play will get the best out of me. I am looking forward to doing what I can for the supporters and all at the club.” Gary Elphick: “It’s great to have Tommy on board, he adds quality and experience to the group. He is a very good footballer who is coming down from a higher league and I look forward to seeing him in a Hastings shirt.” Billy Wood: “It’s great to have Tommy in the door and adds another dimension to what we have here. Ultimately my job is to make sure we as a club have the resources to challenge the way we want to and this signing is one we wanted to get done to add a little bit more to this fantastic squad. I am looking forward to seeing Tommy flourish for the ‘U’s.”
U23S BEAT NEWHAVEN TO WIN SUSSEX CUP UNITED U23S 5 - 1 NEWHAVEN Four-goal Hull leads Hastings United youngsters to Sussex cup glory. James Hull hit four goals to inspire our Hastings United Under-23 side to an impressive victory over Newhaven in the Sussex Under-23s Challenge Cup final. Not only did United take home the silverware for the first time, but Andrew Brown’s free-scoring side plundered 25 goals in only five Challenge Cup matches. Brown was full of praise for his side, and said: “We felt we haven’t done ourselves justice in this competition in recent years, so we really took it seriously this time and earmarked it as one we set our hearts on winning. Any team would want to win a county cup so I’m proud and delighted for the players. “We’re top of our league at the moment after nine games and a game in hand, we beat 2nd-placed VCD on Monday so the title is definitely the priority now - the players are staying focused and gunning for the title. Winning is a habit and it’s important at any level in development football but part of my job is to guide the boys through the system and hopefully get them ready for the first team. There’s a proven pathway for the players to step up.” Hastings United U23s: Cornelius; Penn, Ray, Mapstone, Simmons; Moynes (1), Greig, Bates; Legg, Hull (4), Peacock. Subs: Warren, Hoad, Walker, White, Lubanga.
U23 ISTHMIAN DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE SOUTH TABLE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Team HASTINGS UNITED U23S VCD Athletic Cray Valley PM Tooting & Mitcham Carshalton Athletic Phoenix Sports Margate Sutton Common Rovers East Grinstead Town
P 9 11 12 11 9 11 8 7 8
W 7 6 6 5 4 3 2 2 2
D 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 0 0
L 2 4 5 4 3 5 3 5 6
GD PTS 20 21 8 19 2 19 4 17 4 14 -8 12 -6 9 -10 6 -14 6
CONGRATULATIONS TO LOUIS ROGERS UPON REACHING
100 SENIOR APPEARANCES
HASTINGS UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB POLICIES Ground Regulations and Customer Charter Full details of our Ground Regulations and Customer Charter are available to read at our website:
www.hastingsunited.com.
Health & Safety Hastings United Football Club takes seriously your health and safety during your visit to the TGS Pilot Field. Please note that the officers and stewards of Hastings United Football Club will enforce Ground Regulations. A copy of these regulations is posted at the entrance to each turnstile and within the ground on the wall next to the food bar. Please note that the following are offences under the Football (Offences) Act 1991, as amended: the throwing of any object within the ground without lawful authority or excuse, the chanting of anything of an indecent or racist nature: the entry onto the playing area or any adjacent area to which spectators are not generally admitted without lawful authority or excuse. Under the Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc.) Act 1985, the following are offences for which a person can be arrested by a police officer: attempting to enter the ground or being inside the ground whilst drunk: being in possession of any intoxicating liquor, or bottle, can or other portable container which could cause damage or personal injury when entering the ground.
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE RESPECT STATEMENT “The Isthmian Football League strongly supports the FA statement that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly any form of discriminatory abuse whether it by reason of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex and sexual orientation or any other form of abuse will be reported to The Football Association for action by that Association.”
These include our policy on ticket and pricing, abandoned matches and our involvement in the Hastings Community.
The Club Believes Customer care starts on the inside, with a good team of staff and work ethic. Most of our staff are volunteers but the Club expect our staff to always do their best. Our staff should remain courteous even in difficult situations. The Club and its staff know they are offering a service and that they would like every customer to return. We believe that people come first when offering a service. We expect our staff to be friendly and helpful and to know their job or be able to call upon someone who is able to respond to the needs of our customers. We expect our staff to give their full attention to a customer in any situation that arises.
In Addition We expect our staff and volunteers to care about their job as this will ensure they care about our customers.
(The FA 0800 085 0508 / Kick it Out 020 7253 0162 )
We expect our staff and volunteers to treat every customer as they would like to be treated themselves.
The Isthmian League and all Member Clubs in the League are committed to promoting equality by treating people fairly and with respect, by recognising that inequalities may exist, by taking steps to address them and providing access and opportunities for all members of the community.”
We in return expect our customers to treat our volunteers and staff with respect and the Club will not tolerate any physical or verbal abused aimed at them.
HASTINGS UNITED WOMEN’S TEAM
Georgia Tibble in action
Photo: Scott White Photography
LONDON SE WOMEN’S FL DIVISION 1 SOUTH 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Team P A.F.C. Acorns Women 12 HASTINGS UNITED Women 10 Ashford 12 Herne Bay FC Women 13 Welling United FC Womens 10 Newhaven 12 Bexhill United 13 Parkwood Rangers 13 Maidstone United Women 14 Meridian 11
W 11 9 9 9 6 6 3 2 2 1
D 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
L GD PTS 1 31 33 0 41 28 2 34 28 4 41 27 4 18 18 6 -5 18 9 -33 10 10 -24 7 12 -55 6 10 -48 3
Georgia netted 4 against Maidstone last Sunday
HASTINGS UNITED WOMEN’S TEAM RESULTS & FIXTURES Date Opposition
Comp
H/A Result WDL
Att
Scorers
AUGUST
22 29
Meridian Herne Bay
League League
H 10-0 H 3-1
W W
193 153
Hill 4, Heather 2, Tibble 2, Corrigan 2, Williams Heather 2, Johnson
League WFACup League League
H H A A
1-0 9-0 2-0 1-1
W W W D
TBA TBA TBA TBA
Baitup Heather 4, Johnson 3, Williams 3 Johnson 2 Relf
WFACup League League WFA Cup
A H H A
2-1 5-0 1-0 0-2
W W W L
TBA 155 221 536
Hill 2 Sheppard, Johnson, Critchfield, Fletcher, Relf Hyland
Ashford Ladies LSE Cup H Newhaven SxChCup QF H Newhaven League H
4-0 3-0 2-0
W W W
122 TBA TBA
Heather 2, Hill, Carter Johnson, Hill, Corrigan Hill, Johnson
2-4 5-2
L W
TBA TBA
Corrigan, Johnson Johnson, Baitup, Tibbs, 2OGs
LSE Cup League League
A 5-0 H 7-0 A 12-1
W W W
TBA TBA TBA
Hill 2, Heather 2, Tibble Corrigan, Tibble 2, Heather 2, Baitup, Reed Tibble 4, Heather 3, Baitup 3, Reed, Corrigan
LSE Cup League League
A A H
SEPTEMBER
5 12 19 26
AFC Acorns Regents Park Parkwood Rg Ashford Ladies
OCTOBER
3 10 17 24
Islington Boro Maidstone Utd Bexhill United Bromley
-
NOVEMBER
7 21 28
DECEMBER
12 19
Brighton & HA AFC Acorns
SxChCup SF H LSE Cup H
JANUARY 2022
9 23 30
Walton Casuals Welling United Maidstone Utd
FEBRUARY 2022
6 13 20
Hackney Newhaven Ashford Ladies
SQUADS 3PM SATURDAY
5 FEBRUARY 2022
HASTINGS UNITED KIT: CLARET & WHITE
vs ISTHMIAN LEAGUE SOUTH EAST
Gary ELPHICK Manager REFEREE
HYTHE TOWN KIT: WHITE SHIRTS BLUE SHORTS & SOCKS James ROGERS Manager
(GK) Louis ROGERS
1
Ollie BLACK
2
Ryan WORRALL
3
Finn O’MARA
4
ASSISTANTS
Craig STONE
5
Scott DOE
Tom CHALMERS
6
MARCIN INDYK BILLY WOODS
Lloyd DAWES
7
SUPER
Jacob GILBERT
Jack DIXON
8
Ben POPE
9
Sam ADAMS 10
SCOTT RUDD
Henry NEWCOMBE (GK) Liam SMITH Jack MAYHEW
SAM ADAMS
James ROGERS George CRIMMEN Alex BROWN Tyler STERLING Morgan SARFO
Sam HASLER 11
600 th
Luca WOODHOUSE
Marcus GOLDSMITH 12
APPEARANCE
Tom WALMSLEY
Kenny POGUE 14 Andrew SESAY 15
MATCH SPONSOR
George SIBLEY Sam HIGNELL (GK)
Harvey GREIG 16
Riley ALFORD
Freddie LEGG 17
Connor CHEEK
Knory SCOTT 18
Jack NELSON
Dave MARTIN 19 Kane PENN 19 Tommy COONEY 19
MATCHBALL SPONSOR
BOB H MATCH MASCOTS
WILFIE ADAMS (5) MASON POGUE (7) FRANKIE SHIELDS-PAIN (9) HUDSON SHIELDS-PAIN (5) THE CONTINENTAL PILOT FIELD HASTINGS TN34 2AX