After a defeat at Staines Town in their opening Blue Square South match of the season on Saturday afternoon, the real test followed for Lewes this evening. Tonight's match against Thurrock wasn't merely their first home match of the new season. It was the first test of a brave new world, the first chance to see if they have a chance of stabilising their club under new management.

Today is a good news day. Lewes Football Club has paid HMRC and dodged the bullet of their winding up order. It's time, then, to take a look back just over twenty years to the death of Newport County AFC, and how they rebuilt to a position from which they might just get promotion back into the league from which they were expelled in the first place.

The story of the mighty Brazilian football club Corinthians begins in the fertile mind of N. Lane Jackson, assistant secretary of England's Football Association in the 1880s. Jackson came up with the idea of putting together a club that could seriously challenge the dominance of Scottish football (yes, incredibly, there was a time when Scotland was THE world power in football).

Sea, Sea, Seasiders
Brighton & Hove Albion Res 4-0 Bognor Regis Town (03:05:10)
*click on photos to enlarge image*
Brighton, Bognor Regis, Eastbourne, Bank Holiday Monday - welcome to the Beautiful South. It was like thumbing through a holiday brochure of coastal resorts. With Wembley Stadium fully booked, this years Sussex Senior Cup Final took place at the home of Eastbourne Borough and was played out between Brighton & Hove Albion Reserves and Bognor Regis Town.

Twente/20 Vision
Canvey Island 0-5 FC Twente (24:07:10)
I know, brilliant isn't it? Just to recap that's Canvey Island v FC Twente. The Gulls, or if you prefer, The Islanders play in the 7th tier of English football. That's the Isthmian League Premier Division which isn't quite the same as The Tukkers (Tukkers!

Sir Alex Ferguson has been harping on about there being no value in the current market. Granted, with the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City chucking money away there has been some shift. When a club is paying £24m for Joleon Lescott or £80m for a player who is already desperate to leave their current club, you have to wonder how far you can stretch your cash.

It was the blind leading the blind when a local radio station called on me one autumn Friday in 2001 to comment on my club Kingstonian's descent into "administration." Much of the interview through which I semi-bluffed my way centred on how administration did not equate to liquidation. If only I knew then what I know now.

The latter qualifying round stages of the FA Cup have a habit of rather creeping up on us. One week, village teams are playing each other in front of a handful of men and their dogs, but before you know it there is something altogether more significant at stake. This weekend it's the Third Qualifying Round stage, and everybody involved this weekend has something to play for.

Congratulations to Chris Smalling who has been called up to the England squad for the first time. After impressing for the U-21, Smalling is one of the eight defenders that Fabio Capello has named in his squad for a friendly against France on Wednesday.

Two years ago he was playing for the Isthmian League side Maidstone United.

Two years ago Chris Smalling was playing in the Isthmian League for Maidstone. He was earlier today named in Capello's England squad to face France on Wednesday

Chris Smalling who has been impressive in his limited gametime at Manchester United has done enough to impress the Italian who was at United's Away draw to Aston Villa on Saturday.

"Rites of passage" tend to involve teenagers and revolve around love and/or sex, certainly in the Hollywood films that I know about. Being a non-league football fan, I missed that particular rite of passage completely, along with pretty much every other interesting rite of passage you could think of.

Hove, Aldrington, Portslade, Fishersgate, Southwick, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lancing. The train rumbles westward allong the coast from Brighton for an unexpected treat, an FA Vase Third Round match between Lancing, of the Sussex County League Division Two and Witham Town, of the Essex Senior League. The FA Vase, as many of you will be aware, was first competed for in 1975, following the FA's abolition of the formal distinction between professional amateur players.