Worthing one step away from National League football

Both Worthing and Eastbourne Borough had high hopes at the beginning of the season as the top two non league teams in Sussex.

Competing in National League South at the sixth tier, the Rebels and the Sports were looking to build on recent experiences of the playoffs by going one step further and achieving promotion to just one division below the Football League.

Last Saturday was the end of the regular National League South season, so how have they fared across the 2023-24 campaign?

There are two common features. Both clubs changed managers mid-season although for different reasons and both came on very strong towards the end to secure their revised targets.

For Worthing, that was qualification and home advantage in the playoffs. For Borough, avoiding relegation into the Isthmian League Premier Division.

At the start of the season, WAB looked at the prospects of the top two Sussex non-league teams Worthing and Eastbourne Borough, as they both looked to build on recent play-off experience to go one step further and achieve promotion from the sixth tier National League South.

Last Saturday was the end of the regular season, so how have they done? Two common features – both changing their managers mid-season for very different reasons and both with a very strong end to the season securing their revised targets. For Worthing a home draw in the promotion play-offs, for Eastbourne avoiding relegation.

Worthing in the playoffs

A dramatic win over Weston-super-Mare on the final day of the season saw Worthing finish third in the standings, watched by a record crowd for a league game at the Sussex Transport Community Stadium of 2,533.

Another record crowd was set for the playoff semi final as 2,858 sold out the ground for the visit of Maidstone United. Hot-shot striker Ollie Pearce scored two minutes from time to secure a 2-1 win for the Rebels.

In a further boost for Worthing, fifth placed Braintree surprised second place Chelmsford City in the other semi final.

This left the Rebels as the highest placed team in the playoffs, ensuring home advantage in the final on Bank Holiday Monday May 5th. Woodside Road is again sold out for a 3pm kick off, with the game also being shown live on TNT Sports.

Adam Hinshelwood

Worthing suffered a big blow at the end of February when losing manager Adam Hinshelwood to York City. Hinshelwood is of course well-known to Brighton fans as father to Albion starlet Jack and scorer of a famous own goal from 30 yards against Colchester United on Boxing Day 2008.

York are fully professional with Hinshelwood saying at the time of his departure he felt was ready to make the move into full time management.

Hinshelwood was in his second spell as Worthing boss having returned to the club in 2017. He secured promotion to National South in 2022 as Isthmian League champions – long overdue having been top of the same league in the two previous seasons curtailed by Covid-19.

He then led Worthing to the National South playoffs in their first ever campaign at that level. Hinshelwood has made a good start to life at York too, meeting his first target of keeping them in the National League.

Aarran Racine

In what now looks like an inspired move, Worthing appointed previous club captain 32-year-old Aarran Racine as interim manager following the departure of Hinshelwood.

Racine only retired from playing a month earlier after suffering his fourth ACL injury in October. He was named National League South Manager of the Month for April, leasing the Rebels to victory in five games out of five.

Ollie Pearce

Many of the headlines have deservedly been taken by Pearce, otherwise known as ‘The Non League Erling Haaland’. Pearce scored an astonishing 40 league goals in the regular season, 10 more than the next highest scorer across England’s top six tiers.

He then followed up with a further brace as Worthing rode their luck to beat cup giant killers Maidstone 2-1 in that play off semi-final.

The 28-year-old Pearce forms a potent strike force alongside former Brighton academy player Danny Cashman, one of several ex-Albion players now plying their trade with Worthing.

Other former Seagulls include goalkeepers Rocoe Rees and Toby Bull, midfielder Jack Spong and the now-veteran forward Jake Robinson.

Reflecting on his phenomenal season in an interview with The Daily Star, Pearce played down the Haaland moniker.

“It’s a proud achievement, don’t get me wrong but I don’t really think like that. If Haaland was playing in the National League South he’d probably have about 120 goals.”

In terms of his future, Pearce confirmed: “I’ve had a few clubs knocking around, I still feel that I’ve got four or five good years left in me, so who knows what will happen in the summer.”

“But if we go up I might end up staying at Worthing. First and foremost I’m fully focused on getting Worthing promoted.”

If Worthing take the next step to National League

In the 2023-24 season, 21 of the 24 clubs in the National League were fully professional. An increasing number in National North and South have followed suit, including Eastbourne Borough.

Worthing are therefore facing a difficult decision if they do win promotion other whether to go full time, as is very much the norm at the next level.

At the beginning of the campaign, Rebels chairman Barry Hunter described the club’s position as, “managing expectations to ensure we keep sustainable, not stretching ourselves financially.”

“We will go at our pace. It is like running a marathon. The National League South probably isn’t our holy grail. We are looking to evolve the men’s first team to a full-time operation.”

“It may take us two to three years to do. I am not going to put a name on the league we want to get to because I don’t actually know. One of the biggest challenges is to contain ambition, to manage that expectation internally and externally.”

Playing in the National League presents a significant financial challenge. Clubs have cumulative losses of £140 million over several years with more than £21 million lost in 2022-23 alone.

Eastbourne Borough and the misfiring revolution

So what of Eastbourne Borough? Supporters awaited with ‘nervous excitement’ the arrival of new owner Simon Leslie and his revolutionary approach.

Leslie took the club fully professional overnight, meaning only four players from their 2022-23 squad remained. Popular and charismatic manager Danny Bloor lost his job, replaced by former Albion Under 18 coach Mark Beard.

Explaining how Borough would now do things, Leslie said: “Moving forward we will have a more data driven approach to recruitment, preparation, and analysis, using the latest AI technology, equipment and platforms to manage the performance and welfare of our players.”

Early season trauma at Priory Lane

Initial concerns about the speed of change and having a completely new team looked to have been allayed by a promising pre-season and four points from the first two National South games of the campaign.

After that though, results and performances quickly deteriorated. Two defeats in a week over the Christmas holidays against Worthing saw Beard sacked with Borough six points from safety.

Adam Murray was appointed as Beard’s replacement in January, with Leslie saying: “He has a proven track record of winning as a player and as a manager, as well as the exceptional turnaround he’s overseen at Cheltenham Town in recent months.”

“He is buying into our vision, and that made the decision a no-brainer for us. The group are naturally low on confidence, and I believe Adam will turn that around.”

Entering April and relegation still appeared almost certain. Performances had begun to improve if not results, summed up by a somewhat 5-1 defeat against Maidstone United at the end of March which left the Sports 22nd in the table.

A biggest Priory Lane crowd of the season of 2,229 were treated to an astonishing show of referring which left Borough with only nine players.

The Sports bounced back though, winning four successive matches through April to complete their escape from relegation. The last of those victories was a 3-2 success at Braintree Town, who Worthing face in the playoff final.

Eastbourne Borough player turnover

Player turnover at Borough continued at a remarkable rate throughout the season. Three of the four players who remained at Priory Lane from 2022-23 ended up moving on, although all to higher levels.

Exciting wingers Shiloh Remy and Leone Gravata joined Dagenham & Redbridge and York respectively, the latter after Hinshelwood took over the Minstermen. Most notably, Fletcher Holman joined Wolves.

Alongside the improvement brought by Murray as manager, recruitment also toon an upturn as the season progressed. Most notably, the signing of Yahya Bamba from Cray. Seven goals in 11 matches from Bamba helped Borough supporters move on from the departures of Remy and Gravata.

The future for Borough

Borough fans can at least look forward to 2024-25 with increased hope. The performances and results at the end of the season indicated the Sports might be back at the right end of the table next season.

And with 10 players confirmed as staying with a further four still in negotiations, Borough will at least start the season with some continuity.

Peter Finn