| Full name | Lewes Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Rooks | ||
| Founded | 1885 | ||
| Ground | The Dripping Pan, Lewes (Capacity: 3,000 (600 seated)) |
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| Chairman | Steve Ibbitson | ||
| Manager | Steve King | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2010–11 | Conference South, 21st (relegated) | ||
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Lewes Football Club is an English football team based in Lewes, East Sussex. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division and play at the Dripping Pan.
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Lewes Football Club was formed at a meeting at a local pub (The Royal Oak) in 1885 and initially wore green shirts designed to evoke the surrounding South Downs. The present red and black kit was adopted in 1893.
Having won the championship of the Mid Sussex League twice before World War I, Lewes became founder members of the Sussex County League in 1920. They were runners-up on four occasions but it was not until 1964-65 that they were finally able to win the championship, after which they stepped up to the Athenian League.
After winning the Division 2 title in 1968, promotion to the Premier Division followed just two years later when the club won the Division 1 title.
In 1977 Lewes joined the newly expanded Isthmian League, initially in Division 2. Promotion to Division 1 came in 1980 but in 1991 the Rooks were relegated. They bounced back at the first attempt but could only manage one season at this level before two successive relegations saw them in Division 3, where they actually finished second from bottom of the entire league on two occasions.
During the 1998-99 season Jimmy Quinn joined the club as manager and the club soon claimed two consecutive promotions, taking them to the Isthmian League Division One South.
After Steve King took over as manager, in the 2003-04 season they were champions of this division and stepped up to the unprecedented heights of the Conference South after a busy schedule of playoffs at the end of the season, in effect jumping two divisions.
They reached the play-offs in both the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, finishing 4th in the league on both occasions.
In the 2007-08 season they won promotion to the Conference National for the first time after a 2-0 win over Dorchester Town.[1]
Controversially on the last day of the season, then manager Steve King's contract was not renewed by the board, this subsequently meant that all but one (Anthony Barness) players in the winning squad left the club.[2]
On 29 April 2008, the board released a statement stating that a new manager, Kevin Keehan, had been appointed to run the first team for the beginning of the 2008-09 season.[3] This was even more surprising considering Keehan's previous job was as Commercial Manager at Brighton and Hove Albion. After winning just 4 out of 36 league games for the Rooks and clearly out of his depth, he and assistant Terry Graves resigned on 10 March 2009[4] with Steve Ibbitson taking the role of caretaker manager until the end of the season.[5] On 25 March 2009, Lewes' relegation from the Conference National was confirmed after 39 games of the season, with the club finishing bottom of the league.[6]
The 2009-10 season was again a struggle for Lewes numerous winding-up orders were battled off the field and on the field Steve Ibbitson worked wonders with an inexperienced but talented squad of players. Blue Square South safety was finally secured with a 2-1 away win against Hampton and Richmond on the final afternoon of the season.
Following a poor start to the 2010–11 season, Steve Ibbitson moved upstairs to take on the role as Chairman and Tim O'Shea and Neil Smith were announced as the new management team. However, despite some impressive results such as the victory over league leaders Braintree, O'Shea was unable to steer Lewes away from the bottom of the table. Their relegation was confirmed on the 25th of April after a 1-2 defeat to relegation rivals Bishops Stortford.[7] O'Shea and Smith parted ways with Lewes at the end of the season. On 4 June 2011, it was announced that Steve King had returned to the club, three years after leaving in controversial fashion.[8]
On July 9, 2010 "The Rooks" became a member-owned club with six founder members of the new Rooks125 group forming the inaugural Board of the new Lewes Community Football Club ownership body [1]. Comedian, playwright and director Patrick Marber is one of the six Rooks125 founder members. Initially only "Founder Lifetime Membership Shares" were available at a minimum price of £1,000.
In April 2011, the club announced details on how fans will be able to become owners of Lewes FC. From July 2011 shares in the club have been available from £30 per annum. Shareholders are entitled to vote and stand for election to the Board of Directors. The first of these elections took place in October 2011. As of December 2011 the club has over 700 shareholders which include among them famous names such as Nigella Lawson, her husband Charles Saatchi, Steve Coogan, Olly Smith, Paul Hayward, Neil Pearson and Come Dine With Me narrator Dave Lamb. In 2011 the club introduced the "Support and Save" scheme whereby shareholders are entitled to discounts from participating local businesses.
The club have always played their home matches at the Dripping Pan (often just called The Pan). The ground itself is known to have been used for football matches prior to the formation of the current club, and has been used by the local people for recreation since time immemorial. The ground is called "The Dripping Pan", because the site was where monks from the local priory used to dry water from the nearby river to make salt. This also accounted for the pitch being sunk below ground level and being surrounded by grass banks on all sides.
The Dripping Pan was chosen as one of the 5 top non-league away days by the football blog The Ball is Round in September 2010.
After Steve King and almost the entire playing squad left the club after promotion in 2008, attendances dipped considerably. However, in the season following the clubs initial transition into community ownership, at the end of September, attendances were 81% higher than the previous season's average. Despite poor results and relegation, Lewes finished the season with an average gate of just under 700, the 7th highest in the Conference South in 2010/11.
Lewes fans share a rivalry with local Sussex neighbours Eastbourne Borough, Horsham and Worthing. The rivalry with Eastbourne grew as the two clubs battled at the top of the Conference South in 2008 and bank holiday fixtures between the two have attracted large attendances.
Champions 1964/65
Runners up 1924/25, 1933/34, 1958/59, 1963/64
League Cup Winners 1939/40
Winners 1976/77
Winners 1961/62, 1962/63, 1964/65
Winners 1964/65, 1970/71, 1984/85, 2000/01, 2005/06
Finalists 1910/11, 1912/13, 1930/31, 1931/32, 1979/80, 1982/83, 1987/88, 2001/02
Division 1 Champions 1969/70
Division 2 Champions 1967/68
Division 1 South Champions/Conference South Play-off Winners 2003/04
Division 2 Champions 2001/02
Division 2 Runners up 1979/80, 1991/92
Division 3 Runners up 2000/01
Champions 2007/08
Lewes have reached the 1st round proper of the FA Cup three times in their history. In the 2001-02 season they played Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, losing 2-0,[9] in the 2006-07 season they were beaten 4-1 at home by Darlington,[10] and in the 2007-08 season they lost 3-0 to Mansfield Town at Field Mill.[11]
Lewes' best performance in the FA Trophy has been reaching the 3rd round proper. This has occurred on two occasions - in the 2002-03 season they lost 3-2 at Gloucester City, and in the 2003-04 season, they played Weymouth at home, but found themselves on the wrong end of a 13-goal thriller, losing 8-5.
The last time Lewes were eligible to enter for the FA Vase was in the 2001-02 season. Their last season saw their best run in the competition, reaching the quarter-finals. They ended up losing 2-1 at home to AFC Sudbury.
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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Management Team
Club Officials
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