Hastings United F.C.

Football club infobox | clubname = Hastings United


fullname = Hastings United Football Club
nickname = The Arrows or The U's
founded = 1894 (as Rock-A-Nore)
ground = The Pilot Field, Hastings
capacity = 4,050 (800 seated)
chairman = David Walters
manager = John Lambert
Key Player = Danny Spice league = Isthmian League Premier Division
season = 2007-08
position = Isthmian League Premier Division, 14th
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pattern_la2=_dkredshoulders|pattern_b2=_dkredshoulders|pattern_ra2=_dkredshoulders
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Hastings United FC are a semi-professional English football club who currently play in the Isthmian League Premier Division. The club is based in the town of Hastings, East Sussex. Originally known as Hastings Town FC, the club changed to their current name in 2002, partly taking on the identity of the old Hastings United football club, which ceased to exist in 1985.

History

The present-day team known as Hastings United Football Club was founded in 1894 as Rock-a-Nore FC. The team played in local leagues until 1921, when they merged with All Saints FC (becoming Hastings & St. Leonards Amateurs) and joined the Sussex County League, where they played until 1927. In 1952, the club rejoined the Sussex County League, remaining there until the 1984/85 season.

In 1921, Hastings & St. Leonards Amateurs moved to the Sussex County League and finished runners-up to Worthing. The club again finished second in the 1926/27 season, this time behind Southwick, but then moved back to the Hastings Football League due to ground problems. The club joined the Sussex County League again in 1952, but had to wait until the 1959/60 for success, finishing second in Division Two of the Sussex County League. In 1979, the club changed its name to Hastings Town and, in the 1979/80 season, won the Division Two championship and the Divisional Cup. The 1980/81 season saw the club win the County League Cup.

When, in 1985, the old Hastings United ceased trading, Hastings Town applied for membership of the Southern League Premier Division, though, following objections from another club, were admitted into the league's Southern Division. The club also negotiated a long term lease with Hastings Borough Council for use of United's Pilot Field ground, moving from their former home at The Firs.

1991/92 was a great season for the club and its fans, culminating in a win at second placed Weymouth to clinch the league title and promotion to the Southern League Premier Division, where they played for the following six seasons. At the start of the 1997/98 season, local lottery winner Mark Gardiner became involved with the club, but his financial status still didn't help the clubs progress on pitch, although they did win the Sussex Senior Cup, beating Burgess Hill Town in the final. The end of the 1998/99 season saw Town in administration and not knowing which league they were to play in the following season, as Gardiner's attempt to withdraw the club's resignation from the Southern League had been refused, with Gardiner stepping down as a consequence. The Club was saved from extinction by a last gasp bid from another local lottery winner, Mick Maplesden and Town were accepted back into the Southern League, but only to the Eastern Division (formally Southern Division). The club went close to promotion in each of the next two years, but with George Wakeling appointed as manager early in the 2000/01 season, an unbeaten run near the end of the campaign saw Town win the title and, with it, promotion back to the Premier Division.

The 2002/03 season saw Hastings Town renamed as Hastings United, playing in the former team's traditional claret and blue kit. Although reaching the first Round of the FA Cup (losing 1-0 to Stevenage Borough), was an early season highlight, the club was ultimately relegated back to the Eastern Division, in the process losing many players to fellow Sussex side Eastbourne Borough and Kent side Folkestone Invicta. Starting the 2003/04 season under a new chairman in David Walters, a new manager in former player Steve Lovell, and with only the bare bones of a playing squad, United only just managed to escape relegation to the County League. Following the restructuring of the non-league football pyramid, United kicked off the 2004/05 season in the Isthmian League, playing in Division One. After manager Steve Lovell's resignation in November that year, United surprised many by bringing in ex-Wales and Everton F.C. goalkeeper Neville Southall, and with him came an upturn in fortunes, with eventually United consolidating their position in their new league.

A few months into the 2005/06 season, Southall parted company with the Club after disagreements with the chairman Dave Walters. He was replaced by the inexperienced management duo of senior players, Nigel Kane and Pat Brown. The latter stepped down before the end of the season, but returned to coach the Club's goalkeepers for the following campaign, as Hastings attempted to improve on a disappointing final placing of twelfth.

The 2006/07 season was a Jekyll & Hyde affair for the club. In the early stages, Hastings struggled and looked destined for a relegation battle, but from the end of November, after Nigel Kane's brother Norman had been installed as assistant manager and Gareth Sefton as coach, the team embarked on two separate long undefeated runs and found themselves chasing eventual league champions Maidstone United, even topping the table for a twenty-four hour spell in mid-March. A dip in form towards the end of the campaign led to Hastings eventually finishing in fourth place, good enough for a place in the divisional play-offs. Hastings played away to Dover Atheltic in the semi-final and, despite being reduced to ten men after half an hour, triumphed 2-0. The final saw Hastings travel to take on Tooting & Mitcham United at Imperial Fields, where another 2-0 victory earned them promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division for the 2007/08 season.

The return to Premier Division football began well, and a fine sequence of results at the Pilot Field enabled United to sit proudly in the top six at an early stage. A failure to win a single away match in the league, coupled with a sudden and complete loss of home form, saw United fall down the table and into the relegation places, culminating in the departure of Nigel Kane as manager on 27 December 2007. A couple of weeks later, his successor was named as the former Tonbridge Angels manager Tony Dolby, who was appointed together with his long time assistant Mike Rutherford. Dolby's brief was simply to help United escape relegation, and despite the Club's situation atill looking hopeless in early March, an excellent run of six wins in their last nine matches took them to safety, sealed by a 3-0 victory away to Leyton on the final day of the campaign, as United finished their first season back in the Premier Division in fourteenth place, three points clear of relegation places.

Despite this relative success, barely a week after the season had concluded, Dolby and Rutherford both announced that he would be stepping down from their roles, leaving United managerless for the second time in four months. With several key players also leaving the Club, former player and current Reserve Team manager John Lambert was promoted, along with assistant Wayne Farrier, to take charge of First Team duties, allowing preparations to commence for the 2008/09 campaign.

Club Honours

Isthmian League Division One South Play-Off Winners 2006-2007

Southern League Eastern Division Champions 2001-2002

Southern League Southern Division Champions 1991-1992

Southern League Cup Winners 1995, Runners-Up 2000

Southern League Division 2 Runners-Up 1909. Division 2 B Winners 1910

Sussex Senior Cup Winners 1936, 1938, 1996, 1998

Sussex RUR Cup Runners-Up 1980

Sussex County League Runners-Up 1922, 1926 Division 2 Winners 1980, Runners-Up 1960

Sussex County Cup Winners 1981 Division 2 Cup Winners 1980

Sussex Intermediate Cup Winners 1933, 1992

Gilbert Rice Floodlit Cup Winners 1990

Records

Record Attendance: 4,888 v.s Nottingham Forest, 1996

League Attendance: 1,834 v.s AFC Wimbledon, 2005

Transfer Fee Paid: £8,000 to Ashford Town F.C., for Nicky Dent.

Transfer Fee Received: £50,000 from Nottingham Forest, for Paul Smith.

Top Goalscorer (Season): Stafford Browne (29), 1997/98.

Players progressing to the Football League

;England
*flagicon|England Paul Smith "of Nottingham Forest"
*flagicon|England Peter Heritage "of Gillingham"
*flagicon|England Doug Loft "of Brighton & Hove Albion"
*flagicon|England Shwan Jalal "of Peterborough United"

Cup Runs

*FA Cup: First Round Proper
** 2002/03

*Southern League Cup: Winners
**1994/95*, 2000/01*

*Sussex Senior Cup: Winners
**1935/36*, 1937/38*, 1995/96*, 1997/98*

(* As Hastings Town)

quad 2007-2008

Management

First Team Manager: John Lambert
First Team Assistant Manager: Wayne Farrier
Reserve Team Manager: Keith Miles
Reserve Team Assistant Manager: Mark Stapley
Youth Team Manager: Dave Willet

Current squad

:"As of 15 August 2008."cite web
title = The Squad
url = http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/sport/United-season-preview.4391880.jp
publisher = Hastings & St Leonards Observer
accessdate = 2008-08-15]

ee also

Hastings United F.C. (1948-85) Information about the old Hastings United who played at the Pilot Field before the current United.

References

External links

* [http://www.hastingsunitedfc.co.uk/index.htm Hastings United Football Club Official Site.]
* [http://www.hastingsfc-extra-time.co.uk/ Hastings FC-Extra Time Independent Site]