Eastbourne Town Club Board
President:
Roger Addems
Vice President: Roger Cooper
Chairman: Rupert Imich
Vice Chairman: Tony Guarino
Treasurer: Paul Roberts
Secretary and Match Secretary: Mark Potter
Life Vice-President: John Mitchell
Committee
Alan Pelling - Dennis
Brockwell - Dave Pelling - Chris Backhurst - Dave Rogers - Angie Myall -
Eddie Harriott - Eddie Harriott - James Hopkins - David Jenkins - Andy McPhee
-
Sue Hylands - Rob Hylands
General
Manager
Dave
Denton
Youth Football Development Officer
&
Welfare Officer/Child
Protection
James
Hopkins
UEFA B Licensed Coach
First
X1 Physiotherapist
James
Swinford
Groundsman
Murray
Schofield
Saffrons Bar -
Tel: 01323 723734 - Office: 01323
724328
Eastbourne Town
football club was founded in 1881 as Devonshire Park FC, named after its first
ground. It can thus claim to be the oldest senior football club in
Sussex. In 1886 the club moved to the newly-opened Saffrons, and in 1889
changed its name to Eastbourne FC. Between 1890 and 1903 Eastbourne
reached the Sussex Senior Cup Final ten times, winning the trophy on
seven occasions.
Eastbourne joined the Southern Amateur League in 1907 where they
remained until 1946, adding a further three Sussex Senior Cup wins
during this period. The club moved upwards into the Corinthian League in
1946/47, which was subsequently merged into the Athenian League in 1963.
The club won the Senior Cup for the last time in 1952/53, with the
ground record of 7,378 being set in 1953 in the FA Cup against Hastings
United.
At the beginning of the 1970s, the suffix “Town” was added to the
Club’s name, but the newly-named club came close to amalgamating with
rivals Eastbourne United in 1975/76. The Club took the decision to join
the Sussex County League the following season, and carried off the
League championship at the first attempt - the only time it has ever
come to the Saffrons, although the club finished third in 1984/85, and
again the following season.
At the end of the 2000/01 season, Eastbourne Town were relegated to
Division Two, after 25 seasons in the top division. However, after
narrowly missing out on promotion in 2001/02, they made no mistake in
2002/03 to return to their rightful place in Division One of the County
League, finishing as runners-up to Rye & Iden United. The club also
had the satisfaction of being the best-supported in the entire County
League at home.
Attendances surprisingly fell in 2003/04, although only Three Bridges
had a better average gate in the entire League. The slightly lower gates
perhaps refected the loss of local derbies against Eastbourne United and
to a lesser extent, Shinewater Association. The team once again
performed well on the pitch, and were title contenders up until the last
few weeks of the season, when they faded to ultimately finish fifth.
2004/05 was ultimately something of a disappointment, and had much to do
with the departure of goal machine Yemi Odubade to Yeovil Town (later to
return to Eastbourne Borough). The season also saw the departure of
manager Dave Winterton, who was replaced by former Borough Reserve coach
Ady Colwell. The arrival of Colwell saw a general upturn in fortunes on
the pitch as he led Eastbourne Town to a mid-table position.
The revival under Colwell continued during 2005/06 as Eastbourne Town finished 5th
in Division One for the second time in three seasons. In 2006/2007
Eastbourne Town FC won the Sussex County FA Division 1 League for the
first time in 30 years and move up to the Ryman League for 2007/2008. The Club
was certainly the best supported in
the entire Sussex County League, with the local derby against Eastbourne UA
regularly achieving the best aggregate figures in this supposedly
“non-footballing town”. In 2007/2008 ground improvements will be
made and Town are looking forward to playing new teams and increasing
support for the club.
