- Arundel F.C.
-
Arundel 
Full name Arundel Football Club Nickname(s) The Mullets Founded 1889 Ground Mill Road, Arundel
(Capacity: 2200 (120 seated))Chairman Bob Marchant Manager Brett Torode League Sussex County League
Division One2010-11 Sussex County League
Division One, 9th
Home coloursAway coloursArundel F.C. are a football club based in Arundel, England, established in 1889 and joined the Sussex County Football League in 1949.
They have won the County League Division 1 title 3 times in their history, most recently in 1986-87.
For the 2011-12 season, they are members of the Sussex County Football League Division One.
In the FA Cup they have reached Second Round Qualifying 6 times, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1971–72, 1972,73 and 1986–87 and in 2003/04 they reached the 4th round proper of the FA Vase.
Contents
History
Founded in 1889 and known as ‘The Mullets’ (Arundel being renowned for its mullet fishing), Arundel FC played in the West Sussex League for some 50 years, until becoming a Sussex County League side immediately after the Second World War.
County League champions two years running in 1957-58 and 1958-59, and again in 1986-87, when they also won the League Challenge Cup.
The Club has yet to repeat that level of success and were relegated in 1997-98 after finishing bottom of Division One. Up until that point, Arundel had spent 46 seasons out of 49 in the top flight of the County League.
After just two seasons in Division Two, Arundel gained promotion back to Division One, after finishing as runners-up to Sidlesham in 1999-00.
In 2003-04 the Mullets enjoyed their best season since returning to the top flight, finishing sixth in Division One (their highest position since winning the title in 1987); as well as lifting the John O’Hara League Cup by beating Rye & Iden United 2-1.
2004-05 saw Arundel finish in a respectable 9th place with some of the seasons highlights including a 7-1 win over Southwick, a 5-1 victory against Hailsham Town and a 6-1 thrashing of Sidlesham.
For the start of the new 2005-06 season a new management team has been brought into the club with new 1st team manager Vic Short and assistant managers Kevin Valentine and Simon Butler.
After guiding the club to a 7th and 3rd place finish, Short left the club before the start of the 2007-08 season to be replaced by Richard 'Kilroy' Towers, with Simon Butler staying on as his assistant with the addition of Jim Quigg to the management team. After a slow start in the league, the team's form picked up and eventually finished 3rd for the second season running. The season's highlights included a 5-0 win over Hythe Town in the FA Vase and an excellent 4-2 away win over champions Crowborough Athletic.
Towers second season in charge (2008/09) saw the club go one better by finishing as runners up, 2 points behind champions Eastbourne Utd, who the Mullets beat twice during the season.
They went into the final day of the season with a chance of claiming the title and after beating Ringmer 5-2 in an early kick off (2pm) they led the table with Eastbourne still playing at home to Redhill. 2 late goals for United though clinched a 2-0 win and saw them claim the championship.
Gary Norgate, who re-signed at the beginning of the season from Midhurst ended as the league's top scorer with 26 goals, 39 in all competitions.
At the end of 2009/2010 season, manager Richard Towers stepped down as Arundel manager after 4 years in charge, leading Arundel to two 3rd position finishes, and one runners up, before the disappointing 12th position in 2009/2010, leaving the door open for ex-professional Gary Wheatcroft to take charge, who as a player was on the books of Southampton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth while also enjoying prolific spells at county level with Chichester, where he won the Division 1 title in 1980 and Selsey where as player/manager we won the division 2 and league cup double. Gary Wheatcroft was sacked after an away defeat against Sidley United in the Senior Cup after a bad run of results. Simon Butler (Assistant Manager) was offered the position of manager and took over with Dave Hall (Player/Coach) as his assistant.
League history
Season Division Position Significant Events Joined the Sussex County League 1949-1950 Sussex County League 12 – 1950-1951 Sussex County League 5 – 1951-1952 Sussex County League 11 – 1952-1953 Division One 4 – 1953-1954 Division One 8 – 1954-1955 Division One 15 – 1955-1956 Division One 6 – 1956-1957 Division One 3 – 1957-1958 Division One 1 Champions 1958-1959 Division One 1 Champions 1959-1960 Division One 9 – 1960-1961 Division One 5 – 1961-1962 Division One 9 – Sussex County League Abandoned Normal League System 1963-1964 Division One 15 – 1964-1965 Division One 14 – 1965-1966 Division One 15 Relegated 1966-1967 Division Two 2 Promoted 1967-1968 Division One 10 – 1968-1969 Division One 2 – 1969-1970 Division One 13 – 1970-1971 Division One 6 – 1971-1972 Division One 5 – 1972-1973 Division One 12 – 1973-1974 Division One 10 – 1974-1975 Division One 8 – 1975-1976 Division One 14 Relegated 1976-1977 Division Two 2 Promoted 1977-1978 Division One 9 – 1978-1979 Division One 7 – 1979-1980 Division One 11 – 1980-1981 Division One 8 – 1981-1982 Division One 7 – 1982-1983 Division One 15 Relegated 1983-1984 Division Two 2 Promoted 1984-1985 Division One 5 – 1985-1986 Division One 9 – 1986-1987 Division One 1 Champions 1987-1988 Division One 12 – 1988-1989 Division One 16 – 1989-1990 Division One 16 – 1990-1991 Division One 8 – 1991-1992 Division One 11 – 1992-1993 Division One 12 – 1993-1994 Division One 10 – 1994-1995 Division One 17 – 1995-1996 Division One 7 – 1996-1997 Division One 12 – 1997-1998 Division One 20 Relegated 1998-1999 Division Two 8 – 1999-2000 Division Two 2 Promoted 2000-2001 Division One 13 – 2001-2002 Division One 9 – 2002-2003 Division One 17 – 2003-2004 Division One 6 – 2004-2005 Division One 9 – 2005-2006 Division One 7 – 2006-2007 Division One 3 – 2007-2008 Division One 3 – 2008-2009 Division One 2 – 2009-2010 Division One 12 – Current squad
Name Nationality Position Date Of Birth (Age) Previous Club Notes Goalkeepers
Ben O'Connor 
GK Wick Rhys Griffiths GK 14 November 1991 Petworth Defenders David Walker CB 5 September 1982 Club captain David Hall LB/CB/RB 29 January 1984 East Preston Player/Coach Steve Sneller RB 15 June 1983 Ryan Jones LB 2 June 1992 Sean Towers CB 5 January 1984 Pagham Lloyd Walker CB/SW 27 February 1986 Andy Heward CB/SW Alex Biggs RB 13 November 1987 Worthing United Alex Duncan CB 23 January 1990 East Preston Midfielders Rob Grove CM Russel Hardwell RM 3 December 1981 Chichester David Burton CM 22 December 1991 Lewis Hamilton RM Selsey Rory Biggs CM 21 July 1992 Worthing Michael Gardner CM 28 April 1991 Oakwood Matt Axell CM Worthing Josh Biggs CM 27 March 1984 Worthing Matthew Rance RM 21 December 1991 Strikers Scott Tipper FW 11 January 1984 Howard Neighbour FW Bognor Regis Gary Norgate FW 23 May 1983 Bognor Regis Steve Gettings FW 24 June 1990 |}
Sources
- Arundel at the Football Club History Database
- Sussex County Football League website
External links
Categories:- Sussex County Football League
- West Sussex football clubs
- Worthing
- Association football clubs established in 1889
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
