Lingfield Football Club History
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Builders Merchants, Electrical Wholesalers and DIY Suppliers Throughout Sussex For more information, opening times and locations, visit: www.gardnerandscardifield.co.uk Supporting Sport in Sussex! Open to Trade & Retail Electrical Branches Penhill Road 01903 755774 Lancing 01903 763879 Burgess Hill 01444 235781 Bognor 01243 840777 Timber 01903 761813 Horsham 01403 273592 Joinery 01903 526050 Goring 01903 246715 Garden Centre 01903 765156 Builders Merchants Housewares 01903 751325 Lancing 01903 768416 Door Showroom 01903 751263 Worthing 01903 205800 Decorating 01903 752340 Bognor Regis 01243 841145 Bognor Hardware 01243 680148 Henfield 01273 491414 Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Culver Road for today's opening Southern Combination Football League fixture between the Lancers and Lingfield. We are excited to commence the 20/21 league campaign this afternoon and look forward to catching up with both new & old faces alike. Our Tuesday night Emirates FA Cup fixture, despite a 10-11 defeat on penalties to Phoenix Sports, was a fantastic advert for non-league football, and Lancers home fans will be keen to see another competitive match today. We wish our home & away players, coaches, match officials, supporters and committee members an enjoyable stay with us at the Culver Road stadium. Please bear with us throughout your stay, as we facilitate numerous safety measures to be COVID-19 compliant - the bar & servery will be open serving hot & cold food & drink throughout the fixture. Live updates throughout the match - follow us online! I look forward to catching up throughout the evening. Steve Taylor Chairman FA Cup returns to Culver Road. - Guest match report provided by Ian Townsend of the Isthmian Football League - Football finally returned - and the FA Cup served up a cracker courtesy of Lancing and Phoenix Sports. We saw six goals- and then twenty one penalties. One hundred and seventy four days have passed since that damp winter night, and as we arrived at Lancing this evening for the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie between the Lancers and our very own Phoenix Sports it was sobering to think that not one Isthmian club has kicked a ball in anger since, and that the footballing world- indeed, the whole world- is still full of uncertainty. Tonight was the evening that AFC Sudbury should have been propelled into the national consciousness via the BBC iPlayer, as their match at Burton Park Wanderers was due to be televised, but instead the Yellows were already through to the next round. A Wanderers player tested positive for coronavirus, the tie was awarded to the visitors, and nobody was happy with that outcome. But is it an outcome we might need to get used to in the coming months? The last time we filed a match report from Culver Road, home of both Lancing and the Sussex County FA, we were witnessing the celebrations of a swarm of delighted Hornets. Horsham, at that point tenants here, had just defeated Ashford United to win the 2018-19 South East Playoff Final. Tonight, the place was a great deal quieter, and, much as Lancing is always a fabulous, welcoming place to watch football, slightly surreal. Mask wearing spectators, social distancing, a reduced capacity, a collection of hand sanitisation stations and an electronic programme to cut down on the need for face to face contact made the place seem rather disconnected from reality. If the players had arrived on the pitch in hover boots we’d probably have shrugged our shoulders and only been slightly surprised. This could so easily have been the opening match of the Isthmian South East season. At the time that the world ground to a dramatic halt, Lancing were six points clear at the top of the Southern Combination Football League. Eastbourne Town were their closest pursuers, but the odds were in favour of the Lancers, and it must have taken a great deal of mental toughness for their players to get over the disappointment. Could they make it this time around? Four wins and one defeat in pre-season had demonstrated that they weren’t exactly ring-rusty, and with one of those victories coming over A27 rivals Chichester City, who defeated tonight’s visitors last season, they looked confident, indeed buoyant, during the warm up. That said, Sports were similarly upbeat, and perhaps with good reason- although they were also rather rushed, as they’d spent much of the preceding three hours on the M25, necessitating a delayed kick off. "What a match, and what a start to the season. Congratulations to Sports, whose supporters should go into the new league season with optimism after that performance. But commiserations to Lancing. This was a match that neither deserved to lose- and on the basis of that performance, the Lancers might be an excellent addition to our ranks for the 2021-22 campaign." Lancing Football Club Officials 20‐21 Management Committee Steve Taylor Chairman Barry Sutton Vice‐Chairman Clive Nutter Hon Secretary / Fixtures Secretary Paul Blann Hon Treasurer Gloria Eveleigh Safeguarding & Welfare Manager Jack Taylor Social Media Manager / Safeguarding & Welfare Officer VACANCY Social Media Officer Tony Wheels Kit & Equipment Manager Ron George Minutes Secretary / Club Historian David Wilmott Match Reporter Geoff Patmore Lancing Parish Council Representative Grahame Holman Safety Officer / Bingo Officer Shane Chapman Safety Officer Brian Cork Committee Member / Bingo Officer Terry Cartwright Committee Member / Vice‐President Brendan Carey Committee Member Tina Carey Committee Member Wayne Poulter Committee Member Honorary Members Brian Hill Patron Len Ralph President Tony Gillings Vice‐Presidents Jill Carlberg Ted Sear Terry Cartwright Andy Berry Barry Leigh Martin Gander Chris Prees John Sharman David Menzies Life Members Les Nutter Clarice Peters Roy Gibson Brian Hill John Brown Football Mana gement First Team James Rhodes, Kane Louis, Matt Evans, Mark Stuart, Georgie Hill Under‐23s James Taylor, Matt Calver Under‐18s Mike Richards, Amr Soliman Women Wayne Poulter, Faye Charles, Molly Towers Disability Samuel Aylmore, Rossi Leckey Lancing Football Club, Culver Road, Lancing, BN15 9AX Tel: 01903 755251 E: [email protected] COMING UP FOR THE LANCERS… * Premium quality coffee * Snowshock slushy * * Milkshakes & Smoothies * * Bakery bread * Large variety of fresh fillings * * Oven Baked Jacket Potatoes * Salad boxes * * 100% Beef burgers * Outside catering * * Eat in & Take away * 2 Queens Parade, Culver Road, Lancing, West Sussex BN15 9BA 01903 367140 A brief hustory of the Lancers LINGFIELD FOOTBALL CLUB HISTORY They were established in 1893 and originally played in the Edenbridge & District League and the Surrey Junior league, at the same time.[2] Before the First World War the club won the Edenbridge league six times and the Surrey Junior league once.[2] After the War the club just competed in the Edenbridge league, as it had expanded and they could not play all of the fixtures for both leagues now.[3] The club found more success in the Edenbridge league in the 1922–23 season, when they completed a double of League Champions and Edenbridge Hospital Cup.[2] The next season saw the club join the Redhill and District League, but just two seasons later saw them again simultaneously compete in the Edenbridge League again, and winning it again in the 1929–30 campaign.[3] At the end of the 1930–31 season the club left both leagues to join the East Grinstead league, which they won at the first attempt.[2] However, after one more season the club left the league and joined the newly formed Edenbridge and Caterham League.[3] They then went on to win the league in the 1934–35 campaign, and successfully defended this title for the next two seasons.[3] In 1938 the club had to move from their ground at High Street to a new ground at Talbot Road, as the local council wanted the land to build a school.[2] After the Second World War the club rejoined the Edenbridge and Caterham League, and winning another title in the 1952–53 season.[4] Three seasons later the club was back in the Redhill and District league, and gaining promotion to the Premier Division of that league in the 1958–59 season, the first season at their new home of Godstone Road.[4] The club remained in the Premier Division until the end of the 1969–70 campaign, when they were relegated back to Division one.[4] It took the club just two seasons to become champions of Division one, but instead of being promoted to the Premier Division the club decided to join the Surrey Intermediate League.[2] Success in the Surrey Intermediate league came under the management of Dennis Moore, when in the 1976–77 season they gained Promotion from the Premier division 'B' to the Premier Division 'A' as champions.[2] Further success followed the next season as they took the Premier Division 'A' title as well as winning the Surrey County Centenary Cup and the league cup.[2] The club repeated the league and league cup double success again at the end of the 1978–79 campaign. During the 1979–80 Campaign the club applied to the Sussex County League and the Combined Counties Football League, but were turned down by their first choice the Sussex league, as their ground was considered inadequate.[5] However the Combined Counties league accepted the application and the club joined the league for the 1980–81 campaign.[6] In their second season in the Combined Counties league the league was split into an east and west section, and the club finished runners-up in the Eastern section.[6] The next season saw the club make their debut in the