Burgess Hill Town FC 0-3 Bishop Stortford
As Lewes FC hang around in a play off position, in the same league Burgess Hill FC are hovering around the relegation zone. As the greatest moaner about Lewes FC and how it is run, I thought I’d check out another club.
Okay, the truth is some at the Pan will have noted a return to the ranks of big Dave Tanner. We used to get smashed and go to games at the Pan just after the turn of the century. Dave lives in Burgess Hill and unsurprisingly now supports his home team club. He and some of his fellow Hillians now drop into the Pan when they are playing away. Great lads they are too.
I meet Dave and his mate Tony in the Watermill. Tony cross examined me about the fanzine and our approach to how we criticise the running of the club. So refreshing to have a discussion rather than the normal board apologists cravenly supporting everything our board do. With developers attempting to get the Burgess Hill ground moved we discuss the possibility of Burgess Hill setting up a Supporters Trust. I hasten to add the fans at Burgess Hill have an excellent relationship with the owners, so more a case of creating a group to deal with planning department, a pressure group almost. Fired with enthusiasm before the second pint goes down Dave has purchased the excellent Punk Football by Jim Keoghan about community club football. A book I would suggest the board at Lewes FC should read and learn from. As I was to discover it maybe sensible if the Board at Lewes all attended the away game at Burgess Hill and discover a properly run non league football team.
Off we go to the Elephant Stadium. Really neat, nice and tidy place. We are in situ supping well before kick off. The bar is excellent with two very friendly ladies up for a bit of banter. Already memories are flooding back of when Sarah ran the bar at Lewes and it was fun before Lewes managed to piss off 5/6ths of the population of Lewes, the bonfire town, by letting one of the six bonfire societies run the bar, very badly. The bar was cleaned well organised and highly proffessional . Beer kept well. I note the toilets are spotless and clean, that’s a new one. Outside it was also like the old Lewes of 15 years ago with a mix of families and children. A real community feel compared to the cliché of Lewes army of middle aged middle class men afraid of a bit of poor weather.
Dave’s buddies gradually turn up and we take over the decking area outside the bar. Perfect for access to bar and toilets. They are all local lads. When Dave and I used to frequent the Pan there were two very large sections of rowdy fans, the Behind The Goal Boys and the King’s Head. It used to be great fun. But they have all left replaced by a generic group of sub – interested fan using the Pan for some networking and socialising. There is of course nothing wrong with that but it was so nice to be with a big group of friends enjoying non league culture and beers at it’s best at Burgess Hill.
As the weather deteriorates and Burgess Hill concede the goals to end the contest I drag Dave into the warmth of the bar where a good view could be had.
Burgess Hill were without some top players and I thought put in a good shift. As a chorus of ‘Club Daytona’ rang around er….the decking , out on the pitch former top striker, Stortford’s Jamie Cureton, now 42 and very overweight showed he still had it. He took our piss taking in the correct manner so to me was man of the match for his resilient humour. It must be tedious for him getting it at every game. It wasn’t for us.
We hang around in the bar afterwards and met 4 non league ground hoppers at the Elephant for the day and had some beers with them and were then joined by a highly pissed off and ex Lewes legend Simon Wormall, the Burgess Hill manager and his assistant to chew the fat.
Worse for wear Dave saw me onto the train.
Burgess Hill FC is a fantastic football club and had that non league community and family feel long gone from the Dripping Pan where the community club is a label and not a reality.
My partner Eloise meanwhile at this time was having tea in the warmth of the Ritz. She returned with some scones and macaroons in a posh doggy box. At £50 a head the scones I thought were average but the macaroons were to die for. But I guess the whole point is for £50 a head you can say you have had tea at the Ritz.
The Rights of Fans. 