Eastbourne Town FC is a non league football club from the seaside town of the same name in East Sussex. The club were formed in 1881 as Devonshire Park FC, becoming the oldest club in Sussex.
The team played where the tournament tennis courts later stood, before moving to The Saffrons five years later. At this point the club became Eastbourne FC. They became founder members of the Southern Amateur Football League in 1907, remaining there until 1947.
Manager David Noakes remained at the helm for twenty five years until his retirement in 1931. Under his tutelage the team became Southern Amateur Football League champions in 1922-23 and 1925-26 before being replaced by Mr WS Grevett; the team captain.
In 1920 Eastbourne had also become members of the Sussex County League until joining the Corinthian League in 1947. The pitch was moved towards the cricket ground to allow some terracing on the town side.
This enabled a record crowd of 7,378 to attend an FA Cup qualifying tie against local rivals Hastings United in 1953. In 1963-64 the Corinthian League disbanded to be replaced by an enlarged Athenian League.
Eastbourne were relegated to the second tier in 1966, before adding Town to their title in 1971. In 1976-77 Town rejoined the Sussex County League, going on to win the championship in 1977.
The club suffered a relegation, and went down to Division Two in 2000-01 but climbed back a couple of seasons later under manager Dave Winterton. Adam Colwell became manager in January 2005, leading Town to go on to lift the Sussex League crown for a second time in 2006-07 and gaining promotion to the Isthmian League, competing in Division One South.
Colwell was replaced by Danny Bloor in 2009; whose side was reprieved from relegation after Ashford Town hit financial troubles. Bloor's departure in 2013 heralded a period in which Kevin Laundon, Tony Reid and John Lambert all had spells as manager in quick succession.
The instability eventually saw Eastbourne relegated at the end of the 2013-14 season to the Sussex County League; which was renamed the Southern Combination League in the summer of 2015, with Town playing in the Premier Division.
The Blue & Yellows finished as runners-up in 2015-16 and continued with top five finishes; gathering a new following of younger vibrant fans throughout the period. Lambert's side finished in third place in the 2018-19 campaign.
Eastbourne Town FC will play in the Southern Combination League Premier Division in the 2019-20 season.
My visits
Tuesday 12th December 2007
Always looking to use my days off from work productively, I had booked one of the excellent value Southern Trains Daysaver ticket to allow my unlimited rides for the day on that company’s services. It was a crisp sunny day as the train pulled into Eastbourne from an enjoyable look around Lewes.
The walk to The Saffrons took me past the lovely little area called Little Chelsea and the impressive Town Hall, which looked down on the ground. An ornate gate and brick entrance was open so that I could wander inside.
A wooden fence divided the football ground from Eastbourne Cricket Club, where Sussex used to play each season. The near goal had two sections of a few rows of open terracing. This continued down the Saffrons Road Side, with a cover offering protection to the last third of the pitch. It was neatly rounded off with a few garden benches at the back.
The far end offered most of the facilities. A long low stand went all along the goal line, with the changing rooms and board room at the rear. The stand was all seated and had a counter for hot drinks as well as a hot food stand near to the corner flag.
I departed and headed down to the sea front with its wide promenade and lovely views of the chalk cliffs of Beachy Head. My destination was The Oval, home of Eastbourne United at the far end of town.
Eastbourne Town 2 Sittingbourne 4 (Wednesday 8th January 2014) Isthmian League Division One South (Att: 165)
Having booked train tickets a couple of weeks earlier for the evening during my weeks leave from work, I was relieved the pitch passed a precautionary inspection because of continual rain in the area.
My journey first took me to Brighton for the second consecutive evening where I used my Camra Wetherspoon vouchers on two pints of Acorn Pale Ale in the Post & Telegraph, offering outstanding value. I deliberately set off early so that I found myself in the London & County in Eastbourne to dine out on the Wednesday Chicken Night offer.
There was some excitement when the gents eventually arrived to open the gates into the ground. One local pointed out that it was a long time since he’d seen a queue at The Saffrons! Admission was £8. As I couldn’t fathom out where the clubhouse was and I was still pretty full from my meal I settled for shelling out a quid for a cup of tea while reading the decent enough programme which had cost £1.50.
The Saffrons had not changed since my previous call. I wandered around to keep myself busy as the first half was woeful. There were mistakes galore although the pitch played fine. There was mud in the six yard boxes but nothing too bad. We had a couple of showers throughout the evening, which slickened up the surface.
The game was poor, so I followed a couple of older local gentlemen to the clubhouse, just outside the top entrance a minute before the break. Sure enough we missed a goal as the visitors went ahead through Thomas Loynes.
I enjoyed trying Long Man Brewery Blonde, a new beer to me (£3.20) and chatting to the gents about cricket at The Saffrons and the stars who've appeared for Eastbourne CC; Andy Flower, Richard Halsall, Tim Ambrose, Ed Giddins and Peter Moores amongst others.
They lamented of bigger gates for Sussex county games than Hove were getting, but how the business arrangement meant the club making a loss.
Unfortunately the chatting got the better of us and missed the first minute of the second half, and also the equaliser! Billy Medlock had netted for Town. I went to the loo and lo and behold Eastbourne went 2-1 up again through Medlock. He stood out for the next ten to fifteen minutes as the home side had a purple patch.
After that Sittingbourne came to their senses and realised Eastbourne weren't too hot at the back as they took control, much to the enjoyment of their loud custodian Adam Molloy who seemed upset that his wild celebrations weren't challenged. Two goals from Joe Taylor, with another from Luke Girt sealed the game.
The home side had a man sent off for retaliation in the last couple of minutes. He was most dischuffed and took some persuasion to leave the pitch. It had been the second time I'd seen Eastbourne in the 2013/14 season. I feared that they may struggle to stay up, which would have been a shame. I quite liked my visit.
I rounded my trip off by enjoying some tremendous Hophead back in the London & County at over a quid cheaper than in the brewery tap in Brighton. My journey back to the capital went quickly!
All in all it had been good entertainment and educational regarding the cricket. I’d met nice people at a tidy set up.
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