Hastings United footballers had last weekend off, or at least no league or cup game to play. The action instead was in the boardroom at Pilot Field as three long-serving directors – chairman Dave Nessling, secretary Tony Cosens and former chairman Dave Ormerod – all resigned, less than a week after the appointment of a new CEO, Billy Wood.

On 18th September the club had issued a suitably upbeat press release to herald Mr Wood’s arrival. With a professional background in the music business, working for global entertainment agencies UTA (United Talent Agency) and WME-IMG, he clearly presents well. He was quoted as saying: “Hastings has been my home since I was a young boy, my friends and family are all here, and to be given the opportunity to drive my hometown club forward as CEO is something I couldn’t turn down. Hastings United in my eyes is a sleeping giant and with its geographical reach has potential unlike any other club in East Sussex…. I have many times stood at the Pilot Field or sat in the main stand and imagined what I would do if I was involved in the club, and the dream is now a reality at the right time for all parties.”

Majority shareholder of Hastings United, Daren Burney, declared that “the chairman and I looked long and hard at who we could bring in to add enthusiasm and vitality to the Club and Board, and Billy was the stand out candidate to deal with day-to-day management of the football club and also oversee the club’s strategy in commercial activities, club profile and branding, merchandising, website and social media matters.”

As to football credentials, he had “revitalised Eastbourne United AFC as chairman of their committee. Under his reign the club improved their facilities, strengthened their branding and image, and made shrewd movements in their committee that enhanced the administrative side of the business.”

He had also presided over a dramatic improvement in Eastbourne’s fortunes on the field.  Having appointed former United player Arron Hopkinson when the club was 14 points adrift at the bottom of the Southern Combination Premier Division table with less than four months of the season to play, relegation was avoided on the last day of the season.

Departure from Eastbourne

What wasn’t apparent from the press release, however, was that Mr Wood had spent less than a year at Eastbourne, having declared on arrival there in November 2018: “Eastbourne is a very exciting prospect, we have a special club … Success can happen here and I am fortunate to have a committee with me that can push this club into the modern era.”  Nor, unsurprisingly, did Hastings United refer to the circumstances of his departure from their close neighbour. But, according to Eastbourne United’s own website, Mr Wood’s farewell ten months later came as “a bolt from the blue”. Could it have been connected with the sudden resignation a week earlier of his relegation-avoiding manager, Mr Hopkinson?

Hastings Directors Step Down

It was reported in the Hastings club’s initial press release that Mr Nessling would continue in the role of chairman “focusing on delivering important elements for the future sustainability of Hastings United including the brand new stadium complex at Tilekiln”.

But six days later, on 24th September it was announced that he, Mr Cosens and Mr Ormerod “have decided to step down”.

No further explanation has been offered publicly by these directors, nor by the club. However, on the following day Mr Wood issued his own comments: 

“If I’m completely honest, while I have full respect for them, I think their resignation at this time is quite naive if anything.

“When I met with them, I never said that they would be marginalised at this football club or they wouldn’t be an asset to [it]. I made it very clear to all my board members that I want to work with them to understand them and how they operate at this club before we make any radical decisions.

“They’ve made a decision, based on my willingness to work with everyone, that it’s not right for them. And that’s fine, and I respect that. But at the same time, they shouldn’t have feared change, because all I’m doing is trying to make Hastings United more accessible for our community, and that’s it.”

Scepticism

There has been considerable scepticism expressed on the Hastings club’s fans’ forum website at the turn of events. Among 30 postings, while the majority accept that the club should welcome in their new CEO, and give him a chance to show his worth, there is not only sadness at the loss of three directors who have each served the club faithfully over many years but also multiple concerns about the ‘new broom’s very limited track record in terms of footballing experience or commitment. 

The comments of a self-described ‘lifelong supporter’ of the club, styling himself ‘Overthehill’, are typical of many. “I am saddened to see the departures of three individuals who have put so much into the club, often with resultant personal sacrifice, over many years. You simply can’t put a price on that amount of experience, loyalty, commitment, skill, and desire to do things in the right way … In my view, all three deserve better than being apparently marginalised to the point where they feel the need to walk away.” 

Another ‘veteran member’, styling himself “TimN” wrote: “I fear for the next few weeks. Big changes not always good for the team. Certain people think Billy is going to come in and make us a bigger and better club. His past experience is not all that. Chairman of the 4th best side in Eastbourne (Eastbourne United). What is so special about him and what has he done in the past? After saying all this I hope I am proven wrong.”

Then, last Sunday Mr Wood posted on the forum himself, insisting that he hadn’t asked the three directors to leave. “My intention was to work alongside them, get a feel for what’s being done at the club – what’s being done great and what we can improve on. Ignoring the past success or the methods only a fool would do, and that is never my intention … Some will doubt me, say I’ve not done enough to earn this position or I have not enough experience compared to the previous. All three men have 50 or so years at this club, which you only get if you are in the job. Anyone who doubts me I do not blame you, but I ask you one thing. Let me prove to you why I am here.”

• The ‘U’s currently stand third in the BetVictor Isthmian League South East with four wins and three draws in their first seven matches. They host leaders Sevenoaks at Pilot Field tomorrow (Saturday).

Now 71, Dave Ormerod has been involved with Hastings football for most of his life  –  and yet he says he virtually never kicked a football, and had no great interest in the sport growing up. He joined the original Hastings United supporters committee in 1966 at the age of 19, at a time when home gates averaged over 2,000 and the team was well established in the Southern League, only two tiers below Football League status.  He undertook fund-raising duties for a number of years.  In 1985 the club collapsed financially and was supplanted at Pilot Field by Hastings Town, moving down from the Firs pitch above (and changing their name back to Hastings United in 2002). Dave was asked onto their management committee and acted as treasurer for 14 years. 

It was the knowledge he gained from that experience, coupled with unbroken devotion to the two Hastings clubs over almost 50 years, which spurred him into his bid three years ago. United were at a low ebb, on a long losing streak and facing the humiliating prospect of relegation to the Sussex County League. Still in loyal attendance as a supporter, home and away, though uninvolved in the management for the past eight years, he was at an away game at Carshalton when he heard that the then owner Dave Walters was looking to sell. He made an immediate bid, and took charge for the team’s dramatic end-of-season recovery that kept it in the Ryman League.

The three subsequent seasons have not all been fair sailing: far from it.  A succession of managers have come and gone. Three of them, Garry Wilson, Darren Hare and Adam Hinshelwood have serially jumped, rather than being pushed, each citing family commitments elsewhere. But the club has found a new identity under current manager Chris Agutter, who doubles as Head of Coaching and Recruitment in the football academy set up in conjunction with Sussex Coast College. Not only has the academy team itself performed well, reaching the semi-finals of the National League Under 19s League Cup (a competition for all clubs below Football League status). Chris has been uncompromisingly committed to promoting youth players into the first team, a
policy met initially with a degree of scepticism if not downright opposition from regular supporters, but which has brought increasingly consistent results over the course of the season. The
team’s poor start meant that league promotion never became a serious prospect. However out of 32 league games played since the beginning of November, 16 have been won and 10 drawn with only six defeats (the last, disappointingly, in the final match last Saturday). If that level of form is maintained next season, with the academy players who have come through a year older, and more in the pipeline, the future looks good.

How long will that future be in Elphinstone Road? It will clearly be a sad day for Dave Ormerod when (if?) currently stalled plans to move to the intended new sports complex at Combe Village come to fruition.  But he agrees that the Pilot Field stadium is “past its sell-by date”.

He has seen a lot over the years. But he says he is “very pleased” with the current set-up.  “We’ve got one of the best managers we’ve ever had.  We’ll be up there next season”.

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