Category Archives: Lewes FC

Well that was one hell of a season

Posted on by
Reply

So it all comes down to just 90 minutes of football.  The whole season will be decided not only by events at The Dripping Pan, but also at Grosvenor Vale, HA7 and Ram Meadow, Bury St Edmunds.  Despite the excellent form of the Rooks over the past two months with 23 points from a possible 33 and topping the current form charts, those pesky Stones from the place on the Weald simply kept on winning as well, and despite their ridiculous back log of fixtures caused by their FA Trophy run (again the league punish the teams who represent their league better than anyone else), they simply kept on winning, finally breaking into the play off places with a win at Margate on Tuesday night.  Bury Town on the other hand had hit a patch of poor form at the wrong time, losing points here, there and everywhere.  But as they faced rudderless Tooting and Mitcham it was hard to see how they could get anything but three points.

In the twenty four hours before the game the good luck messages started streaming into the club.

“Good luck, fellas. Win or lose, play-offs or not, it’s been a terrific season. But stay off the pies and Harveys until full-time.”

“Good luck and whatever happens thanks for a memorable season and hopefully both the players and management remain for next year.”

“Come on you lovely lot, we’re right behind you! Possibly eating chips & drinking beer, but supporting you all the way. COYR!”

“from a new found supporter and now owner, all of Rome is behind you! Good luck and do what you do best, win :) Ciao, a presto!”

Even the rain that had blighted Southern England could not dampen the spirit of the fans.  The pies were ready, the beer had been poured.  Our bumper end of season programme was selling like hot cakes (have a look for yourselves here) and our club shop had been decimated like a pack of locusts by the fans wanting their Rooks merchandise.  After a week of remarkable football scores in the Champions League that had seriously upset the odds, was there going to be one final twist that would cause shock waves across the Ryman League?  Only time would tell.  That and constant refreshing of Non League Live. Continue reading →

I get around…

Posted on by
Reply

….from town to town, I’m a real cool head, I’m makin’ real good bread”

A trip to Canvey Island on a wet, wild and windy April afternoon probably doesn’t feature in any Top 100 Days Out in England programmes, but for Lewes fans it was going to be THE place to be. Through a combination of favourable results and some excellent performances, the Rooks came into the second to last game of the season still in the play off spots. Granted Wealdstone and Cray Wanderers had games in hand, and the momentum was with The Stones, especially after their 6-0 away at keeper-less Tooting & Mitcham United in the week, but every manager knows it is better to have points in the bag than games in hand (that is unless you are the team with games in hand).

So this was our last away trip of a long season that had started for some of us back in early July with a friendly away at St Neots Town. Fortunately, our hosts Concord Rangers had just ruled themselves out of the fight for the play offs and so they would simply open the front door and allow us to have the run of the house, right? That is what normally happens isn’t it? Perhaps they would also put a striker in goal for us like Tooting? What are the odds of that? Continue reading →

Draycott, Lord of the Manor

Posted on by
Reply

“Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity”

Every football team in every season has one defining event, the moment that decides the fate of the team, the players, the manager and the club. That moment may be a refereeing decision, a piece of individual brilliance or simply a team collectively not turning up on the day. But you can look back at the history books and find that compelling event. In this season’s Premier League there have been many, but if Manchester United take the title, many will point to the events of Easter Sunday as that moment when United got a fortuitous refereeing decision in their game versus QPR and then a few hours later Mikel Arteta’s last minute winner for Arsenal against Manchester City all but ended their challenge.

But for Lewes that moment still hasn’t really happened yet, or so we think. We could point to the last minute equaliser at home against Lowestoft Town, or Billericay Town’s 93rd minute winner in March. But with games running out perhaps the most defining moment was going to come at Hayes Lane, BR2 when the Rooks were going to take on Cray Wanderers. Fifth place taking on sixth, separated by just one point. A draw would open the door for Hendon, Wealdstone or Canvey Island; defeat for the Rooks would almost spell the end of the play-off charge; a win for Cray would see them with a foot in the end of season lottery. Continue reading →

Prudence, transparency, trust and 3 points

Posted on by
2

“There are rich teams and then there are poor teams. And then there is us”

That isn’t a quote from one of the current board of Lewes FC, although it could quite easily be one. It is from the excellent film, Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. It is a true story of the Oakland A’s baseball team and their meteoric rise to success despite having zero cash.

Having joined the board of Lewes six months ago I can certainly relate to Billy Beane, the character played by Brad Pitt and his quote above. The club have been through the mill in the past few years but have emerged from the other side with a Community Benefit Society, with over 800 members today, each of whom contributes to the ongoing survival of a club at the heart of the community.

Since I joined we have had a dream to become the most transparent club in Non league football. Others have called us mad, naive and made us feel we were breaking the magicians code of football when we stated our intend. One member of the board summed it up as follows:-

“The inner financial workings of a football club tend to be a bit of a black box. Any documentation, if it exists, is kept “in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard” Continue reading →

It’s not a results business is it?

Posted on by
1

“Well I want you to understand somethin’. To me, being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship to yourself and your family and your friends”

So much pressure is put on sports players to perform. Win at all cost seems to be the motto at all levels of the game we should love. And why should we love it? Because it at the end of the day it is supposed to be a past time, something to enjoy, to relieve our stress of an ever increasing hard life. But there is more to life than the pursuit of winning. There is enjoyment.

Relevance? Well ask any of the 600 or so Lewes fans how much they enjoyed the second half of the game versus Hendon last week. Whilst the last few minutes were nervous to say the least, the outstanding display from the team in the opening period of the half was scintillating. Attacking football, played with heart, passion and belief is all that our fans can hope for.

I have been brought up watching West Ham. The Academy. Brooking, Devonshire, Di Canio. Happy to be losing 4-3 than grinding out a 1-0 win. That is why so many people used to consider the Hammers their second team. But all of that has changed now – money has become more important than enjoyment and so it is all about the result and not the performance. And that is why I get my kicks at the likes of Aveley’s Mill Field, one of the least aesthetically pleasing grounds we will come across on our tour of the Ryman Premier League this season. Continue reading →