HUGH SULLIVAN 

Hastings United played three of the top four sides in the Isthmian League in an eight-day spell over the past fortnight. Each match was fiercely contested, with the outcome uncertain until the final whistle. The ‘U’s’ eventual haul of four points from a win, a draw and a defeat will have felt scant reward for their efforts, as they ended last Saturday back in ninth place, six points adrift of a play-off place. But with eight league games left, including two over the Easter weekend against sides near the bottom of the league table, there’s still everything to play for.

On 16 March, before a crowd of over 2,200 at the Pilot Field, second-placed Chatham were a hard nut to crack, and the home side seemed to have to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw when Tommy Fagg was sent off with over 20 minutes still to go following a multi-player confrontation. The sending-off was “harsh” according to manager Chris Agutter, though Fagg has shown a tendency to play on a short fuse.

Be that as it may, United went ahead in the 86th minute courtesy of an own goal by a Chatham defender, only to concede an equaliser in the third minute of added time.

HORNCHURCH DEFEATED

Three days later, top-of-the -table visitors Hornchurch arrived with a record of just one defeat in 32 league matches. Leading their attack was Femi Akinwande, who started the season banging in the goals for Hastings but transferred to the Essex side in October. 

On the night he was kept quiet by the home pairing of Sam Cruttwell and Sam Gale, playing immaculately together in central defence. At the other end, the ‘U’s’ prolific scorer Davide Rodari was also drawing blanks. But in the 89th minute he found space to cross to the far post for Fagg to score the winner to spark jubilation amongst both players and supporters.

Last Saturday, Hastings travelled to Horsham, who had beaten them 2-0 in the reverse fixture in early February. The West Sussex side dominated the first half. They went ahead from a spot-kick in the 12th minute, conceded by Jordy Mongoy, a recent returnee to the United ranks following a spell as a 19-year-old at the Pilot Field in 2018/19. His foul on the edge of the penalty area was adjudged to have been committed just inside it. The lead was then doubled with a goal from another former Hastings striker, Daniel Ajakaiye. 

The ‘U’s came out for the second half with much greater verve and attacking intent. Cruttwell pulled a goal back, having nutmegged a defender, and drilled his low shot past the Horsham goalkeeper. After that, with Jack Dixon, Freddie Legg and Will Harley successively brought on as substitutes, it was end-to-end stuff. Further scoring opportunities were created at either end, with a final opening made for Rodari by Dixon in added time. It was the sort of chance he has been netting all season, but this one he put narrowly wide, and Horsham survived to win 2-1 and cement their place in the top four.

Today (Good Friday) Hastings play away against Haringey Borough, then entertain Folkestone Invicta on Easter Monday in a game which will surely have the Pilot Field buzzing with a large home crowd. There’s also a Sussex Senior Cup final in the offing. It’s popularly described as the business end of the season. 

Isthmian League – Premier Division

The impressive start to the season made by the new-look Hastings United (new owners, new manager, almost completely new playing squad) brought them 14 league points off their first six games and an advance in the FA Cup. But since 9 September, when they beat Haringey Borough with two goals in added time, their form and confidence have apparently evaporated, with four straight league defeats and elimination from both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy. 

Even more concerning for their prospects over the winter ahead is the departure of leading scorer Femi Akinwande. He had made a storming entrance, hitting five league goals in the first six games, including a couple of belters. For reasons which have not been made clear at the time of going to press, the club announced last week that he was “moving on”.  Recent midfield recruit Quade Taylor has also left the club, while winger Knory Scott and former Academy graduate Freddie Legg were reported to be joining Lancing, the latter “on loan”. Manager Paul Barnes told the Hastings Observer that he’d given “the squad a chance to speak up if they did not feel fully on board with the club’s direction, and one or two had chosen to leave”.

It’s difficult to interpret what he meant by that. However, the fact that players have to train every week in Greenwich – where Barnes has a full-time post at the University – while playing home matches in Hastings, can hardly suit the majority of his squad, and will surely limit alternative recruitment choices.

DISAPPOINTING RESULTS

In the meantime Barnes has to galvanise his depleted ranks after a series of disappointing results. Defeats away at Lewes (1-3) and leaders Hornchurch (1-4) will not have been unexpected, and indeed the ‘U’s gave a good account of themselves in the latter game. They took the lead through Sam Okoye, and pressed hard in the second half after the home side had taken the lead. The final unflattering score-line did not do them justice.

However, successive odd-goal home defeats by Potters Bar Town, Kingstonian (in the FA Trophy) and Wingate & Finchley – none of them among the stronger sides in the league – have exposed failings which suggest that Hastings may soon be battling at the wrong end of the table.

Against Kingstonian they made defensive errors to find themselves two goals down inside the first 20 minutes. Tayo Oyebola scored midway through the second half to give them hope, but it was not enough.

A similar pattern occurred last Saturday. For 44 minutes the ‘U’s appeared solid in defence against Wingate & Finchley, with Jason Fregene in commanding form, though their own attacking play was muted. Then just before half-time a calamitous clash between Okoye and goalkeeper Charlie Grainger, both going for the same ball, gifted the visitors a tap-in to open the scoring.

Early in the second half a poor header in midfield by captain Tyler Christian-Law left the defence hopelessly exposed to double the deficit. He was withdrawn, presumably injured, and heads dropped: another gap opened up to concede a third goal, crisply struck into the far corner.

To their credit, Hastings rallied. Oyebola was put through on goal to pull the score back to 1-3, then Davide Rodari was tripped in the penalty area and converted the spot-kick himself. For the remainder of the game the home side were on the front foot, but lacked conviction in the final third of the field, and could not force an equaliser.

How to strengthen the attack following Akinwande’s departure must be the clear priority for Barnes. Oyebola is a willing runner and has an eye for goal, but doesn’t have Akinwande’s physical presence. Rodari is a clever player, always looking for a twist or a flick that may open up a defence, but stayed marooned on either wing for much of Saturday’s match, where these skills were largely wasted. Legg was present among the substitutes, despite the announcement of his loan out, but wasn’t called upon.

Next up are away trips to Billericay Town and Margate, followed by a home match against Carshalton Athletic.

HUGH SULLIVAN

On Monday (6 June) the cabinet of Hastings Borough Council – newly reappointed as per our narrative on page 1 – will review the report of Chief Executive Jane Hartnell concerning the stadium relocation proposed by Hastings United football club.

The report is in response to the motion passed by the full council in December last year instructing Ms Hartnell to prepare one “at the earliest opportunity” setting out whether the relocation scheme “is viable to recommend to Council” and also “what alternative provision is available” to allow the club to remain in Hastings. 

Its contents were disclosed last week on the council’s website amongst other documents circulated in advance of the cabinet meeting. It concludes that the relocation scheme “was and is not viable to be recommended to [full] council”.

The report gives a historical account of the negotiations between the council and the club which culminated in draft Heads of Terms being drawn up by the council’s lawyers in July 2021 “to facilitate [the club] obtaining funding to support its scheme and secure an £8m bond to protect taxpayers’ interests”. 

After that date the club proceeded with its twin applications for planning permissions– one to build a new stadium at Horntye, the other to build a housing estate on the existing ground at Pilot Field – without which it would no doubt have found potential funders slow to take any interest. But the Heads of Terms were never agreed or signed, and Ms Hartnell’s report confirms that very little further formal contact or discussion took place before Cllr Barnett effectively pulled the plug over a year ago in March 2022.

It concludes: “The council has not been satisfied that even with the sale of the freehold of the Pilot Field there would be sufficient value generated through its development to meet the full cost of the proposals for the Tilekiln site. There remains concern that there would be a funding deficit estimated to be in the region of £2m.

“In addition to the lack of a viable business plan, and no agreement having been reached on a profit-sharing mechanism, there has been little or no satisfactory consultation with local residents in the areas affected, and insufficient recognition of the true meaning of the provision of community facilities.

“Furthermore, there has been no response to the draft heads of terms proposed by the council in 2021 and therefore no indication that the £8m bond required to protect taxpayers’ interests could be secured.”

Nothing in the report indicates that Ms Hartnell has consulted further with the club since December in preparing it, nor indeed with anyone else except her own staff. Nor has she even attempted to address the second limb of the direction to her, namely to consider any alternative provision for the club’s future. It is difficult to understand, therefore, save as a matter of her having alternative priorities, why it should have taken her nearly six months to produce it. 

It is easy to predict, however, that the cabinet will find little to debate on Monday, and will agree to follow Ms Hartnell’s recommendation.

Supporters of Hastings United football club learnt on 3 May that manager Gary Elphick and his assistant Jon Meeney had resigned and left. No reason was given, either by the club or by the departing duo.

A terse statement released by club CEO Billy Wood confirmed merely that their joint resignation “has been accepted…All at the club would like to thank the pair for their services and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.”

The statement went on to refer to the club’s search for a new manager. Applicants were directed to email Mr Wood to register their interest before a deadline of last Friday 12 May. However on 11 May, Wood himself announced that “due to work and life balance [he had] decided it’s time to step down and move on” from his role as CEO, ending his four-year stint in the post “with immediate effect”. He would, however, continue to fulfil his role of Women’s Manager until after their last league game of the season at Pilot Field this Sunday (21 May) against Herne Bay.

The club issued another terse statement: “We would like to thank Billy for his hard work over the years and wish him all the best for the future.” No timetable for appointment of a new CEO has been suggested.

SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTARY

In the absence of official explanations, social media posts have naturally supplied their own commentary. Most of them assume a direct link from the blocking of the ambitions of owners Darren Burney and Peter Sherlock to relocate the club to Tilekiln (see page 1). 

The departure of Elphick and Meeney is said to have followed a meeting between them and the owners at which the prospective budget for season 2023/24 was discussed. On the playing side, the management team will have been looking for sufficient money to hold onto the core of the players who performed well in the season just finished and to attract further talent if they were to take them a stage higher into the National League. 

Many supporters feel that the chance of promotion through the play-offs could have been attained by the current squad but for the mid-season loss through injury of key midfielders Tom Chalmers and Sam Hasler. Although Elphick presumably had no budget to replace these two players, to be fair, money had been found to fund the beneficial loans of strikers Joe Gbode and Dave Smith. 

If, as is suspected, the owners told Elphick and Meeney at their last meeting that the existing funding outlay could not be sustained, or might have to be cut, then the prospects for next season will have obviously dimmed – better, they may have felt, to go out on a comparative high. 

It’s no secret, too, that both Elphick and Meeney were frustrated at times – as was previous manager Chris Agutter before them – by the limitations of training facilities at Pilot Field. A significant part of the purpose of the relocation was to provide much better practice areas at Tilekiln. The availability of such facilities would of course have been far from instant in any event, but positive progress towards them would have shown the club addressing the problem.

BEST WISHES 

There’s likely to be no shortage of football clubs offering Elphick and Meeney alternative employment if they want it, and it seems probable that they’ll find some closer to their homes in West Sussex. This column wishes them all the best. Elphick will be remembered fondly as a manager who not only gained promotion for the ‘U’s but did so with a style and engagement which won him universal respect. Meeney’s tactical sense and experience in the game made him a key partner. The duo will be a hard act to follow.

Wood too will be missed, as an always positive and energetic executive, taking on not only the administrative burdens of a club in flux, but also, in the absence of a perhaps more qualified coach, the manager’s role for the women’s team.

What comes next? 

Club officials and volunteers had put in long hours to enable the fixture to go ahead. Heat blowers operated all night; groundsman Simon Rudkins worked “throughout the night”, according to the statement, and actually slept at the ground; several others assisted from early morning.

At 10am an independent referee inspected the pitch and declared it playable. The Enfield team were advised to travel, while the club called upon supporters and volunteers to help clear frozen areas of the ground, including the spreading of salt and grit on pathways and other surfaces, to ensure the ground was safe for spectators. There was huge disappointment, therefore, when the match official arrived just before 2pm, declared the pitch unplayable “in parts”, and refused to sanction the playing of the game.

It was the second match cancellation at Pilot Field in a week – the fixture on the previous Tuesday against Bowers and Pitsea having also been frozen off – and, at the time of going to press, it seemed likely that a third Isthmian League match, away at Aveley on Monday of this week, would also fall foul of the winter weather.

3-2 win at Brightlingsea

On the previous Saturday (15 January) the ‘U’s and their travelling supporters may have spent much of their game at Brightlingsea wishing that it was not taking place. Their hosts, bottom of the league with only three victories in 22 games this season, shocked them by taking a two-goal lead in the first half. Manager Gary Elphick suggested they had been “complacent”, and they duly turned the game round in the second half with two goals from Kane Penn and a late winner from captain Jack Dixon.

That win hoisted Hastings to seventh place in the league table and, although the subsequent match cancellations have resulted in them falling back to tenth place, they remain within four points of the play-off positions. Indeed only nine points separate Hornchurch, the leaders, from Horsham in 13th place.

Assuming that the freezing conditions relent, the ‘U’s will be playing tomorrow away at Haringey Borough, then returning to the Pilot Field for two more home games against Kent coast opponents – Margate on Saturday 4 February, Folkestone Invicta on Tuesday 7th February.

Adam Carder brings us his unique commentary on the opening three games for United in the Isthmian Premier League.

Hastings United enter the Isthmian Premier League for the first time in ten years. But, in truth, it’s a bit of a reality check. Their first opponents are Aveley. They visit the Pilot Field on Saturday 13 August, in the second scorching heatwave of the summer. Hastings United start well, maintaining possession. After several corners, and a marvellous save from a Tom Chalmers strike, there is a water break. Somehow after the interruption, Aveley seem to find themselves in more space and are able to put more pressure on the Hastings goal. Just after half-time, Aveley score. But Hastings claw one back at sixty-eight minutes. In the final minute, however, Aveley are awarded a free kick and – despite the fact that the ball appears to have left play and re-entered play via the safety barrier, apparently unseen by the linesman or referee – Aveley pounce and score. Hastings have lost their first game in the new big time.

United then make the first of two away trips this week, the first to Folkestone Invicta, for a cooler, Tuesday evening kick off. Both teams play and defend very well. United look strong in phases, but very few chances trouble either goalkeeper. It ends goalless but Hastings, at least, have their first Premier point. They then travel to mighty Hornchurch, hoping for a first win. Unfortunately, a handball by O’Mara in the box, just 5 minutes in, puts Hastings United down to 10 men. Hornchurch put the penalty away. After just 12 minutes Hornchurch are 2- 0 up. Hastings United battle valiantly with ten men, producing some of their best football, but the lack of a pacy forward is showing, and in the final minutes of the game Hornchurch grab a third. 

And so, after three games in this elevated tier, Hastings United sit at the bottom of the Isthmian Premier League. It is clearly going to be a steep learning curve but, as they say, we believe in ‘Super Gary Elphick.’

An event on 29th January saw young people from the local community mix with football players and staff at HUFC’s home ground, The Pilot Field, to celebrate the launch of a book corner to encourage young readers to take books when they attend matches. 

Get Hastings Reading is developing an action plan to increase literacy in young people, including fun reading days, the creation of book corners in local venues, the establishment of word cafes to support and inspire young people to improve their reading skills, and the recruitment of reading ambassadors to help support and mentor young people.