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.

Hastings United 2,
Billericay Town 2

Bowers & Pitsea 0,
Hastings United 2

Hastings United 1,
Worthing 1 (lost 4-5 on pens)

Hastings United team and supporters will rightly rate the 2022-23 season an overall success. Finishing in the top half of the Isthmian League only four points off qualification for the play-offs is a creditable outcome – turning into victories just two of the string of home draws conceded during the closing weeks of the campaign would have been enough to get them there. 

It’s also reasonable to speculate that, but for serious mid-season injuries which sidelined key midfielders Tom Chalmers and Sam Hasler, the team had enough in them to challenge for promotion. Only league winners Bishops Stortford conceded fewer goals than the ‘U’s, with goalkeeper Louis Rogers and the regular back four of Craig Stone, Alex Brefo, Jack Elliott and Kane Penn all performing consistently through the season. The challenge next year will be to find replacements for loanee strikers Joe Gbode and David Smith, who will presumably return to their parent clubs, and more youthful support in midfield for the talismanic Sam Adams and for Jack Dixon, who’s also nearing the veteran stage.

United’s league challenge was finally ended on 18 April when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Billericay Town, relying on a late equaliser from Smith. That left them unable to overtake Cray Wanderers or Lewes on the last day despite a win over Bowers & Pitsea.

More disappointment followed when they were held the following Wednesday to a 1-1 draw by Worthing in a semi-final of the Sussex Senior Cup, and missed out on a final appearance at Brighton’s Amex stadium after losing the penalty shoot-out.

So it’s holiday time now for the players and staff at the Pilot Field, though manager Gary Elphick will soon have to sit down with United’s board to work out a strategy – and budget – for 2023-24.

Isthmian Premier League – Final League Table 2022-23

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.