Former captains Sam Adams and Jack Dixon have headed the exit queue. So have regular full backs Jake Elliott and Kane Penn, midfielder Ryan Worrall and forwards Ben Pope and James Hull. Goalkeeper Louis Rogers and central defender Alex Brefo were said to be undecided on their respective futures at the time of going to press, but are also expected to quit. Loan players Joe Gbode, David Smith and Kasim Aidoo have returned to parent clubs.

There’s a rather shorter list of those who are staying with newly appointed manager Paul Barnes. Craig Stone has become his assistant, with Oli Black, Finn O’Mara, Tom Chalmers (assuming recovery from his cruciate ligament injury), Knory Scott and Freddie Legg also retained. Juniors Kian Moynes, Finley Chapman and Alfie Peacock are added to the roster on the club’s Facebook page.

Barnes has worked as a football coach and administrator for around 17 years, serving as a development officer within the Chelsea FC Foundation and then as head coach at Westminster School. He’s still based at Greenwich University and, with his pedigree in youth training, has presumably been hired to make best use of the young talent coming through the academy at Hastings. 

His previous experience in management roles at adult football clubs has been limited, however, with successive short stints within the last six years at Ashford United, Greenwich Borough, Welling United, Staines Town, Guildford City, Redhill and Dulwich Hamlet. He was head coach at Dulwich for most of last season, but was sacked in March after a ten-match spell in which the team lost nine and drew one (they were eventually relegated). How will he cope at Pilot Field? Time will tell.

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? 

Manager Gary Elphick, assistant Jon Meeney and team captain Jack Dixon gave an impressively open and committed presentation as a three-man panel responding to questions raised at a Hastings United Independent Supporters Club ‘Fan Forum’ meeting last Wednesday at the Sports & Social Club off Elphinstone Road.

Elphick was able to confirm that the nucleus of the United team which won the South-East Division of the Isthmian League last season has been kept together and is now back in training for the start of their Premier campaign next month, supplemented by the arrival of two new recruits, Gil Carvalho and Kai Brown. 

April 2022: Hastings celebrate league title win at Faversham
CREDIT: Scott White

“I felt we won the league last year without having pace in attack,” Elphick told the meeting. “Now we have it in abundance.” Tom Chalmers and Knory Scott are quick, but aren’t natural forwards; Carvalho and Brown have been brought in to perform this role. But Elphick emphasised that the principal element he had looked for in selecting new members of the squad was their desire to become part of the team. “The core group we’ve got now is massive,” he said. Local players, such as Dixon and Sam Adams, would always “play for the badge”. Prospective incomers were judged first on their “character”.

“Our budget for players is a good one, but it’s a sensible one too,” Elphick said. He was only interested in pursuing negotiations with those for whom money was secondary to their desire to be part of the collective set-up. “It’s all about the team.”

“A lot of togetherness”

Both Meeney and Dixon endorsed this ethic. “You may have all the ability in the world,” said Meeney, “but you’ve got
to fit into the way the team plays.”  “We’ve got a lot of togetherness in the dressing room,” added Dixon. They
had been “in a bad place” when previous manager Chris Agutter resigned suddenly last October despite a long run of successes over the previous two years, but had been held together under Elphick’s management, and swiftly come good again. “It’s definitely the best time I’ve had in football”, Dixon declared.

All three panellists were clearly approaching the new season with optimism. Elphick and Meeney confirmed that players had returned from their off-season break in good physical condition, although they were only two sessions into training. The number of pre-season friendlies would be reduced compared to recent years and not started “too early”. Elphick said that he wanted to “keep the team fresh…not bored before the season starts”. First outing will be at East Grinstead tomorrow (16 July). 

Elphick hinted at the meeting that he hoped to make a couple of further signings to complete his squad. One was announced last Friday as Alex Brefo, who impressed as an opponent playing against the ‘U’s for Cray Valley PM last season. Elphick describes him on the United club website as able to play centrally defensively or in midfield. He is only 20 years old and is a powerful athlete, I’m looking forward to working with him to fulfil his potential. Alex gives us flexibility with formations as well, which could be key as the season progresses.” A loanee from a Football League club is also said to be in the offing.

• The Isthmian Premier league season is due to kick off on Saturday 13 August. Full fixtures were due to be released during the course of this week. Details of the Independent Supporters Club can be found on their website www.husupporters.club. The season’s membership costs just £15 and offers various discounts and other benefits.

United prepare for Isthmian Premier

June is traditionally the month for English footballers to spread their bellies on a foreign beach, before July sees them returning to gruelling sessions of fitness recovery. Some will resume at their existing clubs, others move on. But in the boardrooms this is the time for action, when the conditions for next season’s campaign are laid out. It’s the manager’s prime opportunity to shape his squad selection, subject to the playing budget which the club’s finance director reckons can be afforded. Favoured players are retained, new players recruited, and a portion of last year’s crop let go (with equanimity in some cases, regret in others).

But, in Hastings, first things first. Manager Gary Elphick, who last season guided his United team to the club’s first league championship in 20 years and a return to the Isthmian Premier league for the first time since 2013, has signed a contract to stay in charge at the Pilot Field for the next two years. First team coach Jon Meeney has also signed up for a further year. 

Key players from last season – stalwart midfielders Sam Adams and Jack Dixon, forwards Ben Pope and Sam Hasler, central defender Craig Stone, goalkeeper Louis Rogers and young talent Tom Chalmers – have all put pen to paper for the 2022/23 season. No word yet on Stone’s partner in defence, Finn O’Mara, who was so influential last season. But leaving the club will be perennial striker Kenny Pogue and winger Dave Martin – both presumably judged to lack sufficient pace for the higher division – and defender Marcus Goldsmith. 

New recruits

Pace in attack was observably lacking in the ‘U’s otherwise well-balanced team of last year, and Elphick is clearly minded to remedy this deficiency in the season to come. Two new recruits have been announced – Gil Carvalho, who impressed Elphick when playing against the ‘U’s for Haywards Heath last season, and Kai Brown, a 21-year-old formerly on the books of Ipswich Town before joining Grays Athletic. Both are described on the United club website as attacking wingers. 

Of Carvalho, Hastings CEO Billy Woods says: “It’s great to bring Gil into the club, an exciting, pacy and strong attacking player who adds a fresh dimension to our front line. He caused a fair few problems against us last season, and I am excited to see what he does in a claret shirt.”

Of Brown, Elphick speaks with equal fervour: “Kai will be a fantastic addition to the team. He is someone with pace, technique, and an eye for goal, giving us more options in the attacking third. I can’t wait to get on the training ground with him and hit the ground running.”

The club has also confirmed the issue of contracts to five graduates from its youth academy – James Hull, Harry Mapstone, Alfie Peacock, Kian Moynes and Freddie Legg. Hull and Legg had occasional first team outings last season, and all will hope for further opportunities in the months ahead.

First league matches are due to kick off on 13 August. United will play a raft of friendlies before then including hosting a visit by Ipswich Under-23s on 20 July.

In the meantime the Hastings United Independent Supporters Club (HUISC) will be holding a ‘Fan Forum’ next Wednesday (6 July) at the Sports and Social Club off Elphinstone Road. The event will start at 7.30pm – doors open at 7. Joining manager Elphick, CEO Woods and team captain Dixon on the panel will be coaches Andrew Brown and Ben Cornelius. It should be a lively evening.