Eastbourne United AFC - The Oval

Eastbourne United FC

The Oval

Channel View Road

Eastbourne

East Sussex

BN22 7LN

07830 125011

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1259

Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Eastbourne United 3-1 AFC Uckfield Town

Southern Combination Premier

EASTBOURNE UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Eastbourne United AFC's roots can be traced back to 1894 when the club was founded as the 1st Sussex Royal Engineers FC. In this early period, the club played nearby to where the Saffrons (home of Eastbourne Town FC) now stands, and at the South Lynn ground in Tutts Barn Road. The club then changed ground again in 1901 when Eastbourne Council gave the club permission to use Gildredge Park. The club then changed its name in 1913 to 1st Home Counties Royal Engineers (Eastbourne) FC to reflect a merger between the RA Volunteers with the Territorial Army. After the War, the club name was changed to Eastbourne Royal Engineers Old Comrades as the Volunteers disbanded due to the end of the war. The club joined the Sussex County League in 1921 and made a permanent move from Gildredge Park to the Lynchmere ground. In 1922 they changed their name again when ties with the Royal Engineers were broken and dropped the "Royal Engineers" part of the name, Eastbourne Old Comrades FC and started wearing the white and black stripes on their shirts. In 1928, they broke away from the Sussex County League and joined the Spartan League, shortening their name to Eastbourne Comrades FC. They left the Spartan League in 1932 and joined the Brighton, Hove & District League. They won Division One in 19333 and were runners-up the following season. In 1935 they re-joined the Sussex County League. After the end of the Second World War, they moved to their current home, The Oval, after losing their Lynchmere Ground to development and could only manage mediocre league results. In 1951 the name was changed for a sixth time to Eastbourne United FC.

Above: Pictures of The Oval when I visited on 25th July 2009, before the Eastbourne Borough v Wycombe Wanderers game.

The club was league champions in 1955 and 1956 before they moved to the Metropolitan League. They were not hugely successful here, managing a 3rd place finish in 1961 before leaving to join the Athenian League three years later. Three seasons were spent in Division 2 before they won the title in 1967. Two years later they finished as runners-up to Tilbury to earn promotion to the Premier Division. Eastbourne United would only stay for a single season before being relegated and they went down again to Division 2 in 1975. In 1976, the decision was made to join the Isthmian League. 4th place in Division 2 was achieved in 1980 but in 1991 the club was relegated from Division 2 South before finishing bottom of Division 3 the following year. In 1992, the club left for the Sussex County League, starting in Division 2. In 1998, they finished as runners-up to East Preston to earn promotion to Division 1. They'd stay up for four seasons before being relegated.

The decision was made to amalgamate with fellow Division Two club Shinewater Association FC at the end of the 2002–03 season. A terrible playing surface at Shine's ground in Shinewater Lane, and failure to gain permission to erect the floodlights necessary to advance any further, made it difficult to attract players of sufficient quality in a town where they were already at a premium. In addition, the ground was subject to constant vandalism. Shinewater had joined the Sussex County League in 1992. They won promotion to Division 2 in 1997 after finishing as runners-up to Sidlesham. Under the leadership of former Shinewater manager Dave Shearing, the new club won promotion back to Division One at the first attempt after finishing third behind champions Littlehampton Town, and runners-up Worthing United. In 2009, the team were Sussex League champions, their best-ever finish in the modern-day pyramid. However, two years later they were relegated back to Division 2. In 2014, they won promotion back to Division 1 after winning the league. The following year the league was renamed the Southern Combination Premier and last season's 4th place finish was their best since the league rebranding.

The FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round was reached in 1966 when they lost at Sutton United and in 1978 when they lost at Gravesend & Northfleet. This season, the club had their best season since the merger as they beat Phoenix Sports, Sheerwater and Epsom & Ewell before a 2nd Qualifying Round defeat to Berkhamsted. Eastbourne United's best FA Vase run came during the 2013/14 season. They beat Arundel, Phoenix Sports, Chessington & Hook United, South Park, Hanworth Villa, Morpeth Town and Ampthill Town before losing a two-legged semi-final to Sholing. Local cup honours are numerous and these include six Sussex Senior Challenge Cups, two Sussex Royal Ulster Rifles Charity Cups and twelve Eastbourne Charity Cups. Their highest attendance of 6.600 came for a local derby against Eastbourne Town in 1956. Their most famous former player is Leon Legge who started his senior career at the club before going on to play in the Football League with Brentford, Gillingham, Cambridge United and Port Vale. Future England manager Ron Greenwood who managed the national side at the 1982 World Cup started his coaching career at Eastbourne United. The same is true of Gordon Jago who went on to manage QPR and Millwall.

The town of Eastbourne is located in East Sussex and has a population of 102,000. It is a popular holiday destination and retirement home for the elderly, though the town's population has gotten younger in recent years. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the larger Eastbourne Downland Estate. United share the town with Eastbourne Borough of the Conference South and Eastbourne Town, their fellow Southern Combination Premier team. Famous people from Eastbourne include weatherman Michael Fish who famously took the blame for failing to predict the 'Great Storm' of 1987. Former PM Theresa May also hails from the town.

MY VISIT

Eastbourne United had been a ground that I had wanted to visit for ages, mainly because it was the only one I needed to complete the Southern Combination Premier. It had been frustrating trying to pay a visit though, thanks to the wet weather that seems to be a permanent fixture these days. The latest attempt had been on 5th December for their game against Crawley Down Gatwick so I had already done a large part of my blog. In fact, I'd researched several clubs histories only to have the game called off.  These included games in July incredibly and although there was a bit of rain before my latest attempt, I was hopeful that I wouldn't be thwarted again. I had Colin as a passenger to help out with petrol after agreeing to drop him off at Eastbourne Borough to help him get the National League South done. There were no other games I fancied, so if they called it off early, it would be a night in.

Since my last game, it had been a couple of tough days at work. Sunday had been the usual busy carnage with several screaming kids seemingly as happy to be there as I was. I heard later that Wycombe had tried to get Saturday's away game played on Sunday, but thankfully Port Vale knocked them back. It showed a blatant disregard for supporters expecting them to drop everything at a moment's notice. Though Sunday is an utterly woeful day with nothing much going on, a lot of fans have work or family commitments. The only thing that gets me through the day is knowing that I'm not missing anything decent. As if a nine-hour shift on Sunday wasn't tiring enough, it was a ten-hour grueller on Monday as I volunteered to stay on and help out as we were overwhelmed, not for the first time.

Despite waking up a few times during the night, I got around nine hours in bed. I woke at 8, had breakfast, a bath and got dressed. I then walked to Wycombe and back, only purchasing a can of Irn-Bru. The 9.5-mile walk was appreciated, the soaking from the rain less so. More rain fell in an hour than was due to fall in Eastbourne the whole afternoon so I remained hopeful but cautious as it wasn't that heavy. I came back and made myself my version of the Wetherspoons Caledonian burger and it tasted great. I then had a look online at the Great British Rail Sale and although there were some reasonable deals, I didn't have enough confidence in the weather to book. Around 2.30, it was announced that there would be a pitch inspection at 4.15. I crossed my fingers and decided to delay leaving until it had been completed. It seemed to take forever but at 4.45 it was finally confirmed as on. I dashed over to Colin, arriving at 5. Google Maps gave an estimated arrival of 7.15. The M25 was of course the issue and that ended up adding another 15 minutes. I dropped Colin off at Eastbourne Borough at 7.32 and got to my game five minutes before kick-off. Entry was £8 but included a programme, very reasonable. It had been raining for much of the journey down and was windy which was the case at the ground. But the game started and the pitch was holding up well. A friendly dog was enjoying the wet weather a lot more than the humans in attendance.

 

Eastbourne United were 6th whilst AFC Uckfield Town were 19th. The hosts were in excellent form, unbeaten in twelve games since they lost 2-0 to Newhaven on 14th October. Their last two games had seen 2-0 wins over Midhurst & Easebourne and Crawley Down Gatwick. AFC Uckfield Town were in terrible form with nine straight losses and no win in 21. Their two wins had come in the first three games of the season, the latest a 3-0 win at Horsham YMCA on 12th August. Their last game was a 6-1 loss at Newhaven and they'd lost 8-1 to Crawley Down Gatwick recently. The conditions were difficult but AFC Uckfield adjusted far better. They had by far the better of the opening exchanges but the finishing could have been better. They took the lead on 21 minutes, a low shot drilled into the bottom right from outside the area after a good run by Ellis Wright. Eastbourne United hit back immediately, the ball smacked the left-hand post and Hayden Beaconsfield followed up to make it 1-1 on 23 minutes. The game was fairly even for the rest of the half. The second period saw Uckfield start strongly but to no avail. The hosts had a good spell of pressure and several corners. From an inswinger, Sam Cooper scored directly from a wind-assisted corner on 68 minutes. Eastbourne United continued to pressurise and it was 3-1 on 75 minutes, Callum Barlow with a low shot on the turn. The visitors were well beaten now, struggling against the wind. However, for a large portion of the game, they were on top and it was hard to see why they'd not won in so long.

There was a reasonable-looking tea bar at the ground, but having had a burger for lunch, I fancied something different. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to order a Chicken Tikka Jalali and boiled rice from Mr India from my phone during a break for injury. I then walked the five minutes to the shop, picking it up and eating it as the second half started. It was decent and enjoyable, though not exceptional. With all three Eastbourne teams at home, United only attracted 43 through the gate. Following the game, I left at 9.40 and picked Colin up at 9.50. It was a slow start to the journey as we were stuck behind a dawdling lorry for a good few miles. I dropped Colin off at 11.55 and got home 15 minutes later. It took me ages to get to sleep and I only got a few hours before waking at 5 am. I felt fine though but was glad when the end of my eight-hour shift came.

THE GROUND

THE OVAL is a very different ground to the one I visited for pictures many years ago. It is more compact, giving a better view of the action. The standard metal stands are in situ, three of them giving around 150 covered spaces for both sitters and standers. There is a tea bar selling burgers etc and a welcoming-looking bar. Parking is adequate and supplemented by street parking. Five minutes away are a Co-Op shop an Indian and other assorted takeaways.