Lewes F.C.
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| Full name | Lewes Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Rooks | ||
| Founded | 1885 | ||
| Ground | The Dripping Pan, Lewes, East Sussex | ||
| Capacity | 3,000 (600 seated) | ||
| Chairman | Steve Ibbitson | ||
| Manager | Tim O'Shea | ||
| League | Conference South | ||
| 2009–10 | Conference South, 19th of 22 | ||
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Lewes Football Club is an English football team based in Lewes, East Sussex who during the 2010-11 season played in the Conference South. Nicknamed The Rooks, the team has seen a number of promotions in recent years. Their main rivals are Crawley Town, Eastbourne Borough and Worthing.
History
Early history
Lewes Football Club was formed at a meeting at a local pub (The Royal Oak) in 1885 and initially wore green shirts designed to evoke the surrounding South Downs. The present red and black kit was adopted in 1893. The club have always played their home matches at the Dripping Pan (often just called The Pan). The ground itself is known to have been used for football matches prior to the formation of the current club, and has been used by the local people for recreation since time immemorial. The unusual name, "The Dripping Pan", is because the site was where monks from the local priory used to dry water from the nearby river to make salt. This also accounted for the pitch being sunk below ground level and being surrounded by grass banks on all sides.
Later history
Having won the championship of the Mid Sussex League twice before World War I, Lewes became founder members of the Sussex County League in 1920. They were runners-up on four occasions but it was not until 1964-65 that they were finally able to win the championship, after which they stepped up to the Athenian League.
After winning the Division 2 title in 1968, promotion to the Premier Division followed just two years later when the club won the Division 1 title.
In 1977 Lewes joined the newly expanded Isthmian League, initially in Division 2. Promotion to Division 1 came in 1980 but in 1991 the Rooks were relegated. They bounced back at the first attempt but could only manage one season at this level before two successive relegations saw them in Division 3, where they actually finished second from bottom of the entire league on two occasions.
During the 1998-99 season Jimmy Quinn joined the club as manager and the club soon claimed two consecutive promotions, taking them to the Isthmian League Division One South.
After Steve King took over as manager, in the 2003-04 season they were champions of this division and stepped up to the unprecedented heights of the Conference South after a busy schedule of playoffs at the end of the season, in effect jumping two divisions.
They reached the play-offs in both the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, finishing 4th in the league on both occasions. However, they could not participate in the play-offs as their Dripping Pan ground did not meet Conference National grading criteria. This allowed Cambridge City and St Albans City respectively to receive a bye into the next round. In the 2006-07 season, they finished 9th in the league.
In the 2007-08 season they won promotion to the Conference National for the first time after a 2-0 win over Dorchester Town.[1]
Controversially on the last day of the season, then manager Steve King's contract was not renewed by the board, this subsequently meant that all but one (Anthony Barness) players in the winning squad left the club.[2]
On 29 April 2008, the board released a statement stating that a new manager, Kevin Keehan, had been appointed to run the first team for the beginning of the 2008-09 season.[3] This was even more surprising considering Keehan's previous job was as Commercial Manager at Brighton and Hove Albion. After winning just 4 out of 36 league games for the Rooks and clearly out of his depth, he and assistant Terry Graves resigned on 10 March 2009[4] with Steve Ibbitson taking the role of caretaker manager until the end of the season.[5] On 25 March 2009, Lewes' relegation from the Conference National was confirmed after 39 games of the season, with the club finishing bottom of the league.[6]
The 2009-10 season was again a struggle for Lewes numerous winding-up orders were battled off the field and on the field Steve Ibbitson worked wonders with an inexperienced but talented squad of players. Blue Square South safety was finally secured with a 2-1 away win against Hampton and Richmond on the final afternoon of the season.
On July 9, 2010 "The Rooks" became a member-owned club with six founder members of the new Rooks125 group forming the inaugural Board of the new Lewes Community Football Club ownership body [1]. Comedian, playwright and director Patrick Marber is one of the six Rooks125 founder members.
Following a poor start to the 2010-11 season, Steve Ibbitson moved upstairs to take on the role as Chairman and Tim O'Shea and Neil Smith were announced as the new management team.
The Dripping Pan was chosen as one of the 5 top non-league away days by the football blog The Ball is Round in September 2010.
Honours
Champions 1964/65
Runners up 1924/25, 1933/34, 1958/59, 1963/64
League Cup Winners 1939/40
Winners 1976/77
Winners 1961/62, 1962/63, 1964/65
Winners 1964/65, 1970/71, 1984/85, 2000/01, 2005/06
Finalists 1910/11, 1912/13, 1930/31, 1931/32, 1979/80, 1982/83, 1987/88, 2001/02
Division 1 Champions 1969/70
Division 2 Champions 1967/68
Division 1 South Champions/Conference South Play-off Winners 2003/04
Division 2 Champions 2001/02
Division 2 Runners up 1979/80, 1991/92
Division 3 Runners up 2000/01
Champions 2007/08
FA Cup history
Lewes have reached the 1st round proper of the FA Cup three times in their history. In the 2001-02 season they played Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, losing 2-0,[7] in the 2006-07 season they were beaten 4-1 at home by Darlington,[8] and in the 2007-08 season they lost 3-0 to Mansfield Town at Field Mill.[9]
In the 2008-09 season, Lewes lost to Leiston of the Eastern Counties League (four divisions below Lewes), losing a home replay at the 4th qualifying round stage 3-1, missing the opportunity to reach the first round proper for the third season in a row.
FA Trophy history
Lewes' best performance in the FA Trophy has been reaching the 3rd round proper. This has occurred on two occasions - in the 2002-03 season they lost 3-2 at Gloucester City, and in the 2003-04 season, they played Weymouth at home, but found themselves on the wrong end of a 13-goal thriller, losing 8-5.
FA Vase history
The last time Lewes were eligible to enter for the FA Vase was in the 2001-02 season. Their last season saw their best run in the competition, reaching the quarter-finals. They ended up losing 2-1 at home to AFC Sudbury.
Players
- As of 15 March 2011.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials
Management Team
- Manager – Tim O'Shea
- Assistant Manager – Neil Smith
- First Team Coach and Club Psychologist - Paul Emerson
- First Team Goalkeeping Coach – Dave Winterton
- Physiotherapist - Kieran Stratton
- Kit Man - Kieran Ridley
- Under 18s Manager - Chris Rivers
- Community & Education Manager - Darren Ford
Board and Directors
- Chairman - Steve Ibbitson
- Chief Executive – Nick Williams
- Board Members - Alex Leith (Communications Officer), Eddie Ramsden, Ben Ward, Patrick Marber, David Arnold (General Manager) and Charlie Dobres (Marketing Manager)
- Club President - John Edwards
Notable former players
- For a complete list of former Lewes players with Wikipedia articles, see Category:Lewes F.C. players.
Supporters
A fanzine entitled Ten Worthing Bombers was released the first time on 20 September 2008 and has subsequently produced four issues, including a promo. All profits raised go back to support the infrastructure of the club.
Sources
- Lewes at the Football Club History Database
- News at Bbc.co.uk
- News at Sussexexpress.co.uk
References
- ^ "Lewes are promoted as champions". BBC News. 20 April 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Barness signs new Lewes contract". BBC News. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Lewes appoint Keehan as manager". BBC News. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Keehan resigns as Lewes manager". BBC News. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Ibbitson 'only helping out'". Lewesfc.com. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
- ^ "Lewes relegated after rivals draw". BBC News. 24 March 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Lewes 0-2 Stoke". BBC News. 18 November 2001. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Lewes 1-4 Darlington". BBC News. 11 November 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- ^ "Mansfield 3-0 Lewes". BBC News. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.