The increasingly desperate and borderline evangelical tone of the emails from Lewes FC is becoming less “football club for the people” and more “multi-level marketing for spiritual enlightenment.” Signed off by “Kelly,” the emails paint a picture of someone who appears to have swapped non-league football for a corporate leadership seminar, with a side order of Silicon Valley buzzwords. The emails seem blissfully unaware of what makes non-league football, grassroots spirit, and the town of Lewes so special.
Take the latest email (dated 4/1/2025), which is as far removed from Lewes FC’s essence as a vegan quinoa burger is from a post-match pie and pint. Lewes FC is about passion, pride, history, our occasional on-pitch heartbreaks, and the glorious grit of our teams and volunteers—not “collective fertilization of the ecosystem around it.” Fertilization? The only thing we want fertilized is the pitch, and that’s only if it rains for three days straight before a match.
And then there’s the claim that “this is your opportunity to challenge traditional football ownership and reshape the future of the sport.” Really? What most of us want is for our teams to win a few matches and for the beer not to run out. Reshaping the future of the sport is a nice idea, but let’s keep our feet on the ground (or at least on the ball).
The pièce de résistance has to be: “Together, we are the movement!” Sorry, but no. We are a football club, not the next Woodstock. While the club has rightly been celebrated for its progressive values, this kind of overblown language does little to reassure fans who are passionate about our teams and our community, not vague notions of becoming the Che Guevara of non-league football.
And what’s with the emphasis on “emotional rewards” and “leaving a legacy of positive social impact”? Yes, it’s nice to feel warm and fuzzy inside, but isn’t the main point of a football club to win games and bring people together to cheer on their team? For many fans, the emotional reward is seeing a last-minute winner or complaining about the ref at the pub afterward—not investing in “social impact” initiatives that sound like they came from a marketing pitch for a tech start-up.
Let’s not forget the bit about “rising to the next level” and “setting an example for how clubs can operate with a purpose beyond just the game itself.” We all love a good underdog story, but Lewes FC doesn’t need to set an example for the entire footballing world. We’re a small, proud club in a small, proud town. Success for us is about giving our teams the resources to thrive, connecting with the community, and staying true to our founding values—not trying to turn the club into a global beacon for transformation.
What the club—and the emails—seem to have forgotten is that Lewes FC is at its best when it’s plainspoken and honest about its ambitions. Let’s compete hard on the pitch, represent Lewes with pride, and continue to champion equality and inclusivity in a way that complements, not overshadows, our footballing goals. The emails’ over-the-top rhetoric is at risk of alienating the very people who love this club the most. We don’t need “bold futures” and “lasting impacts”—we need solid teams, clear governance, and pints of Harveys!
The Rights of Fans. 