Lewes FC Manager Tony Russell Steadies The Ship.

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Russell – We’re growing with every game – Lewes Community Football Club (lewesfc.com)

Prior to the home game versus Margate I wrote a pre-match analysis. I implied, correctly, that after a poor run of form that the manager would be under mild pressure. The horror FA Cup exit to Three Bridges and the fan’s furious aftermath seemed to dent the confidence of Lewes FC as form and results collapsed and we spiralled down the table. I hope the club and manager learned that at Tier 7 of the football pyramid deciding to eschew cup glory to concentrate on the league is bloody stupid. You can do it in the Premiership as the FA and League Cup are low in the order of priorities to supporters. In Tier 7 it is very high.

Some supporters were calling for the managers head which was of course premature. The FA Cup debacle knocked the wind out of the Lewes FC sails and time is needed to get the show back on the road at this level of football. However, the reality is Lewes FC should be in the play-offs this season and if the last 6 games had seen continued poor form the manager would rightly feel insecure as manager of Lewes FC and we would be near the relegation zone.

But what a turnaround, no we didn’t heroically win six games, but we won two and drew four, playing some of the in-form sides and although I only saw two of the games, we are beginning, not so much to fire up, but are beginning to look more of a unit than we did at the tail of last season. The tight defence particularly pleasing creating a platform for stabilisation and building on.

We are now within striking distance of the play-offs and can rightly expect we will be in them in the not-too-distant future.

It is full credit to the manager who found himself, largely due to his own misjudgement, in the hole he was a few weeks ago. But he has turned it around and I believe would have learned, as would the players, a lot from it and be the better for the FA Cup calamity. Adversity and Tony Russell’s response to rebuild the confidence and form is a clever, accomplished and skilful art. He has added a string to his bow that will hopefully stand Lewes FC and himself in good stead and improved as a manager in the process.

Exclusion FC. A Guest Blog

Featured ~ july1966

Exclusion FC. A guest blog by Tom.

On the 3rd November 2022, Lewes FC posted an announcement that young people under the age of
16 wishing to visit the Dripping Pan to support the club’s teams would only be granted entry if
accompanied by an adult. For some of us this was a surprising and immensely disappointing reaction
to what the club describes as “persistent aggressive behaviour from some of our Under-16
supporters…”. Club Statement: Under-16 Supporters – Lewes Community Football Club (lewesfc.com)
A supporter for almost 20 years and a season ticket holder for 15 or so of those, I was amongst the
individuals who committed early in support of Lewes FC’s vision of becoming a community owned
club and its tremendous efforts to practise and advocate for gender equality, including through parity
in players’ pay and prize money. Whilst I have listened carefully to the concerns that others have
voiced about the club’s strategic direction, apart from the odd frustration with relatively insignificant
aspects of match day operations, such as the growth in bar queues, I have found little to truly protest
about over the last 20 years. I have understood what the club is trying to do. Until now.
A community asset for cohesion and inclusion
Much has been said and written about the need to learn from our experiences of the COVID-19
pandemic, including the importance of community engagement, cohesion and inclusion to aid
resilience and wellbeing. Given the isolation and anxiety that young people experienced whilst
schools remained closed, a treasured community asset like a football club, can play a part in helping
young people (re)connect and enjoy themselves in a safe and welcoming space, especially given they
don’t have the likes of pubs to congregate and socialise. When I think about this, I am reminded how
moved I was by a head teacher in Brighton who told me that when his students were finally allowed
to return to school, instead of the usual playground energy and excitement at break times, he
witnessed several weeks of the children sitting in groups talking, sharing their experiences of
lockdowns and discussing their worries and hopes face to face for the first time in a long time.
The decision taken by the Lewes FC Board signalled to young people that they can only be part of
their local club if they behave in ways dictated to them by a group of adults without clear explanation
or legitimacy for intervention in their lives. This approach – seemingly palatable to some – fails to
recognise the diversity of household structures and young people’s social relations, prescribing a
rigid view that every young person has an adult that can take them to the Pan on a weekend
afternoon or midweek evening.
So many of us have developed our love for our local football teams by going to watch them play from
a young age with family or friends. These magical experiences are part of a patchwork of moments
that stay with us as we grow. My eldest son is a case in point. He started coming to the Pan when he
was six weeks old. Strapped to me and fed at half time in the Rook Inn. The Dripping Pan feels like a
second home to him and his affection for the Rooks runs deep. In a couple of years, he was to begin
attending home matches with his friends at times when I am unable to make it. That has instantly
become impossible. Instead, the pull of RDZ-ball at the big stadium down the A27 will become
stronger and his support for Lewes may dwindle.
But, my son is just one kid. This action will affect many young people now and in the future,
potentially shrinking Lewes FC’s next generations of support, including the cohorts of willing
volunteers so vital to a community football club.
Make young people part of the club

Yes, perhaps this a teachable moment for local young people, including those that the club considers
to have behaved inappropriately at the Pan, to understand they are a welcome and important part of
a club that needs to be fairly enjoyed and valued by all community members. But it is also now a
time for the Lewes FC Board to not just think this matter will blow over with the support of some
loud and trusted voices happy for their club to be secured for them through the exclusion of others.
The Board should take the opportunity to reflect on their decision and genuinely consider the views
of young people in decision-making as well as the ramifications for the club, now and in years to
come.
Now is the time for the club to build on its own effective engagement strategies on other important
social issues and reach out to young people through local schools, talking about their club and the
parts they can play, whilst also looking at the governance of the club and how local young people can
be involved in meaningful ways, including in decision-making processes that may directly and
indirectly affect them.
Real commitments to tackling inequality and inequity have to be grounded in an appreciation of the
different forms that discrimination and marginalisation take and their intersection. Lewes FC is in
danger of undermining its hard work on gender equality if it doesn’t create an inclusive environment
that enables the participation in the club by all members of its local community.
Don’t push the kids away, Lewes.

Big Weekend For Both Lewes Managers After an Indifferent Start To The Season. Weekend Preview. by Chris Harris

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Big home game v Enfield. A right Royal beating?

Lewes v Charlton. Dripping Pan Sunday 23^rd October

The Lewes Women are one position above the dreaded single relegation place in the Women’s Championship, four points out of five, four draws and a win. Mind you so are two other teams and bottom placed Coventry have no points in five games. So a relegation threat a long way off

The board maybe slightly concerned. Scott Booth was appointed before the start of the season. A superb record in Scottish women’s football at Glasgow City including some fine European results would make him look a superb appointment. City reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the second time in 2019–20; they were the last independent women’s football club to achieve this under his tenure. But you don’t get something for nothing and he left Scotland to join Birmingham City in the Women’s Premiership where his record was dire- P7 W0 L6 D1. An ambitious appointment with a tinge surely of concern at a diabolical record in English football.

However, Birmingham had the smallest budget by far in the Premiership and there were apparently a number of shortcomings in the Birmingham City set up. But a slightly risky appointment nontheless. Football is an impatient sport and with the previous managers doing such a fine job there must be concern. Our defence has been solid and that is such a plus point. Just a few lucky touches and a couple of goals would see us sitting comfortably mid table. A win on Sunday could settle the jitters and we can build towards pressing towards the top, a loss and a win for bottom placed Coventry P5L5 and an inevitable sense of doom, such as that on the team Truss team this week, will begin to settle.

My prediction Lewes 1-1 Charlton

Lewes v Margate. Dripping Pan Saturday 22^nd October

Having just missed out on the play offs last season nobody at Lewes thought a nearly a quarter of the way though the season Tony Russell would have us sitting in 17^th place. A sound start has led to a miserable string of results including the spineless exit to Three Bridges in the FA Cup. Premature talk of relinquishing with his services were muted by a fine 4-2 away win at fancied Enfield Town six days ago.

A dissection of the debacle here-

Do Lewes FC Think They Are Too Big For The FA Cup? by Chris Harris – The Opposition. Lewes FC Fanzine (wordpress.com)

We are at a stage in the season where two defeats will see you near the relegation zone and two wind sniffing at the trough of the play offs. I have consistently said a manager with a poor start to the season has to be judged on his first twelve games. Tony has three home games on the trot to stabilise the season for the Lewes men. Coming into them on the back of the Enfield win and we have a number of games in hand, some good results will take pressure of the players and fingers crossed in 8 days’ time we can be talking of crashing into the play offs. Three bad results and the board may have to act. The fundamental problem is for all to see. We play lovely football, great of course, but to break out of leagues like the Isthmian Prem you need to sometimes scrap to win games. You need an impenetrable defence and if you cannot nick games settle for a draw. Style is not a prerequisite if you want promotion, it is a luxury you hope you can encompass into the game. Russell needs to show as well as overseeing good attractive football he has the man management skills to turn Lewes into better honed spirited team of fighters to win promotion and eek out results and a little less pussy footing around.

The foundations are there, we have a top five defence and look good going forward, but we have a sound nucleus nowhere near a finished article at the moment.

My prediction Lewes 3-2 Margate