Hastings United Club badge |
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| Full name | Hastings United Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Arrows The U's |
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| Founded | 1894 as Rock-a-Nore | ||
| Ground | The Pilot Field, Hastings (Capacity: 4,050) |
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| Chairman | David Walters | ||
| Manager | Sean Ray | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2010–11 | Isthmian League Premier Division, 18th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Hastings United is a semi-professional English football club who currently play in the Isthmian League Premier Division and are affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association and the Hastings Football Association.[1]
The club is based in the borough of Hastings and are based at The Pilot Field. Originally known as Hastings Town and Hastings & St. Leonards before that, the club changed to their current name in 2002, partly taking on the identity of the old Hastings United football club, which ceased to exist in 1985.[2][3]
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The present-day team known as Hastings United Football Club was founded in 1894 as Rock-a-Nore. The team played in local leagues until 1921, when they merged with All Saints (becoming Hastings & St. Leonards Amateurs) and joined the Sussex County League, where they played until 1927. In 1952, the club rejoined the Sussex County League, remaining there until the 1984/85 season.[2]
In 1921, Hastings & St. Leonards Amateurs moved to the Sussex County League and finished runners-up to Worthing. The club again finished second in the 1926-27 season, this time behind Southwick, but then moved back to the Hastings Football League due to ground problems. The club joined the Sussex County League again in 1952, but had to wait until the 1959-60 for success, finishing second in Division Two of the Sussex County League. In 1979, the club changed its name to Hastings Town and, in the 1979/80 season, won the Division Two championship and the Divisional Cup. The 1980-81 season saw the club win the County League Cup.[2]
When, in 1985, the old Hastings United ceased trading, Hastings Town applied for membership of the Southern League Premier Division, though, following objections from another club, were admitted into the league's Southern Division. The club also negotiated a long term lease with Hastings Borough Council for use of United's Pilot Field ground, moving from their former home at The Firs.
1991/92 culminated in a win at second placed Weymouth to clinch the league title and promotion to the Southern League Premier Division, where they played for the following six seasons. At the start of the 1997/98 season, local lottery winner Mark Gardiner became involved with the club, but his money still didn't help the club's progress on pitch, although they did win the Sussex Senior Cup, beating Burgess Hill Town in the final. The end of the 1998-99 season saw Town in administration and not knowing which league they were to play in the following season, as Gardiner's attempt to withdraw the club's resignation from the Southern League had been refused, with Gardiner stepping down as a consequence. The Club was saved from extinction by a last gasp bid from another local lottery winner, Mick Maplesden and Town were accepted back into the Southern League, but only to the Eastern Division (formerly Southern Division). The club went close to promotion in each of the next two years, but with George Wakeling appointed as manager early in the 2000-01 season, an unbeaten run near the end of the campaign saw Town win the title and promotion back to the Premier Division.
The 2002/03 season saw Hastings Town renamed as Hastings United, playing in the former team's traditional claret and blue kit. Although reaching the first Round of the FA Cup (losing 1-0 to Stevenage Borough[4]), was an early season highlight, the club was ultimately relegated back to the Eastern Division, in the process losing many players to fellow Sussex side Eastbourne Borough and Kent side Folkestone Invicta. Starting the 2003/04 season under a new chairman in David Walters, a new manager in former player Steve Lovell, and with only the bare bones of a playing squad, United only just managed to escape relegation to the County League.[2]
Following the restructuring of the non-league football pyramid, United kicked off the 2004-05 season in the Isthmian League, playing in Division One. After manager Steve Lovell's resignation in November that year, United surprised many by bringing in ex-Wales and Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall, and with him came an upturn in fortunes, with eventually United consolidating their position in their new league.
A few months into the 2005/06 season, Southall parted company with the Club after disagreements with the chairman Dave Walters. He was replaced by the inexperienced management duo of senior players, Nigel Kane and Pat Brown. The latter stepped down before the end of the season, but returned to coach the club's goalkeepers for the following campaign, as Hastings attempted to improve on a disappointing final placing of twelfth.
The 2006-07 season was a Jekyll & Hyde affair for the club. In the early stages, Hastings struggled and looked destined for a relegation battle, but from the end of November, after Nigel Kane's brother Norman had been installed as assistant manager and Gareth Sefton as coach, the team embarked on two separate long undefeated runs and found themselves chasing eventual league champions Maidstone United, even topping the table for a twenty-four hour spell in mid-March. A dip in form towards the end of the campaign led to Hastings eventually finishing in fourth place, good enough for a place in the divisional play-offs. Hastings played away to Dover Athletic in the semi-final and, despite being reduced to ten men after half an hour, triumphed 2-0. The final saw Hastings travel to take on Tooting & Mitcham United at Imperial Fields, where another 2-0 victory earned them promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division for the 2007-08 season.
The return to Premier Division football began well, and a fine sequence of results at the Pilot Field enabled United to sit proudly in the top six at an early stage. A failure to win a single away match in the league, coupled with a sudden and complete loss of home form, saw United fall down the table and into the relegation places, culminating in the departure of Nigel Kane as manager on 27 December 2007. A couple of weeks later, his successor was named as the former Tonbridge Angels manager Tony Dolby, who was appointed together with his long-time assistant Mike Rutherford. Dolby's brief was simply to help United escape relegation, and despite the Club's situation still looking hopeless in early March, an excellent run of six wins in their last nine matches took them to safety, sealed by a 3-0 victory away to Leyton on the final day of the campaign, as United finished their first season back in the Premier Division in fourteenth place, three points clear of relegation places.
Despite this relative success, barely a week after the season had concluded, Dolby and Rutherford both announced that they would be stepping down from their roles, leaving United manager-less for the second time in four months. With several key players also leaving the club, former player and current reserve team manager John Lambert was promoted, along with assistant Wayne Farrier, to take charge of first team duties, allowing preparations to commence for the 2008-09 campaign.
However on 2 February 2009, John Lambert was sacked from his role of manager along with assistant Wayne Farrier. Tony Dolby returned to the role.[2]
Hastings United play in a claret and blue kit. As Hastings Town they played in an all white kit, but this was changed to claret and blue when they took on the identity of the former Hastings United in 2002. Their current away kit is an all white kit, but up until last season the club have used a combination of blue and yellow away kits. The club use the town's coat of arms as their club badge.
Hastings United's current home ground is The Pilot Field, where the club have been based since 1985. The club used the ground as Hastings & St. Leonards, but were forced to move in 1948 after the council granted use of the stadium to the newly formed Hastings United. Hastings & St. Leonards relocated next door to The Firs and spent a short spell playing on municipal pitches. The Pilot Field has a capacity of 4,050 and has a main stand to the side of the pitch which seats and covers spectators. There is also a club bar near the main entrance to the ground which hosts various events in the function room, which is available for hire. The ground's record attendance is 4,888 v Nottingham Forest, for a friendly which took place in 1996.
The first club to play on the old meadow was All Saints FC, who played their first game on the upper pitch (now the Firs). In 1921 Hastings Borough Council excavated and laid out two pitches because of the slope, and all the earth was moved and built up in the area where the main stand is currently situated. Two years later the grandstand was built, with a capacity of 1,000 spectators, all seated but mainly with wooden benches. In 1948, a newly formed club, Hastings United, played professional football on the Pilot Field, which meant Hastings & St. Leonards had to move up to the Firs. The Pilot Field also hosted greyhound racing and speedway for a short period. The old Hastings United club played on the Pilot Field until 1985, when they folded due to massive debts. Hastings & St. Leonards had now changed their name to Hastings Town, and were still playing on the Firs, but played on Bulverhythe council pitches for a short spell. Town moved back to the Pilot Field after 37 years.[3]
Around three sides of the pitch is a dirt track, which was once used for speedway and greyhound racing;[5] the width of the track has been decreased to allow spectators to get closer to the pitch. The main stand, elevated above pitch level, has the capacity of 800 spectators, mainly on wooden benches, with a number of seats in the centre of the stand. Opposite the main stand is a large grass bank, which has been fenced off due to health and safety considerations. When the old United played here, the capacity of the ground was around 9,000. By the main entrance to the ground is the club bar and club shop; along this side of the ground is covered terracing which used to be the only point in the ground which would offer dry standing.
Due to the increasing ground maintenance cost and ageing main stand, club chairman Dave Walters has expressed his interested in working with the council to build a new stadium as part of a new sports complex, which would involve selling off The Pilot Field and the neighbouring Firs football ground, currently lying derelict.[6] However, there has been a lack of progress regarding the proposals,[7] however more recently the club have been trying to raise funds to replace their current floodlights, which has involved fund-raising schemes and a grant from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund[8]
As of 1 November 2011 [9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaching and Medical Staff [1]
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