FOOTBALL: Exit Agutter, Enter Danny Bloor
HUGH SULLIVAN
The merry-go-round of football management appointments is perennial material for the national media from back pages of newspapers to talkSport radio – who’s coming, who’s going, who’s being paid what. In non-league football, the names may be little known outside of specialist fan bases, and the money parsimoniously allocated. But for local clubs, the choice of manager and the willingness to stick with him – or his willingness to stay in the post – are key ingredients in success.
Kane Penn (in white) in action for Hastings 2022/23
Chris Agutter, who in his second period as manager of Hastings United steered them to a finishing position of seventh in the Isthmian Premier League in April this year, has departed. He has been enticed to move along the Sussex coast to Worthing, taking over a team which finished third in the league above, the National League South (NLS), but lost out on promotion after defeat in play-off semi-finals.
Danny Bloor at the Pilot Bar last Saturday
He has been replaced at the Pilot Field by 54-year-old Danny Bloor, who himself was manager at Worthing for four years between 2007 and 2011 and, more recently, enjoyed four years at the helm of Eastbourne Borough between 2019 and 2023.
AVOIDING RELEGATION
Agutter’s remit, when he returned to Hastings last October, was straightforward, according to United owner Dean White – “to not get us relegated”. He did a lot better, restoring confidence after a run of poor results under the previous short-lived managerial reign of Paul Barnes, bringing back a number of former players from exile (Jack Dixon, Sam Cruttwell and even Sam Adams), and guiding the team both to the brink of a play-off position in the league and to contest the final of the Sussex Senior Cup.
Even if both those ventures ended ultimately in disappointment, the team’s performances over the latter part of the season were clearly seen in local football circles as confirmation of Agutter’s pedigree. Seeking to better himself, at least in status, by moving to Worthing is not a big surprise – he’s still only 36, and the opportunity to manage a team that looks capable of elevation to full National League level can’t have been difficult to accept.
But, for Hastings United, the arrival of Danny Bloor is also potentially an important milestone in the development of the club since the Whites took it over. Bloor steered Eastbourne Borough twice to top half finishes in the NLS. He has signed a two-year contract at the Pilot Field and lost no time in making a lively appearance along with Dean White at a forum meeting with ‘U’s fans at the Pilot Bar last Saturday morning.
“You are a unique club”, he told his audience. “This is the best-supported non-league club in Sussex, and it’s owned and run by real football people [the Whites]. I aim to be manager here for a long time.”
‘NOT A LOT OF CHANGES’
First step would be to appoint an assistant and other coaching staff, which he expected to be able to announce within the next ten days or so; and at the same time to agree terms with players for the 2024-25 season. He said he hopes to retain most of last season’s team. “It’s a young squad, they’ll be a year older and stronger. There’s not going to be a lot of changes.”
Ollie Black, the defender renowned for his long throw, has followed Agutter out to Worthing. However, Bloor unveiled his first new signing at the forum meeting – another returnee, Kane Penn, who featured in Gary Elphick’s promotion-winning side in 2021-22 but joined Folkestone Invicta last season. News of contracts for other players – those retained or new recruits – will filter through in due course.
Asked whether his future ‘U’s side would play out from the back like Agutter’s, Bloor emphasised that he would prepare them to be adaptable. “Half the teams in the league now have, or are getting, 4G pitches”, he said. “On those pitches you can play like that. If we had a 4G pitch too, it would be better for everyone. But we’ll do with what we’ve got – and, if the surface gets bobbly, we have to adapt.”
Asked about wider ground improvements, Bloor deferred to Dean White, sitting alongside. White confirmed that “something has to be done about the stand’, and indicated that the United club board has already had a constructive meeting since the recent local elections with the new Green-run borough council. Further developments should be awaited.
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