It has been a difficult week for those running Lewes Football Club. The arrival of former
manager Steve King back at The Dripping Pan raised an eyebrow or two when he returned to the club
during the summer, but the owners of the club have rightly remained tight-lipped over what King may
or may not have been up to and, although there are any number of theories floating around this
ground as to why he should have found himself at home this afternoon, no official announcement has
been made and Simon Wormull takes his place in the home dug-out today.
Well, it's very late on a Sunday evening, so it's time for a round-up of non-league videos from
over the course of this weekend. We kick off with a match from the First Round Proper of the FA
Cup, between Chelmsford City of the Blue Square South and AFC Telford United of the Blue Square
Premier. Next up is a match from the Ryman League Premier Division between two of the pre-season
promotion favourites, Lewes and Bury Town, and this is followed by a match from the Southern League
Division One Central between Slough Town and St Neots Town.
Non-league football has experienced a culture of boom and bust for as long as it has existed.
From the shamateurism of the 1950s and 1960s, through to more recent vanity projects, there has
never been a completely level playing field in the semi-professional football, and what becomes
troubling about this is, of course, what happens to a club when the money runs out.
It has been a wretched season for St Albans City. Twenty-five years at the sixth level of the
English pyramid -one of which, the 2006/07 season had been spent a division higher in the Blue
Square Premier came to a crashing halt this season in a fog of humiliation, as they were docked ten
points for financial irregularities and finished well adrift at the foot of the Blue Square
South.
It is the end, then, of another long, hard season, and perhaps now is an appropriate time to be
looking at how those clubs that are owned and run by their supporters trusts this season managed to
fair. As AFC Wimbledon paraded the trophy that confirmed their accession into the Football League
nine years after their formation, the words of the FA's committee, that a new club in the borough
would be, "not in the wider interests of football", have never sounded more hollow.
The Easter weekend is traditionally the weekend during which most non-league promotion and
relegation issues are sorted out one way or the other and, with a round of fixtures to be played
this afternoon, we're going to take a moment to catch up with some of Saturday's matches. Our first
match comes from the foot of the Blue Square South.
The Easter weekend is traditionally the weekend during which most non-league promotion and
relegation issues are sorted out one way or the other and, with a round of fixtures to be played
this afternoon, we're going to take a moment to catch up with some of Saturday's matches. Our first
match comes from the foot of the Blue Square South.
This week's non-league videos of the week come from the top and bottom of the Blue Square South,
and from the Combined Counties League. Our first match comes from Princes Park, and is between
Dartford and Lewes. Dartford are comfortable now in mid-table in the Blue Square South. Lewes,
however, are in trouble at the foot of the table, although a surprise win against the league
leaders, Braintree Town, on Wednesday night left them still in touch with their rivals at the foot
of the table.
This week's non-league videos of the week come from the top and bottom of the Blue Square South,
and from the Combined Counties League. Our first match comes from Princes Park, and is between
Dartford and Lewes. Dartford are comfortable now in mid-table in the Blue Square South. Lewes,
however, are in trouble at the foot of the table, although a surprise win against the league
leaders, Braintree Town, on Wednesday night left them still in touch with their rivals at the foot
of the table.
For people who come from other parts of the country, particularly in the Football
League-saturated midlands and north-west of England, it might be hard to grasp the peculiar
mentality which comes of supporting Brighton and Hove Albion. Their geographical catchment area is
the envy of almost any of their rivals you could care to mention, having been the sole League
representative for the county of Sussex for over 90 years.
Yes, yes the date is wrong (the game is actually on the 22nd of January, this Saturday) but who
can't fail to be impressed by another winning match poster from Lewes FC. See you there....