Hastings United

Hastings United FC is a semi-professional non-league football club from the Sussex seaside town of the same name that was formed in 1893 as Rock-a-Nore FC, joining the East Sussex Football League in 1904 and playing home games at East Hill in Hastings Old Town.

Around the same time another local club; St Leonards United were playing in Division Two of the Southern League, playing at the new 'Sports Ground’ where Rock-a-Nore shared for a season before returning to East Hill.

Hastings & St Leonards FC had been formed back in 1890 as Hastings Athletic joined forces with United in 1906 before folding in 1910 because of mounting debts while competing in the professional Southern League.

Meanwhile, Rock-a-Nore won the East Sussex League in the 1907-08 before dropping back down to local football. The club became founder members of the Sussex County League and moved to the Pilot Field for the 1920-21 season.

Rock-a-Nore took advantage of the folding of the old club to change their name to Hastings & St Leonards FC in 1921. Ironically, another local team Old Town United changed their name to Rock-a-Nore once that mantle became vacant.

After a couple of runners-up berths Hastings moved to the Southern Amateur League in 1927; winning Division Two and promotion in their debut season before becoming league champions in 1934-35, 1935-36, 1936-37 and 1938-39.

Once peace was restored after World War Two, the club was named Hastings Amateurs and lost their Pilot Field to a new professional club called Hastings United. The club had joined the Corinthian League but were forced to resign.

They regathered and played in the Hastings League before re-joining the East Sussex League for the 1950-51 season as Hastings & St Leonards. The club moved into a ground up the hill from the Pilot Field called The Firs; which would later become home to STAMCO in the 1980’s.

There seems to be some confusion regarding club histories around this period. For the record, the Hastings United side of the day played in the Southern League. They progressed to the FA Cup third round in 1953-54; eventually going out in a replay away to Norwich City after spanking Swindon Town at Pilot Field in the previous round.

United had further glamour FA Cup ties; reaching round three in 1954-55 going out at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday and then in the second round the following season away to Northampton Town with Jack Tresadern managing the team.

In 1956-57 a round one appearance ended at Portman Road to Ipswich Town; with other first round appearances in 1959-60 versus Notts County and in 1960-61 when Northampton ended the run once again, before the team were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1960-61 campaign before winning promotion in 1962-63 under Ted Ballard.

They went back down to Division One; as the second tier had been re-named in 1964-65; and then winning back a Premier Division place in 1966-67. The yo-yo nature of performances continued with a relegation just twelve months later.

By 1976-77 United won promotion to the Premier Division before the Southern League opted for North and South Divisions rather than one top league in 1979-80. In 1981-82 United finished as runners-up in the Southern Division.

The club was placed in the Premier Division once it was re-established in 1982-83 before they folded as continuing financial troubles became too much, even after the sale of the squash complex at the ground.

While all this was going on, Hastings & St Leonards continued plying their trade in the Sussex County League at The Firs looking down on the shenanigans down the hill, with a Division Two runner-up place in 1959-60 the only stand out performance.

In 1976 Hastings & St Leonards changed their title to Hastings Town before becoming champions of Division Two of 1979-80. Town tried to gain a place in the Premier Division in the Southern League following the closure of the ‘old’ United in 1985.

The league placed them in the Southern Division as the club negotiated a lease for the Pilot Field for the 1985-86 campaign. Former United boss Peter Sillett was made manager and bought several players with him from the defunct club; going on to win the division in 1991-92.

Local lottery winner Mark Gardiner, who had been involved with St Leonards Stamcroft; the later title of STAMCO, invested in Town, which helped manager Garry Wilson with his playing budget after the departure of Sillett.

Wilson was sacked after a disappointing start with Dean White and Terry White arriving as joint managers. Gardiner pulled out his money as the club was threatened with closure. They resigned from the Southern League but were readmitted after a local consortium saved them.

Things settled down on and off the pitch. After two fifth place finishes, Hastings won promotion from the Eastern Division with a title win in 2001-02. The club changed their name to Hastings United in time for the 2002-03 season, to add to previous confusions.

The rejuvenated title seemed to work initially as the team reached the first round of the FA Cup where they went out away to Stevenage Borough. However, a dip in form saw United relegated back to the Eastern Division at the end of the season.

A new chairman arrived and installed Steve Lovell. He led his side away from a narrow escape from relegation to the Sussex County League. Neville Southall took over as manager for a short spell as the inconsistency continued with United being moved by the FA to the Isthmian League Division One.

Southall was replaced by Nigel Kane and Pat Brown who oversaw a dramatic turnaround from relegation struggle to a play-off place in 2006-07. Away wins to Dover Athletic and then Tooting & Mitcham United secured promotion to the Premier Division.

Kane had taken over the team affairs but departed soon into the 2007-08 season to be replaced by Tony Dolby who lasted until the end of the season when reserve team boss John Lambert stepped up to the plate.

Remarkably Dolby returned to replace Lambert by February 2009 to take the team to seventh place in 2009-10. The manager was dismissed with Jason Hopkinson coming in shortly into the 2010-11 campaign. His spell was short lived; with player-manager Sean Ray taking over the role.

In 2011-12 Ray’s side defeated Bishop’s Stortford and the Harrogate Town in front of live Sky TV cameras in a replay at the Pilot Field to reach the third round of the FA Cup. ‘The Arrows’ were defeated 4-1 against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

The team struggled in the league and were relegated at the end of the season with John Maggs replacing Ray in September 2013, but only lasting five months before being replaced by Terry White. The team reached the play-offs but were beaten in the semi-finals by Folkestone Invicta.

White resigned in October 2014 with Dominic di Paolo appointed in his place. Nigel Kane returned as manager in January 2015 before a new board was formed in the pre-season who appointed Garry Wilson for a second stint as manager.

After a seventh-place finish in 2015-16 Darren Hare was given a two year deal to lead the team. Former Football League players Lenny Pidgeley, Matt Bodkin and Frannie Collin were signed. Collin banged in the goals but lost in the play-off semi-final to Dorking Wanderers.

Hare departed to be replaced by Adam Hinshelwood as cash was invested into the academy side and development squad. Hinshelwood was replaced by his assistant Chris Agutter within a few weeks. The new man took his charges to ninth place.

The 2018-19 season was much improved as United ended third following non-league restructuring which saw the club placed in the South East Division where they lost at home in the play-off semi’s to Ashford United.

Hastings United FC will play in the Isthmian League South East Division in the 2019-20 season.

My visits

Tuesday 12^th December 2007

With a day off work I headed to the Sussex coast to visit and photograph some non-league football venues and broaden my horizons calling at previously unvisited towns. The cold but clear day was ideal for exercise despite my knee giving me a bit of grief.

I’d called into the grounds of Lewes, Eastbourne Town, Eastbourne United Association, Eastbourne Borough and Bexhill United before arriving into Hastings. I decided to walk to the Pilot Field; which was far further than I anticipated.

First up I entered The Firs next door for a look around; which can be read about here before entering United’s ground where a gent was tending to the pitch. He was most amiable and friendly telling me briefly of the convoluted history of the place.

The pitch was a fair way to the fence as it hosted the meetings of Hastings Saxons speedway team back in the day. A tremendous raised seated stand curved slightly at each end was the outstanding feature running nearly the full length of the pitch.

The far end had a small modern cover behind the goal. A large grass bank stood opposite the main stand while the Elphinstone Road end had a substantial cover and terracing. It must have been some sight when a record attendance of 12,527, packed in when Hastings United drew 3-3 against Norwich City 1953-54 FA Cup third round tie.

Once done taking it all in I decided to take a bus back into town and walk past where the majestic and historic old Recreation Cricket Ground once stood and to the prom. I wandered past the pier and on to St Leonards, where I caught the train back from Warrior Square to London.

Hastings United 2 Dorking Wanderers 1 (Saturday 27^th July 2019) Pre-Season Friendly (att: 227)

It was the final day of my week annual leave and I was determined to enjoy a day away from London despite my left knee causing me problems. Was it just a coincidence with a planned trip to Hastings? I caught a train from Hendon to St Pancras before boarding a fast service to Ashford International.

I’d expected a quiet ride to the coast on my connection, but the three car vehicle was packed; not helped by several cyclists and plentiful luggage. Plenty of hipsters seemed to be heading to either my destination or Eastbourne.

On arrival I took a few photos on a pleasant enough day in the town. I wasn’t that bothered about beers, so I grabbed some a pasty and soup from Greggs, before taking the bus from Priory Meadow to Downs Road not long after 2pm.

This worked well for me as I wanted to try and get into The Firs to update my photos and see what condition the old venue was in. Fortunately, I found a way in through a broken fence. You can have a read all about it and the clubs who played there by clicking here.

It probably wasn’t the best plan for my knee but hey ho. I made my way past the old squash complex which now had signage as United’s Sports & Social Club. I wandered back down the slope to the entrance to the ground where I paid £6 admission.

Once inside I purchased a raffle ticket and was given a free four page programme. I took a brief look inside the bar, but there wasn’t anything that really took my fancy. The alternative option was far more attractive; a cheeseburger, chips and a cuppa. I headed to the seats in the stand to enjoy and relax.

The view was excellent. The Pilot Field hadn’t changed too much since my previous visit, save for the grass bank on the opposite side being out of bounds owing to the daft over officious FA ground grading rulings.

The match was being played in honour of award winning groundsman Simon Rudkins who was moving on from his role. His playing surface really was near perfect. At first glance I wondered if it was an artificial pitch, as it looked so good.

The match promised to be intriguing with Dorking having just been promoted to the National League South and Hastings just missing out through the play-offs. The rain on the surface made passing slick and added to plenty of skilful play on show.

The hosts went close with a low shot on six minutes which flashed just wide of the post of keeper Slavomir Huk. Niall McManus put in a good low cross at the other end, but no Dorking player could connect as it went across the area before James McShane headed a corner just over for the visitors.

The deadlock was broken on fifteen minutes with a shot from outside the box from McShane past a disappointed Arrows goalie. Huk made a fine save but could do nothing about the equaliser on twenty-one minutes when a ball was pulled back for James Pool to score.

Huk made a real hash of a clearance that was nearly returned into the unguarded net. The game continued at a good pace until the interval when I decided to have a walk round and place myself in the cover behind the Elphinstone Road end.

I really enjoyed watching the game at a traditional venue. McManus saw a powerful shot come back off the crossbar soon after the break. Chances were at a premium. Hasting’s Daniel Ajakaiye was impressing me with his forward play.

Wanderers sub Giuseppe Sole had a shot saved before the hosts went ahead with fifteen minutes remaining on the clock when a superb effort from Ben Pope was curled past Huk into the corner of the net.

At that point I moved round to the corner of the pitch. I love to see youngsters going to football, but not while I’m trying to watch and they’re using it as a playground running amok. It obviously never occurred to parents who let them loose that others might be there to enjoy the match.

The game petered out after a few Dorking efforts including one from George Membrilla that found the bar. The result in a friendly is irrelevant to a degree. I’d guess that the respective managers would have been happy enough with their team’s efforts.

At full time the sensible option would have been taking a bus, but I reckoned the walk down to Queens Road would be downhill and the leg could do with a stretch. Alas, I forgot that there was a climb after the stretch down the hill.

It was a bit of a relief to reach The Imperial; home to The Brewing Brothers. My initial reaction on entering was “oh no”. More kids playing and the place seemed pretentious. However, appearances can be slightly misleading. Sure, it was the ‘cool’ place to be but there was more to it than that.

The beer was decent and the lads running it were good sorts. Trade was booming when a group of real ale enthusiasts came in with over the top analysis. They were nothing compared to two fellas who followed. One wanted to know the origin of each hop and what gravity was being used.

However, my favourite was by far the winner arriving in a waistcoat made out of beer towels and asking the barman to sign and date his book. In return he gave him a beermat which stated that the establishment was somewhere over 20,000 he’d visited. There were several heads being shaken.

After a couple I walked along, past The Fountain, which was offering cabaret and didn’t look my sort of place and onto Twelve Hundred Postcards; a micropub with excellent background music and a nice pint. I enjoyed it even if conversation seemed to be minimal.

I didn’t want to head back to London too early, but the pub choice wasn’t outstanding. I decided to give The Carlisle on the seafront a go. I’m glad I did, even if I seemed to be the only person not dressed in black.

People were friendly if a little unconventional, mainly being punks, goths or rockers. The jukebox played great tunes and the bitter from the Long Man Brewery palatable. I really enjoyed it. I mean how often do you go in a pub and hear four consecutive Bauhaus tracks being played.

A cover band were beginning to set up and I was scanning the timetable and considering hanging about, but sometimes it’s a good idea to quit while your winning. I hobbled back to the station and repeated my train ride via Ashford and the Javelin back to the metropolis.

It’d been a god day out, notwithstanding the gammy knee. I’d found throughout the week that getting out of the capital was a good cure to try and cleanse the mind. The sea air, exercise and a few pints were certainly as good as any sleeping tablet.