VS EASTBOURNE TOWN
ISTHMIAN LEAGUE | SOUTH EAST DIVISION MONDAY 21ST APRIL, 2025 | KICK OFF 1PM
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN FC
The Vistavis Community Stadium College Lane | East Grinstead | RH19 3LS
Tel: 01342 325885
FROM THE CHAIR
Good afternoon everyone, Happy Easter and welcome to the Eastbourne officials, management, players and supporters as well as this afternoon’s match officials. I trust everyone enjoys their brief stay and our hospitality. Drew and his team will be looking to send the home fans away with smiles on their faces today, our final home game of the season. It was disappointing to concede after nine minutes in blustery conditions to what proved to be the only goal of the match in Deal on Saturday. I would like to thank the Grin Army who made the long trip to support the lads and for their terrific support throughout the season both home and away, come rain or shine, win or lose. They will be making a short presentation for their End of Season Awards after this afternoon’s match in the clubhouse. Our final match of the season is at AFC Croydon on Saturday. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the players, Drew, Ian, Sarge, Matt, Shannon and all our loyal supporters for their never ending backing and support throughout the season, as well as my fellow committee members and our small group of totally dedicated volunteers.
I am pleased to welcome new volunteers to the teamAndrew and Rowan Kirby who have taken over as kit managers. We are always looking for more volunteers so if you want to join us in any capacity, please get in touch. There’s a lot of work going on in the close season, including the installation of new LED floodlights and the pitch renovations and we all look forward to our 12th consecutive season in the Isthmian League. Thank you all for coming along this afternoon and whatever the outcome of the match, I trust everyone enjoys their visit to East Court and I wish you all a safe journey home.
OWNERSHIP STATEMENT
In accordance with the Football Association's Rule 2.13 (publication of ownership) in relation to Step 1 to Step 6 Clubs within the National League System East Grinstead Town FC is an unincorporated association / members club and a Community Amateur Sports Club (reg no CASC 02270).
Followuson:
ClubManagement:
Chair & Treasurer: Richard Tramontin
Secretary & Vice chair: Brian McCorquodale
Senior Football Officer: Steve Norris
Head of Recruitment: Matt Wheeler
Commercial Manager: Steve Norris
Club Welfare Officer: Brian McCorquodale
Disability Welfare Officer: Stuart Gibson
Safety & Facilities Officer: Barry Bryant
Bar Manager: Stuart Gibson
Press Officer: Bruce Talbot
ED&I Officer: Andy Dodson
FootballManagement
Manager: Drew Cooney
Assistant Manager and Team Coach: Ian Nicholls
Assistant Team Coach: Steve Sargent, Matt Wheeler
Physiotherapist: Kit manager:
Disability Team Manager:
Youth Coordinator & Development: Under-18 Managers:
Under-16 Amber Manager:
Under-16 Black Manager:
Under-14 Manager:
Under-12 Amber Manager:
Under 12 Black Manager:
Under 11 Manager:
Shannon McEvoy
Andrew & Rowan Kirby
Ant Bowler
Jay De Vito
Lewis McDonnell & Kevin Wright
Lewis McDonnell
Nigel Leach
Sean Clarabut
Ted Symes
Tom Butcher
Ben Payne
FROM THE Dugout
END OF SEASON REFLECTIONS - AND A LOOK AHEAD
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to today’s last home game of the 2024/25 season.
I can’t help but be really disappointed as a whole with how the season has panned out. After a positive start we were very up and down going into December. A great month then boosted hopes of a top half finish. But seven weeks in March and April of back to back Saturday/Tuesday games proved too much for our small squad which I think has cost us between 7-9 points.
I’ve been very harsh on the group, as we want to continually better ourselves not only as a team but as a management group. If we are not doing that year on year we are failing. The club has been happy to survive in this league, but we need to shift that mentality on and off the pitch next season so we will do what we need to do to improve the squad in every department we see necessary.
We have had some great servants over the years, but we do need some changes. We also have some exciting talent coming through from the under-18s in Tyler, Mason and Kian who are all first years in the 18s. Lewis McDonnell has done a great job with them and we hope with their inclusion in first-team training sessions during these last few weeks they will all go from strength to strength. But if we are brutally honest there has been at least 12 points dropped from dominant positions in matches caused by individual mistakes, and we need to sort this.
Ian, Sarg, Matt and I have spoken at length about the fixture pile up and the mistakes and if you look at the points total we are on now (44) we could and should have been sitting on around 65 points which would of seen us finish in the top eight. I honestly think with the required additions over the summer, added to a core of what we have now, a top-half finish in the league is a realistic target. But that must be the target of the whole club.
I’d like to thank those who work hard off the pitch from our legendary chairman Richard, Brian, Stuart, Bruce, Gillian and the other match day helpers and committee members. The addition of Steve Norris to the committee leaves us in a really good position to kick on next season.
The biggest mention must go to the supporters. You been with us through thick and thin this season. There have been some unbelievable results against some of the big boys (Ramsgate), the goal fest down at Lancing and the one I’ll never be able to get over at Merstham, where we witnessed a complete collapse and shipped nine! It’s been another rollercoaster of a season, but we couldn’t do it without every single one of you.
One final shout out to my management team Ian, Sarg, Matt, Robbo, Kate and Shannon. We all work tirelessly all week not just on match days to try and get the lads prepared. We do this for no financial gain in most cases and it costs us all time and money to do what we do, and we suffer the losses more than anyone so massive thanks to all these guys - I couldn’t do it without you!
Thanks again and look forward to seeing you in 2025/26.
EASTBOURNE TOWN TheAwayEnd
EASTBOURNE TOWN IN NUMBERS
Eastbourne Town Records
Firsts:
First match as Devonshire Park:
v Clifton House School (h), Won 5-1, Friendly, 26 October 1881
First match as Eastbourne:
v Brighton College (h), won 3-1, Sussex Senior Cup 1st Round, 9 November 1889
First match as Eastbourne Town:
v Crawley Town (h), lost 1-4, Friendly, 3 August 1971
First league match:
v Queens Park Rangers Reserves (a), lost 3-2, South Eastern League, 23 December 1905
First FA Cup match:
v Sittingbourne (h), drew 0-0, 1st Qualifying Round., 5 October 1898
First FA Amateur Cup match:
v Old Brightonians (h), lost 2-5, 1st Round, 1 February 1895
First FA Vase match:
v Sidley United (h), won 5-0, 1st Round, 26 October 1974
First FA Trophy match:
v Hitchin Town (a), lost 3-0, 1st Qualifying Round, 20 October 2007
First home European competition match:
v Marcians, drew 2-2, Challenge International du Nord, 3 April 1909
First away European competition match:
v Le Harve SC (France), won 0-2, at Tourcoing, Challenge International du Nord, 25 April 1909
First match at The Saffrons:
Devonshire Park v Eastbourne College, lost 2-3, 20 October 1886
Wins and defeats:
Record Wins:
League:
South Eastern League: 6-1 v Tunbridge Wells (h), 1 December 1906
Southern Amateur League: 11-0 v Alleyn Old Boys (h), 27 March 1920
Corinthian League: 7-0 v Leatherhead (h), 21 January 1961
Athenian League: 8-2 v Dorking (a), 18 September 1965
Sussex County League: 9-0 v Shoreham (h), 6 March 2004
Isthmian League: 6-0 v Crawley Down Gatwick (h), 19 February 2014
Southern Combination: 10-2 v East Preston (h), 16 February 2016 Cup:
FA Cup – 9-2 v Wick (h), 1st Qualifying Round, 15 September 1984
FA Trophy – 4-3 v Chatham Town (h), Preliminary Round, 18 October 2011
FA Vase – 9-0 v Tooting & Mitcham Wanderers (h), 1st Round, 22 October 2016
FA Amateur – 14-1 v Moulsecombe Rovers (h), Preliminary Round, 30 September 1961
Record Defeats:
League:
South Eastern League: 0-11 v Luton Town Reserves (a), 24 February 1906
Southern Amateur League: 0-10 v Ipswich Town (a), 30 April 1932
Corinthian League: 11-2 v Windsor & Eton (h), 4 January 1947
Athenian League: 10-1 v Edgware Town (a), 21 March 1964
Sussex County League: 9-0 v Stamco (a), 7 October 1995
Isthmian League: 9-0 v Horsham YMCA (a), 26 December 2009
Southern Combination: 2-6 v Newhaven (h), 29 August 2016 Cup:
FA Cup – 0-9 v Margate (h), 4th Qualifying Round, 28 October 1967
FA Trophy – 2-6 v East Thurrock United (a), 1st Qualifying replay, 29 October 2013
FA Vase – 1-5 v Hungerford Town, 3rd Round, 17 December 1988
FA Amateur – 13-1 v Ilford (a), 1st Round, 14 December 1929
Consecutive Results:
Record consecutive league matches without defeat: 25, from 6 April 2002 to 22 February 2003
Record consecutive matches without a win: 20, from 10 April to 23 October 1993
Record consecutive league matches without a win: 17, 30 October 1971 to 25 March 1972
Record consecutive wins: 14, from 21 January to 17 April 1922
Record consecutive league wins: 12, from 19 October to 26 December 2002
Record consecutive league draws: 6, from 17 August 2004 to 29 September 2004
Record consecutive league defeats: 10, from 5 January 1991 to 30 March 1991
FIXTURES & RESULTS
AUGUST
Sat 3 AugAGlebeFA Cup EP2-0192Folkes, Tighe
Sat 10 AugAMargateIsthmian South East0-0402
Sat 17 AugHRedhillFA Cup P1-3193Spinks
Fri 23 AugHAFC Croydon AthleticIsthmian South East2-1228Lawson, Weaire
Mon 26 AugASevenoaks TownIsthmian South East2-2107Harris, Daniel
Sat 31 AugHDeal TownIsthmian South East2-3124Daniel, Tighe SEPTEMBER
Tue 3 SepHMersthamVelocity Cup 20-1115
Sat 7 SepAHartley WintneyFA Trophy 1Q1-2163Harris
Tue 10 SepHBroadbridge HeathIsthmian South East1-293Folkes
Sat 14 SepAPhoenix SportsIsthmian South East2-186Daniel, Weaire
Sat 28 SepABurgess Hill TownIsthmian South East1-2415Humpherston OCTOBER
Tue 8 OctANewhavenSussex Cup 21-1Harris
East Grinstead Town win 7-6 on penalties
Sat 12 OctASteyning Town CommunityIsthmian South East3-2110Andrade Filipe, Tighe, Folkes
Tue 15 OctHAshford UnitedIsthmian South East1-3113Tighe
Sat 26 OctAThree BridgesIsthmian South East1-066Christmas NOVEMBER
Sat 2 NovHErith TownIsthmian South East0-4123
Tue 5 NovABroadbridge HeathIsthmian South East2-4107Daniel, Tighe
Sat 9 NovHPhoenix SportsIsthmian South East4-2101Harris, Humpherston, Christmas, Daniel
Tue 12 NovHLancingSussex Cup 30-277
Sat 16 NovAAshford UnitedIsthmian South East0-3434
Sat 30 NovHLancingIsthmian South East1-3119Jabbie DECEMBER
Tue 3 DecHRamsgateIsthmian South East2-1102Lovatt 2
Sat 14 DecAHerne BayIsthmian South East2-1374Thompson, Harris
Tue 17 DecABeckenham TownIsthmian South East2-2182Tighe, Harris
Thu 26 DecAEastbourne TownIsthmian South East1-1309Tighe
Sat 28 DecHMargateIsthmian South East0-2210
JANUARY
Sat 18 JanALittlehampton TownIsthmian South East1-0278Harris pen
Tue 21 JanASittingbourneIsthmian South East0-3189
Sat 25 JanALancingIsthmian South East6-2263Lovatt 3, Daniel 2, Tighe
FEBRUARY
Sat 15 FebHSteyning Town CommunityIsthmian South East0-1139
Tue 18 FebHSheppey UnitedIsthmian South East2-196Daniel, Humpherston
Sat 22 FebARamsgateIsthmian South East1-21208Tighe
MARCH
Sat 1 MarHThree BridgesIsthmian South East0-1220
Tue 4 MarHHythe TownIsthmian South East2-195Own goal, Lovatt
Sat 8 MarAErith TownIsthmian South East0-0107
Tue 11 MarHBeckenham TownIsthmian South East2-1121Gibson, Daniel
Sat 15 MarHHerne BayIsthmian South East0-4164
Tue 18 MarAMersthamIsthmian South East0-9356
Sat 22 MarAHythe TownIsthmian South East1-0287Tighe
Tue 25 MarHSevenoaks TownIsthmian South East1-3116Harrison
Sat 29 MarHLittlehampton TownIsthmian South East0-3123
APRIL
Wed 2 AprHBurgess Hill TownIsthmian South East1-4144Wearie
Sat 5 AprASheppey UnitedIsthmian South East1-3326Daniel
Sat 12 AprHSittingbourneIsthmian South East0-5188
Sat 19 AprADeal TownIsthmian South East0-1563
Mon 21 AprHEastbourne TownIsthmian South East1pm
Sat 26 AprAAFC Croydon AthleticIsthmian South East3pm
TEAM LINE UP
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN
Mattie Pierson
Warren Colman
Tom Cadman
Michael Wilson
Matthew Weaire
Glenn Wilson (C)
Charlie Harris
Connor Tighe
Alex Andrade Filipe
Omar Folkes
Matthew Daniel
Kieran Humpherston
Will Hoare
Luke
Harrison Parker
Charlie
Brady Ayoola
Tyler Grant
Chris Ojemen
EASTBOURNE TOWN
MATCH OFFICIALS:
EAST GRINSTEAD TOWN
HISTORY
Programmes from the Past by Lester Medcalf
We're going to have a look at a couple of programmes for games played in the past on today's date. We'll start with what was in fact the last game of the 2011/12 season East Grinstead v Arundel on Saturday 21 April 2012 in division one of the Sussex County League Richard Tramontin has a quick look back at the season which he believes can be thought of as “a season of change”. Our first team manager at the start of the season was Tony Beckingham, but he had to step down after a busy first three months to the season which saw lots and lots of midweek games. Simon Funnell took over and would, we hoped, still be in charge for the next season. But our reserve team in the Suburban League suffered from a number of management changes with a couple of the managers building a team for us and then taking the team away to another club. So perhaps no surprise that our reserves were a clear bottom of their league.
Manager Simon Funnell's piece in the programme covers the first team's last three matches – a 3-0 home win against Hassocks with goals from Dave Gellatly, Tony Reid and Ben Chick followed by a 40 defeat away to Crowborough “on an awful bobbly pitch”. But “as we have tended to bounce back well from setbacks” he was half expecting us to play well when we next went all the way down to Selsey. A couple of goals either side of half-time from Aaron Watson gave us a good start though Selsey soon pulled a goal back and they also had a couple of penalty appeals which the ref ignored. We held on for a 2-1 win.
Onto the Arundel game. We had played the away match back in August and had come home with a 3-1 win – Tom Lyons scoring twice and Liam Baitup also scoring. The programme's league table at the other end of the season shows us in the middle of the league with Arundel some five places below us – but safe from relegation. Lots of goals in the match with us scoring more than Arundel as it finished 5-2. If you know who scored for us please let me know.
END OF SEASON BLOW-OUT AGAINST THE CANNONS
Moving on a few years we'll have a look at the programme for an Isthmian League match East Grinstead v Hythe Town on Saturday 21 April 2018 – our last home game of the season. The front cover has a great photo of keeper Dan Smith in action. Do you think he's making a save, or he's conceding a goal, or did the ball miss the goal? (If you know what happened please let me know.) It being the last game of the season there was much looking back in the programme. In particular we had some 20 action photos taken during the season for 20 different matches. It would have been great if we'd been told which games they were taken in – but that's me being rather unkind.
Richard Tramontin's chairman's notes reminds us that renovation of the East Court pitch would soon begin and the 2018/19 season was not that far away starting on August 11.
Manager Matt Longhurst was also looking to the next season with a brave list of which of his current players had agreed to play for us again.
We were safe from relegation – even though we had lost all four of our most recent games – but our visitors from Hythe were hoping to stay in the promotion play-off places - their last game at home to another club hoping to stay in the play-off places. They would of course be hoping that we didn't spoil things.
And we didn't spoil things for Hythe as they went home with a 3-0 win.
