Saturday 20th November 2021 – 3pm Kick-off – The Isthmian Premier League

Welcome to The Dripping Pan for today’s Pitching In Isthmian Premier League game with Folkestone Invicta. Here is your complimentary e-programme.

DAVE MCKAY (1967-2021) – REST IN PEACE

The club were stunned and shocked to have heard that one of our most loyal fans, ‘Cynical” Dave Mckay passed away unexpectedly last Saturday. Cynical was the font of all football trivia. He knew the Non-League game better than most managers and was fearless in his approach to supporting the Rooks, as many an opposition keeper will have experienced.

There’s few football fans who will forget meeting Dave, whether that was as a one-off or at every game. The depth of sadness on his loss has been felt by many and the club have received messages from across Europe, wanting to share their memories of meeting Cynical.

Few Rooks fans and players will forget his sheer joy and passion at celebrating a goal, a put down remark to an opposing goal keeper or an official not keeping up with play. We’ve all wanted to be a bit like Dave at many times and that is the best compliment we can pay to his legacy.

We dedicate this progcast and today’s game to the memory of Cynical.

IN MEMORY OF MY BROTHER – PATRICK “MAC” MCKAY

Dave arrived on the planet just before Christmas in 1967, first child of my Mum and Dad, in my mum’s hometown of Aberdeen. Being different started early for Dave as foregoing “Mum” and “Dad” when he learnt to speak he chose to call them Bob and Joyce!

Dave’s life of contentment as an only child didn’t last long as I, their second son, arrived not much more than 18 months later starting a lifetime of fighting, arguing and supporting each other that endured for the next 50 years.

We joined forces in 1973 as a pair of disgruntled brothers when our sister Claire arrived, taking away both our previous periods of ruling the roost as the youngest and most spoilt. Dave spent the early years at school misbehaving (slightly) but also excelling at several subjects and proving himself a fantastic sportsman whether the activity was football, rugby, cricket, golf or draughts.

He left school in Scotland in 1985, when, to the surprise of everyone who knew him, he got his hair cut and joined the Royal Air Force. This was a major shock as our father had recently left the Royal Navy after 27 years and I had just joined the RN, upsetting the apple cart in a naval family in true “Dave” fashion.

It will be no surprise to anyone that knew Dave that disciplined life in the Armed Forces was not really his forte. He left after a few years as an Air Traffic Control Assistant making the obvious career choice from there to join the Post Office in Brighton. He boarded the train at Glasgow Central and never returned to live in Scotland, living an enjoyable and full life in Sussex for the next 30 years.

His love of football was legendary, despite keeping an eye on his hometown Aberdeen FC as thy began a period of obliterating the Old Firm under the then plain old Mr Alexander Ferguson, his first love in his early teens was Clydebank FC. “Wee Dave” was a regular at Kilbowie Park and away games as the “Bankies” prospered and arrived for an unheard of 2 season stay in the Scottish Premiership in the mid-eighties.

He was entirely responsible for my on-going support for Clydebank FC and I know he still kept an eye on them from afar. His support for Lewes was typical of Dave. When he was passionate about something it became all consuming. He loved the team, the supporters and the whole ethos and workings of the club. I am sure he will be as sorely missed and loved at Lewes FC as he is already missed by family, loved ones and friends everywhere else.

Patrick Mckay  

DAVE IN WORDS AND PICTURES

My Dave

Dave was family to me, my mum, sister Helen and Joe Green who made up the Team.  We lived in virtual utopia for over 3 years.

OK, so the air was often blue in the kitchen at Palmeira Towers on a weekend. Most of the time I had no idea what Joe and Dave were talking about (they’re both very brainy) plus they seemed to find stuff funny that I didn’t remotely understand but it made me so happy to hear them together. Although there were times when the c word x 7 before 11am was too much – even for me. Going on Holiday for me didn’t just mean a sun tan – it meant I came home to a clean over. What more could you ask?

On the very rare occasion my entering the flat under the influence would be a struggle, Dave would simply open the door and say that he couldn’t bear the noise of me trying to get the key in the lock ‘it was torturous’ apparently.

Lock down arrived and a few imperfections emerged. Dave started eating an apple EVERY day in lock down at 6 o’clock when he came home from work, making more noise than you can imagine. He ate every single bit of that apple. My mum and sister Helen didn’t really see what the problem was, I was demented, fortunately the phase only lasted about 6 weeks.

Dave was the funniest man I’ve ever know. He was funny because he was super intelligent and his lense on life was real and yet light hearted. Although it seems he was a quite verbal on the train home from a match.

A few years ago, After several weeks of smell analysis (me pacing Palmeira Towers different corners) I talked to my sister about this strange smell. The end result – Dave’s slippers! This was apparently a common issue. NO PROBLEM I thought, I bought him some new blue slippers. Very similar to his existing ones. Dave seemed happy (I won’t say delighted) then he smiled that secret contented Dave smile and said;

‘I’ve never owned two pairs of slippers’.

The following conversation content you can imagine. It involved a carrier bag outside the front door.

I loved that Dave started to smile before he delivered a cutting or funny line. It could have been interpreted as inappropriate or over confident but we all had that anticipation that he was going to make us laugh. What could be better.

He had patience beyond a saint. The last meal (I use the term lightly) that I put in front of Dave was fishcakes – they were still frozen. Very frozen. He just picked up our plates and took them to the kitchen to correct the problem. Nothing was a problem. The following day Dave cooked one of his specialities ‘shepherds pie’. Result!

I could go on and on about how Dave quietly supported me, my family and his home. It is now transpiring many others too. Dave clearly could spread himself far and wide, I just don’t think we knew. He didn’t join us up.

As Theresa a friend of Dave’s said, ‘Dave danced his death like he danced his life – with the minimum of fuss’.

‘missing’ doesn’t even begin to describe how we’ll feel.

Liz x

“Away from Palmeira square and Lewes FC, one of Dave’s other passions was music, specifically Northern Soul. Dave was a regular at the annual Brighton Spiegel tent Northern Soul event which in part earned him the name ‘Disco’ Dave.

His ability to seamlessly glide across the floor was the envy of his many contemporaries. In his trademark Levi jacket and check shirt, ‘Disco’ could nutmeg every other Northern Soul  mover who came within close proximity to him with complete ease , possessing such quick feet that not even the most sophisticated VAR would be unable to pick up his slick  moves! Dancing to Frankie Wilson’s ‘Do I love you….”, he ruled supreme!………..

‘Disco’ truly was a legend on the dance floor.”

Phil Green

“For a man nicknamed ‘Cynical’ Dave, Dave always made sure he was first in line to celebrate goals with his beloved Rooks, as demonstrated by various pics of celebrations with him featured prominently in the front row! Dave was a devoted fan of his beloved Lewes FC and all of us associated with the club will miss his presence and character on the terraces.

It is a sad moment for all that Dave is no longer with us, but in almost the same way as a player, Dave is immortalised by the pictures that capture memories of goals and wins gone by, and by the memories that fellow fans shared of  conversation with him over a pint down the Pan.

I think a perfect way to honour Dave would be to celebrate the next goal for Lewes as loudly, as proudly, and with ten times the gusto than perhaps you normally would, because really, he’ll always be right there with you (but perhaps just in front)!”

David Wheeler – Wycombe Wanderers and former Rook

He could talk about Howards’ Way all day could Dave. He had a Homes Under The Hammer routine available  upon request that was fit for Peter Kay. He could reel off lines from The Good Life or any British Sitcom from the 70s or 80s affording himself a light chuckle in the process.

He taught me the joys of long-distance walking, “You can walk anywhere, Danny”. We’d meet now and again at 6am for a 4 hour walk where he’d turn up not knowing or caring where we were going but with a coffee and bacon roll already on the go and his standard “already 6am that’s half the day gone” opening pundit.

He’d have been Ken Bruce’s PopMaster had he been bothered to phone up Radio 2 – Times Radio was more his thing latterly along with the Financial Times and the Non-League Paper which he read from cover to cover retaining every single snippet of information.

He loved a bet keeping it disciplined, I think, for the twenty or so years that I’ve known him. Early on in that time I met him in a bookies in Trafalgar Street, Brighton where he licked his finger, peeled off a betting slip and said “Who do you fancy in the Great North Run?”. When Saturday Came he’d turn up with a raft of betting slips some longer than his arm.

He was extremely popular at Lewes FC behind the goal(s) and in the clubhouse because rather than the standard football nod that blokes have perfected over the years he’d wow anyone within earshot with actual chat and call upon a string of one-liners hidden up his sleeve that couldn’t fail to impress.

Intelligent, funny and of course cynical. I’ll miss you mate. Keep it disco up there. Xx

Danny Last

I knew Dave for more than ten years. But not very well. Which is odd because I hugged him with joy on numerous occasions and might have even kissed him at Havant in Spring 2011 when
we equalised with a bobbling miracle in a crucial relegation game.

When I was on the board I went to a lot of away games. Dave and Deaks were always there. It was a pleasure to stand with them, win or lose. With diehard supporters like these I knew Lewes FC would be OK.

We must remember the green jacket. The numerous pockets. The way he patted each one to find a lighter that was never there. His tension when we took a pen. A corner. A throw in.
Coiled, explosive, furious, elated. Free.

God he was funny. And cutting. And clever.

I even tried to get him to stand for the board. He seemed like a guy who could turn his mind to anything. But it didn’t interest him. He was a born sniper not an officer.

I never knew his job nor his marital status. Don’t even know where he lived. None of it mattered.

Had he fancied it I daresay he’d be the Prime Minister. Or President of the British Medical Association. Or manager of Scotland.

But I’m so glad he gave his devotion to our club. He was a loyalist and The Rooks were his cause.

Dave was one of the least cynical people I’ve ever met.

Rest in peace.

Patrick Marber

An Ode to Dave

It feels frankly odd to be writing this on several levels.

One, because I never really knew Dave outside of the occasions when I would see him on the terraces at The Dripping Pan. Two, because it is surreal that I am even writing this and talking about him in the past tense. Three, it’s something that has felt like a real personal loss from the moment I heard the dreadful news, even though our only connection was through Lewes FC.

I have never been one to openly share my feelings, as many who know me would testify, but I had to simply say something, anything, to do justice to this sense of loss and to acknowledge a feeling felt by many of us.

I have been coming to Lewes to watch football for probably the last seven or eight years and was very quickly captured by the genuine sense of collective good that emanates from its very soul the moment you walk through the turnstiles. As soon as my son was old enough, he has also joined the regular pilgrimage along the A27 from Hove and has himself become a fully-fledged Rook.

So much of what is good about Lewes, and what is good about any football club, is driven by its people, its supporters, and it’s very essence is distilled on the terraces and stands as soon as the referee blows his whistle.

The prime example of this lifeblood of the football club was Dave McKay. I don’t recall when I first met Dave, but I know the thing that would have introduced me to him would have been hearing his strong Scottish lilt drifting across the terrace and harassing some poor player from the opposition. The key thing in his message was that it was not a bland and blunt insult or cold hard crude language, it was generally far more nuanced, and consistently hilarious. The kind of insult that genuinely created belly laughs on the terraces, and instilled confusion in the player who was the subject of his commentary and who generally would have missed the general theme of the invective hurled in their direction.

As a result, I would find myself often stood near Dave and many other familiar faces, consciously picking a location where I could enjoy his alternate in-match commentary and perspectives on the opposition. Over time, we got to know each other, through regular attendance, and through sharing beers both pre, during and post-match. His knowledge of all football bordered on the encyclopaedic, and the sidebar conversations mid-match about what happened to Wille Falconer after he left Watford, or where Jamie Brotherton was now playing football became a regular part of the ebb and flow of ninety minutes of football.

As so it become part of my matchday fabric, looking forwards to catching up with Dave and other regulars, and he would always warmly greet me, and give a hearty welcome to my son with a bellowed “Evening Mason” anytime he saw him, serving to also make a ten-year-old boy feel part of the fabric of Lewes FC.

Dave for me was part of matchdays, part of Lewes, and as Dave Lamb put it so eloquently, The Pan hangs its head as a result. We will look for him regularly and often, and personally matchdays will have something missing, a Dave McKay shaped hole on the terraces. We should try our best to fill it, as I would imagine he would be sending some creative and comedic abuse our way if we didn’t, but boy, we will miss him.

Much love to you Dave, much love.

Marc Allsop

Photo credits: James Boyes, Stuart Tree, Jon Barmby, Liz Moore, Danny Last, Stuart Fuller

NOTES FROM THE BIG CHAIR

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Dripping Pan for today’s top of the table clash with Folkestone Invicta. I’d like to welcome the fans, players, management and officials from Kent and hope their journey home is problem free.

Over the next few seasons I got to share away trips with Dave, Deaks and Danny Last along with a cast of others around the then Blue Square South to delights of Weston-super-Mare, Basingstoke and Eastleigh for a memorable trip where he demonstrated his dancing skills in a pub post match after our train had been cancelled. The range of fans from other Non-League clubs from home and abroad who reached out to us on the news of his passing has been unbelievable. One memorable trip to Ostend in Belgium to watch a game and give Dave a chance to stop up on some duty-free tobacco. Naturally, he prepared a quiz on Belgium non-league football clubs for the journey and posed for a picture with a Miss Belgium candidate, complete with a copy of the Racing Post in his pocket.

He had a knack of being able to talk to anyone, having an encyclopedic knowledge on so many subjects and an amazing memory for facts and figures, including the price of a pint in almost every pint in the BN postcode. Part of my Saturday routine would be to find a question or two based on something topical in the game to catch him out on. I rarely did. On our recent trip to Margate, whilst we were enjoying a beer in the sunshine, he challenged me out of the blue to name three Leicester City players who had played for England C. I got them within a minute and I earned a Dave nod of approval.

Whether it be for his exuberant goal celebrations at the bottom of the Philcox Stand to his magic secret inside coat pocket that held his newspapers, betting slips that were as long as your arm and other surprising items such as a tub of hummus and pitta bread, Dave was certainly a character, one who was generous to a fault and passionately supported The Rooks, home or away, in good times and bad. To spend time in his company was always a pleasure and I am sure many of us will miss him and his humour, candour and love of the game.

We are joined today by his brother Mac and his flatmate Liz.

Let’s get behind the Rooks today and make a real noise for Dave. Come on you Rooks!

Stuart

TONY’S THOUGHTS

On behalf of the management team and the first team squad we were saddened to hear of the death of Dave McKay.  I didn’t have the opportunity to personally talk to him but there are so many stories about him and his legendary status among the Lewes fans.  I’ve seen the tributes on Social Media and it will be emotional today – I spoke to the players on Wednesday and it is up to us as a group to give something back to you, the fans.  You support us when we are down so it is only fair that we do likewise.  I will get the team fired up and we will try to put on the best performance possible in memory of Dave.

We wasn’t in great form coming into the game last Saturday against Haringey Borough and if I am brutally honest I thought we played well for 20 minutes in each half but had sloppy periods in between.  We scored some great goals though, and there were some good individual performances and as a collective we still have a lot of work to do.  But we are delighted win – wins breed confidence and confidence breeds performances.

On Tuesday we travelled to Littlehampton Town.  We decided to give some players a rest and bring in some of the Under18s who have been doing so well this season.  We are blessed in having Dale and the squad he’s built and we are looking to tap into that more as we go forward.  It was a positive performance but the one negative was Kenny’s hamstring injury – it is a bit of a blow as he’s been doing so well. 

Today is a huge game for us – for me this is our hardest game of the season.  Whilst Worthing are top and flying at the moment, and full credit to Adam and his team down the road, today will be a different challenge.  Folkestone are a solid team with a manager in Neil who has been at the club for over 20 years.  He’s been able to keep a settled squad, adding one or two each year.  They are always hard to beat, well organised, well drilled and with pace up front.  They are everything we are striving to be.

Our situation is the complete opposite – none of the squad or the management team, bar Dale, were here a year ago but we are making great strides forward and let’s not forget we are only one place below Folkestone coming into this game.  We can go up a level still and the longer we can keep the squad together the better we will become. 

We’ve got a game plan today – we’ve worked on an approach for this afternoon.  Strap yourself in, this is going to be a great game of football.  You guys were unbelievable last week and it was hard to realise there was only 700 in the Pan with the noise you made.  The roar when Ollie’s second went in last week sent shivers down my spine.  Keep cheering us on and we will give you everything we’ve got.

Come on you Rooks!

Tony

SPICK AND SPAN AND THE PAN

Two games in twenty four hours may sound perfect to Rooks fans but it also requires a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Last weekend hours after the Men’s team had beaten Haringey Borough our volunteers from the Supporters Club were hard at work cleaning the ground ready for the Women’s game against Coventry United. A lot of the work that needs to happen is taken for granted but without it, we would struggle to have the facilities clean and ready so thanks to our loyal band of volunteers for getting the Pan spick and span.

MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR THE BOARD ELECTIONS

The Annual General Meeting of Lewes Community Football Club will take place on Monday 22nd November, starting from 7:30pm. After the presentation of the accounts and an opportunity to raise any questions with the current board, we will announce the results of the vote for the four vacancies on the board of directors. Below you will find a summary of the candidates and a link to their election addresses.

Matthew Barrett

Scott Currie

John Peel

Lucy Mills

Jamie Stevenson

Sally Taplin

Voting will take place prior to the AGM (voting will end at 12 noon on the day of the AGM), and a link to vote has been circulated to all owners already. Each owner can vote for up to four candidates. The four candidates receiving the most votes will be elected to the Board, subject to passing the FA’s Owners and Directors Test and adherence to the Club’s Election Policy.

LEWES 4 HARINGEY BOROUGH 2 – SATURDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2021

An Ollie Tanner brace helped Lewes to a 4-2 win over Haringey Borough in an entertaining game at the Pan, moving the Rooks up to third in the table, reports Tom Harper.

Tony Russell made three changes to the side that lost 2-0 at East Thurrock in their previous game, with Mitchell Nelson, Ayo Olukoga and Iffy Allen replacing Matt Weaire, Freddie Parker and Razzaq Coleman De-Graft in the starting line-up.

The visitors started brightly and saw Andronicos Georgiou go close twice early on, first seeing a cross-shot from the right drop just wide of the far post before stinging the palms of Lewis Carey with a powerful strike from the edge of the area.

The Rooks created their first chance of the game minutes later, as good play down the right ended with Taylor Maloney forcing a smart save from Jonathan Miles with a close-range header and Joe Taylor seeing his effort on the rebound cleared off the line.

Haringey made the most of this let-off by taking the lead on 16 minues through Ade Cole, who cut in from the right before sending a low strike from just outside the area past the wrong-footed Carey and into the bottom corner.

Lewes responded well and equalised just three minutes later, as an incisive passing move ended with Ollie Tanner playing in Tom Carlse to shoot across Miles and into the far corner.

The Rooks remained on the front foot and took the lead on 26 minutes, as Tanner beat Scott Mitchell to a ball down the left and cut inside before finishing past Miles from a tight angle.

There were few chances of note for the remainder of the first half, with Lewes seeing plenty of the ball without forcing Miles into any further action. 

The Rooks could have doubled their lead just before the break, but saw Tanner have a strike deflected wide after a powerful run from just inside the Haringey half.

Lewes started the second half well and made it 3-1 just two minutes after the break through Joe Taylor, who scored with an inch-perfect chip on the follow-up from a difficult angle after Allen had seen his initial effort blocked at the end of an impressive counter-attack.

To their credit, Haringey responded well and pulled a goal back just three minutes later, as a low Anthony McDonald cross from the left took a wicked deflection off Mitchell Nelson and looped over Carey before nestling in the bottom corner.

The Rooks continued to look a threat going forward though, and went 4-2 up after 54 minutes, as the impressive Tanner applied the close-range finish to an outstanding passing move involving Taylor, Bradley Pritchard and Taylor Maloney.

After three goals in the first ten minutes of the second half, it was perhaps unsurprising that there were fewer opportunities for much of the remainder of the game, as Lewes kept the ball well and restricted the visitors to half-chances that were dealt with relatively comfortably.

Taylor came close to adding a fifth for the Rooks late on, sending a close-range effort over the bar, and they saw out the closing stages comfortably to return to winning ways.

Lewes: Carey, Yao, Carlse (Colombie 82), Nelson, Salmon, Olukoga, Pritchard, Maloney, Tanner, Allen (De-Graft 65), Taylor (Moore 86).Unused Subs: Weaire, Parker.
Booked: Pritchard.

Haringey Borough: Miles, Djamas, Ismail, Richards, Mitchell, Owen, Cole, Aresti (Woods 90), Bessadi (McLeod 70), Georgiou, McDonald (Filip 66).Unused Subs: Beth, Effah.
Booked: Mitchell.

Attendance: 717

THE ON THIS DAY IN ROOKS HISTORY QUIZ – 20th NOVEMBER 2013

Eight years ago today the Rooks hosted Cray Wanderers in the Isthmian Premier League. How well do you remember that game? Try this week’s quiz to find out.

LITTLEHAMPTON TOWN 1 LEWES 4 – TUESDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2021

Lewes progressed to the third round of the Sussex Senior Cup after a 4-1 victory at an impressive Littlehampton side.

A number of first-team players were rested, but it was still a strong Lewes team that took to the field in West Sussex against the Southern Combination Premier leaders.

The hosts started confidently and came close to taking the lead inside the first two minutes, Tom Biggs rattling the post with a powerful strike from the edge of the area.

Lewes made the most of this let-off by going ahead themselves after only three minutes through Razz Coleman De-Graft, who cut inside from the right and exchanged passes with Michael Klass before unleashing an unstoppable curling effort into the top corner.

The Rooks doubled their lead on 26 minutes as Klass latched onto a Killian Colombie through-ball before finishing with aplomb past Genty Poda in the Littlehampton goal.

It was 3-0 after half-an-hour, with Klass in the right place to blast a Tom Carlse cut-back into the roof of the net after good build-up play down the left.

The score-line suggested Lewes had been in complete control, but the hosts had more than played their part in an entertaining first half, forcing a number of corners and always looking a threat in the final third.

The Rooks had been clinical when on the attack though, and Poda had to be alert to keep out a Klass free-kick.

Littlehampton deservedly pulled a goal back on the stroke of half-time, as Mo Jammeh got in behind the Lewes defence before lifting the ball over Lewis Carey.

The hosts had the better of the early stages of the second half, and Carey was forced into two smart saves in quick succession to deny Biggs.

Lewes withstood this pressure though, and were soon back on the attack themselves, with Freddie Parker drawing two superb saves from Poda after being picked out by Klass set-pieces.

The Rooks scored a fourth goal and effectively ensured their place in the third round with 15 minutes remaining, as Klass played Parker through to finish across Poda and into the bottom corner.

Youth-team players Harrison Page and Kaiden Hummerston were handed senior debuts late on, along with Ben Hack who had been introduced earlier in the half, to cap a positive evening for the Rooks. The only concern will be an injury in the second half to Kenny Yao.

Littlehampton Town: Poda, Hunt, Jenkins (S. Herbert 72), D. Herbert, Peake, Layton, Pattendon, Biggs, Benn, Jammeh, Jarvis (Clark 72).
Unused Subs: Duncan, Hand, Binfield.
Booked: Layton, Jarvis.

Lewes: Carey, Colombie, Carlse, Olukoga, Weaire, Yao (Hack 52), Allen, Klass, Moore (Page 83), Parker (Hummerston 83), De-Graft.
Unused Subs: Rohilla, Agnihotri.
Booked: Allen, Parker.

Attendance: 212 (approximately 30 Rooks)

Referee: Steve Hughes

INTRODUCING OUR VISITORS – FOLKESTONE INVICTA

THE HISTORY

The club was established in 1936 and initially played in the East Kent Amateur League, before joining the Eastern Section of the Kent County League. They won Division One in 1969-70 and were Division One runners-up in 1976-77 before going on to win the Premier Division in 1978-79.The town’s main club, Folkestone, folded in 1990, and after a third-place finish in 1990–91,Invicta joined Division Two of the Kent League. They went on to win the division, as well as the Division Two Cup and the Kent Intermediate Shield in the 1991-92 season and were promoted to Division One.

Folkestone were runners-up in Division One of the Kent League in 1997–98, earning promotion to the Southern Division of the Southern League. They were transferred to the Eastern Division for the 1999-2000 season, going on to finish as runners-up in the division and earning promotion to the Premier Division. The club spent three seasons in the Premier before finishing bottom of the table in 2002-03, after which they were relegated back to the Eastern Division. A fifth-place finish the following season was enough for an immediate promotion due to the creation of the Conference North and South, however, the club were transferred to the Isthmian League, joining its Premier Division.

In 2005–06 Folkestone reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time, losing 2–1 at League Two Chester City. The club spent four seasons in the Isthmian League Premier Division before relegation to Division One South at the end of the 2008–09 season. In 2009-10 they were runners-up in Division One South, having missed out on the title after having ten points deducted for going into administration.Nevertheless, they qualified for the promotion play-offs and defeated Godalming Town 2-1 in the final, earning promotion back to the Premier Division. The following season the club finished bottom of the Premier and were relegated straight back to Division One South. The next four seasons saw Folkestone finish in the top five, qualifying for the promotion play-offs although losing out in each one.

Folkestone won Division One South in 2015-16 to return to the Premier Division.They finished fourth in the Premier Division in 2017-18, going on to lose 4-0 in the play-off semi-finals away to Hendon. Despite winning its last five matches during April, they narrowly missed out on the play offs on the final day of the 2018-19 season. Although they were still very much in the Isthmian League Premier Division promotion race, and in the semi finals of the League Cup, the 2019-20 season came to a halt due to the pandemic; the 2020-21 season was of course halted.

THE SQUAD

Neil Cugley – Manager

As a player Neil had three spells at Folkestone Town FC. In the 1982-83 season he broke Folkestone’s goalscoring record with 46 goals. Now in his 25th season as manager Neil has completed well over 1,000 games in charge and collected many personal accolades including a Lifetime Achievement award presented at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge from The Non-League Paper.

Tim Roberts – Goalkeeper

Tim is a 33 year-old ‘keeper who joined Invicta in 2013 from Walton & Hersham. He won Supporters’ Player of the Year for the championship-winning season of 2015-16 with 20 league clean sheets, the first goalkeeper to win the award since 1995.

Connor Collins – Goalkeeper

Connor is a teenage ‘keeper called up from the youth team into the first team squad for this season.

Callum Davies – Defender (captain)

Callum joined the club initially on loan from Maidstone United during August 2016 and has now made over 150 appearances for the club. He began his career at Gillingham, where he won a League Division Two title medal under Martin Allen in 2013.

Finn O’Mara – Defender

Finn spent six years at Gillingham having joined them at the age of 13. He signed for Folkstone from Gillingham during October 2018 having had two loan spells.

Josh Vincent – Defender

Josh is now the club’s longest-serving player, having stepped up into the first team squad during 2008-09. He was a member of the 2015-16 Isthmian League Division One South championship winning team and was rewarded with a testimonial season for 2017-18.

Jordan Wright – Defender/Midfielder

Jordan was the Invicta’s Young Player of the Year for three successive seasons between 2014 and 2017, and was a member of the 2015-16 Isthmian League Division One South championship winning team. He moved on for a few seasons but re-joined the club towards the end of the halted 2019-20 season.

Ryan Johnson – Defender/Midfielder

Ryan was part of Queens Park Rangers’ youth teams from the age of ten and played for Kent schoolboys. He was an unused substitute for QPR in the Championship at Nottingham Forest in December 2004 and made 31 reserve team appearances before being released at the end of the 2005-06 season. He joined Invicta from Ramsgate for this season.

Matt Newman – Defender/Midfielder

Matt originally joined Invicta in March 2013 from Chatham Town, where he had been Player of the Year. He re-joined the club from Hythe Town during August 2017 and impressed as a central defender having played predominantly in midfield during his first spell with the club.

Ronnie Dolan – Midfielder

Ronnie joined Invicta from Hastings United in 2013 and was part of the 2015-16 Isthmian League Division One South championship winning team.

Scott Heard – Midfielder

Scott originally joined the club from Whitstable Town during November 2015 and was a part of the 2015-16 Isthmian League Division One South championship winning team. After a season at Dagenham & Redbridge he re-joined Invicta in the summer of 2017.

Kieron McCann – Midfielder

Kieron originally joined Invicta in 2017 from Sevenoaks Town and has had spells at several clubs including Chatham Town, Whyteleafe, Croydon Athletic, Erith & Belvedere, and Cray Wanderers. He rejoined Invicta at the start of this season.

Ollie Freeman – Midfielder/Forward

Ollie was announced by Invicta in September as a dual registration signing with Maidstone United where he was a regular scorer for the U23s at the National League side.

David Smith – Forward

David joined Invicta in August 2020 having scored 23 goals for Ashford United before the campaign was curtailed. He started out as a youth team player at Maidstone United, and has also played for Sittingbourne, Dover Athletic, and Sevenoaks Town.

Ian Draycott – Forward

Ian joined Invicta from Leatherhead during the summer of 2014 scoring 43 goals in 57 appearances in his debut season, followed by 40 goals in 53 appearances during their championship-winning season of 2015-16. In 2014-15 he shared the Isthmian League Division One South Golden Boot with 34 goals and then won it outright in 2015-16 with 40 league goals. He is an Invicta legend having broken the club’s record of 141 senior goals for the club in September 2021.

Ade Yusuff – Forward

Ade started as a youngster at Stevenage Borough and has since graced a string of clubs including a high profile transfer from Chatham Town to Dagenham & Redbridge in September 2014. He originally joined Invicta in 2017 finishing top goalscorer with 30 in all competitions, and again during 2018-19 with 21. He left at the end of the 2018-19 season to join Dulwich Hamlet, before re-joining Folkestone in April this year.

Alfie Paxman – Forward

Alfie started his football life with Ramsgate and represented Kent at youth level. He was signed in May 2018 from the Rams for whom he scored 30 goals during 2017-18.  He won Invicta’s Young Player of the Year and Goal of the Season award in 2018-19.

THE FORM

THE MOST RECENT MEETING

SATURDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2019 – LEWES 0 FOLKESTONE INVICTA 0

It was one of the more entertaining 0-0 draws you’ll see, as the Rooks held league leaders Folkestone Invicta to a goalless draw. You can see the match highlights from Your Instant Replay below:

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

I’m sure deep down we all get a small amount of pleasure from destructing something. Whether that’s the preciseness of a display in a shop, the virgin snow-covered field or an old Shed that needs to be knocked down. The Austrian Economist Joseph Schumpeter came up with the term Creative Destruction as part of his studies into the entrepreneurial spirit of capitalist societies. His famous quote was that:

“Bankruptcy is the greatest gift of capitalism. The free market grows because of, and not in spite of, failure”

Schumpeter argued that unless businesses and business models failed, then there would be no new entrants into a market and innovation and growth would be limited. You can see his theory in action across many different markets in the last couple of decades. The failure of airlines such as Pan-Am and TWA led to the rise of new entrants such as South West Airlines in the US. The collapse of Blockbuster paved the way for Netflix and in many ways, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to the rise in virtual meetings and home deliveries.

But whilst it is true that in almost every business sector the market leaders are now disrupters who didn’t exist 30, 20 or even 10 years ago (think Telsa, Salesforce, Apple, Google, Alibaba, Facebook, Uber), football remains almost untouched by the rules of economics.

Dixons, Woolworths, C & A, Blockbuster, Comet, Tie Rack, Athena, British Home Stores, Toys ‘r’ Us, Our Price. All well known brands that 40 years ago were solid names in the High Street but are now no longer with us, either through rebranding or in most cases, bankruptcy. Their places have been filled either in the empty properties or online, but the theory of Schumpeter has been fulfilled.

And then we look at football. Since 1980 53 English football clubs have gone into administration, of which 32 are currently in the top four divisions of English football, including four current Premier League clubs (Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton). A third of the clubs currently playing at Step 1 of the Non-League game in the National League have also had at least one period in administration during the last 40 years.

Yet, out of all of those clubs, only one has ceases to exist today and that happens to be one of the last clubs that went into administration, Bury. Some clubs had to reform and start again, such as Newport County and Wimbledon, whilst others had to fall out of the professional game before they could return, such as Luton Town and Doncaster Rovers, but on the whole, football has proven Teflon-coated and managed to adapt.

There have been instances where clubs have simply decided to give up, something that no football fan should have to go through. It is rare but it happens. Last summer Rhyl FC, part of the Welsh Football Leagues for more than one hundred years and Droylsden FC, of the Northern Premier League both decided to withdraw from their respective leagues, whilst the liquidation of Bury FC has led to the creation of a phoenix club that will now start to climb the footballing pyramid.

But for how much longer can football sustain its Telfon coating? The impact of COVID-19 is being felt in football, especially in the lower reaches of the English game. The combination of no fans allowed in the stadiums, saturation of the Premier League on TV and lack of promised funds from the Government has driven some clubs to the financial extremes. Only time will tell how clubs can recover.

WHO ARE YA? INTRODUCING NATHAN WHITE

Listen to First Team Coach Nathan White talk about his role at Lewes, his career in football, his cunning plan to replace Ole at Old Trafford and how boss Tony Russell once sacked him.

THE ISTHMIAN LEAGUE 2021/22 SEASON SO FAR

ISTHMIAN LEAGUE ROUND UP BY IAN TOWNSEND

Managerless Brightlingsea Regent, after seven straight defeats in all competitions, hosted a Horsham side who, aside from their FA Cup success, have had a terrible season- without a league win since the last Saturday in August. The Hornets started the day four points behind their hosts, but they were soon ahead in this one, Rob O’Toole with the opener on eighteen minutes, and doubled their advantage through Shamir Fenelon- before the same player made it three-nil eleven minutes before the break.

Fenelon had his hat trick two minutes after the restart, and thirteen minutes from time Lucas Rodrigues made it five. There was still time for another, Danny Dudley getting number six just before the end. Horsham climb a place, and did their goal difference a power of good.

Just above Horsham at the start of the day sat Leatherhead, the Tanners looking much improved in recent weeks but desperately looking for some points to go with that improvement- although the four points they’d taken from their last four matches was far more than they’d managed from a much larger number of matches prior to that. They hosted Corinthian-Casuals, who had won two of their last three and seem to have staved off any FA Cup hangover- and the visitors got ahead in this one just before the break, Alfie Bender breaking the deadlock for the visitors. The next goal also went to Casuals, and it went to Kieron Cadogan, who scored from the spot eighteen minutes from time lifting the visitors to thirteenth. Leatherhead hit bottom again.

On Tuesday night League leaders Worthing travelled to FA Trophy winners Hornchurch having won eleven of their last twelve matches (the other was a draw), and now not only is it twelve from thirteen but they are EIGHT points clear at the top, rather remarkable after only fifteen matches. The Mackerel Men went behind last night, Charlie Stimson opening the scoring for the Urchins on twenty five minutes, but quickly levelled through Aaran Racine and then got two more in the second half, a penalty for Ollie Pearce – his fourteenth goal of the season- and a clincher from Joel Colbran eleven minutes from time.

The reason that the gap at the top has grown is that second placed Enfield Town were falling to defeat at Bishop’s Stortford. The Towners were unbeaten since October 9th, but the Blues didn’t care, in a match which saw all of the action come right at the end. Jake Cass put the hosts ahead from the spot seven minutes from time, Nathan Smith equalised for the visitors with two minutes left, and Johnville Renee ruined the travelling fans trip home by scoring the winner deep into injury time. Stortford climb to fifth.

Folkestone Invicta lost their unbeaten league record when walloped by Carshalton Athletic on Monday of last week, but they got back on track in style, Kieron McCann grabbing a hat trick at Wingate and Finchley on the way to a four-one win. Scott Heard got the other, and Theo Ofori got a consolation for the hosts. Invicta move level on points with second place Enfield Town.

Perhaps the match of the night came on the Essex coast. Brightlingsea Regent, under new management after eight consecutive defeats, were two goals up with only two minutes to go against Bowers and Pitsea, but somehow contrived to lose the match! Valter da Rocha put Regent ahead early on, Dom Locke doubled their advantage soon after the break, and with three points seemingly secured Michael Ademiluyi got one back in the eighty eighth minute, equalised in added time, and then everyone watched as Bradley Sach got a winner! We’re not quite sure how that happened, and neither are Regent, now in twentieth place whilst Bowers climb to seventeenth.

THE ISTHMIAN LEAGUE TABLE (AS OF 19th NOVEMBER 2021)

THE ISTHMIAN LEAGUE COMMERCIAL PARTNERS

ON THE ROAD TO….WINGATE & FINCHLEY

About The Maurice Rebak Stadium
The Maurice Rebak Stadium, named after one of the founders of the club is a pretty decent ground in pleasant surroundings. The main stand, notable for its art-deco curves and glass holds around 400 and is raised above ground level so that you get a nice elevated view of the game. In front of  is some uncovered terracing, backed by a hedge. There is a decent sized covered terrace to the left, behind the goal. Opposite is another covered terrace, but this time narrower and only a few steps.

How to get to The Maurice Rebak Stadium
The ground is actually relatively straight forward to find – the issue is the traffic!  Head up the A23/M23 then head into London on the A2 and pass under the Blackwall Tunnel.  Follow the A12 until it reaches the A406 North Circular at The Redbridge Roundabout and follow this west0wards (anti-clockwise).  Stay on the A406 until you pass by the BP garage where the road reduces to two lanes.  At the junction with the A1000 (East Finchley) leave the road.   At the end of the slip road turn left at the lights. Go straight over the next set of lights, then after 100m pass through another set of lights.  Then at the next set of lights turn right into Summers Lane. The ground is a few hundred metres down on the right-hand side.  Do NOT park in the rugby club next door as you may get locked in, instead use street parking.  Distance from Lewes is 94 miles and should take around 2 hours to drive.

The nearest station is New Southgate in Travelcard Zone 4, approximately 1.5 miles from the ground.

At the top of the station steps take the right-hand gangway which brings you onto Station Road. Head left up Station Road towards bus stop. The regular 382 service to Millbrook Park goes via Summers Lane and takes about 5-10 minutes. You will need to alight at the Woodgrange Avenue stop, which is a short walk to the ground. 

The nearest Underground station is West Finchley Station (Northern Line – High Barnet branch).
The station is a 10/15-minute walk away from the Ground. Alternatively go to East Finchley Station and get a 263 bus heading North towards Barnet. Get off at the bus stop just after Summers Lane traffic lights

Admission at The Maurice Rebak Stadium
Admission this season is £12 for adults, £6 for concessions (senior citizens and students), Under16s £3 and accompanied under 12s are admitted free of charge.  

Fancy a beer?
The nearest pub to the ground is the Elephant Inn on the corner of Ballards Lane and Hutton Grove (on the walk from West Finchley tube) which has some decent beers and a Thai restaurant upstairs.  The Tally Ho is your nearest Wetherspoons, located as Finchley High Road splits just north of the ground but I’d imagine a fair few fans will head for the Bohemia in High Road, known for its excellent selection of craft beers.

TODAY’S TEAMS

THE STODGEBUSTERS STAR IN ‘THE GREAT BACON SANDWICH MYSTERY’

We hoped the second visit to Bishops Stortford in seven days would be different to the previous week. It was, but not necessarily in the way we wanted it.

Only three of the crew could make this one. Alan was going to drive it with Gary riding shotgun and PJ in the back. Roly was at a birthday party for someone so while he was preparing for jelly and ice cream PJ, with Gary on board, drove to Uckfield while Alan made his way to pick them up. PJ was armed with a bag of Opal Fruits. Yes, 22 years after being renamed Starburst for the USA market they are back to their original name. After arriving at Bishops Stortford ridiculously early the previous week we decided to leave little later. That turned out to be the first bad decision in a day of bad decisions.

The plan was to meet up in the main car park in Uckfield at 11am. Bad decision No.2: Little did we know that the town centre was gridlocked due to some roadworks and temporary lights. After much queueing and delay we finally met up and headed North up the A26 while PJ handed out the Opal Fruits. Bad decision No. 3:  Crowborough was just as gridlocked with another long tailback through the town for something going on North of the crossroads. After much more queueing Alan took to the back roads to get around the chaos to the A21. Now we should be ok. No we wouldn’t. Bad decision No.4: For some reason the A21 had been closed and all traffic diverted through Tonbridge. It was utter carnage.

After crawling along for what seemed ages we managed to get to the open bit of A21. Time had marched on and lunch was looking in serious doubt. The Dartford tunnel wasn’t too bad for once but the damage had been done. Approaching Bishops Stortford we decided that as it was gone 2pm we might be pushing our luck to attempt to get into town, park up, eat at the cafe and get to the ground for 3pm. So, with a degree of sadness, we turned right and headed straight for the ground. At least we could watch the Premiership early kick off in the bar. Bad decision No.5: The TV wasn’t working. Maybe we should have risked it and gone for that lunch.

So it was all down to the ground catering to satisfy our hunger. PJ went for a hot dog at £2.50. It came with optional onions and, unusually, cheese slices. It was quite good actually but a poor substitute for the Bridge Cafe. Alan went for a bacon burger but was told that all the bacon had gone. So it was a plain burger for him. But he certainly wasn’t happy when he saw the bloke behind him in the queue get served up with a burger complete with bacon! Words were then exchanged about bacon availability with the chef denying saying there wasn’t any. Gary went for a burger too and gave it an “ok” rating of 7/10. We should have done the cafe.

Joe Taylor was back in the line up so we fancied a better result than the 2-0 defeat a week earlier. Unfortunately Bishops Stortford had other ideas and came out strongly. Lewes were on the back foot for most of the half and we thought getting to half time at 0-0 was a bit of an achievement considering the number of chances they had made and wasted.

It was no surprise when the Blues deservedly went ahead on 66 minutes. A cross wasn’t cleared and a shot was fired against the bar. The ball went straight up and came back down a yard out where either of the two attacking players following in could have headed it in with the defence static. We expected Lewes to respond to this like they usually do and go for it a bit more but the home team looked more likely to make it two rather than us force an equaliser. We got more and more glum as time ticked away, passes went astray and no hint of an equaliser.

With 5 minutes to go the tea had taken effect and Gary could wait no longer so headed into the gents. Bad decision No.6: At that moment, and out of the blue, a rare decent Lewes move saw Joe Taylor push the ball across the box to an onrushing Iffy Allen. The keeper was coming out too and they were on a collision course. Now whether Iffy got there first or it was the keeper we don’t know but the result was the ball bounced back off Iffy’s legs and trickled over the line. We went mad behind the goal.

The keeper went mad too and fired a salvo of abuse in our direction. Someone, who shall remain nameless, shouting at him “One save keeper. You’ve only had to make one save” probably didn’t help much. It was hilarious. Gary returned from his ablutions having missed the goal and, for a laugh, we had decided to keep quiet about our equaliser but someone not in on the ruse let the cat out of the bag. The full time whistle went and somehow we had salvaged a draw.  It had been bleedin’ daylight robbery. It felt like a win and we celebrated like it.

That wound the keeper up even more and he went into a meltdown giving us a torrent of abuse and hand gestures, which are certainly not in the British Sign Language Manual,  to which we all just roared with laughter. If we had somehow nicked a win in the last 5 minutes we reckon he would have spontaneously combusted. He dropped his water bottle twice during his ranting to add to his anger. He could benefit from some anger management. We hope he plays in the return fixture at the Pan so we can give him some more verbal encouragement.

So we came away with a point. A point that had looked extremely unlikely at 85 minutes. As the rock band Journey said: “Don’t Stop Believing”.

THE ISTHMIAN LEAGUE SHOW – EPISODE 3

U18s UPDATE

After defeat to Bromley last Friday in the FA Youth Cup, the Under18s took on Worthing on Thursday night in a top of the table clash. The game finished 2-2 with Destiny Ojo on target twice for the Rooks. The point means we trail the Rebels by two points having played seven games apiece.

On Tuesday night five of the U18s squad travelled with the first team for the Sussex Senior Cup tie at Littlehampton Town. Ben Hack, Harrison Page and Kaiden Hummerston all made their debuts during the game with Findlay Agnihotri and Tarun Rohilla being unused substitutes.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE BRIGHT SPARK

Last Saturday in the FA Trophy tie between Marine and Dunston UTS was halted in minutes into the second half when the floodlights at Rossett Park failed. After the normal checks were carried out (switching them off and on again) and the lights had failed to come back on, Dunston’s midfielder 34-year old Phil Turnbull took matters into his own hands.

The midfielder is an electrician by trade and went and had a look himself but without the right tools was unable to rectify the situation but was on hand to help when another electrician arrived with tools after the home club put a call out on Twitter.

With the deadline set by the referee for the game to resume looming, light finally returned just after 5pm with Marine leading 2-0. The away side pulled the two goals back and it looked as if Turnbull’s work may have been the spark that they needed. However, it the penalty shoot out it was the home side that came out on top, winning 5-4.

AND FINALLY….

We couldn’t leave today’s progcast without a final look into the life of Dave McKay. So here is some rare footage from 2010 of him doing his best Lloyd Grossman and taking us Through The Keyhole.

CREDITS AND LEGAL

“The Isthmian Football League strongly supports the FA statement that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly any form of discriminatory abuse whether it by reason of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, sex and sexual orientation or any other form of abuse will be reported to The Football Association for action by that Association.” (The FA 0800 085 0508 / Kick it Out 020 7253 0162).The Isthmian League and all Member Clubs in the League are committed to promoting equality by treating people fairly and with respect, by recognising that inequalities may exist, by taking steps to address them and providing access and opportunities for all members of the community.”

Lewes 2000 FC Limited. Registered in England and Wales with Company Registration Number 03790979. Lewes 2000 FC Limited is 100% owned by Lewes Community Football Club.

Honorary President Terry Parris
Chair Stuart Fuller
Directors Sue Anstiss MBE (co-opted), Ed Briggs, Charlie Dobres, Karen Dobres, Stuart Fuller, John Peel, Ed Ramsden, Claire Rafferty (co-opted) Trevor Wells
Chief Executive Officer Maggie Murphy
Club Secretary John Peel
Match Coordinator Shrey Nilvarna
Youth Secretary Kevin Brook
Operations Manager James Barker

Equality FC Campaign Manager Karen Dobres

Life Members
Mr and Mrs Brook, Vic Blunt, Pat Dartnell, Gary Elphick, Gordon Fowlie, Peter Hiscox RIP, Billy Nixon, Derrick Parris, Terry Parris, Jimmy Quinn, P. Swaysland, Steve Ibbitson, Jason Hopkinson, Steve White, Martin Elliot, Kevin Fingerneissl, Kevin Powell, David and Barbara Arnold, Roger and Cathy Feltham, Ethel Treagus, Roy Dartnell RIP, Ron Moore, Derek Southouse, Ray Smith, Ken Carter RIP

Manager Tony Russell
Assistant manager Joe Vines
Head of Recruitment Adam Drew
First team coach Dale Hurley
First team coach Nathan White
First team physio Tom Parker
Goalkeeping coach Grant Hall
Match logistics Clive Burgess
Under-18s Manager Dale Hurley
Under-18s Assistant Manager Craig Stevens
Under-18s coaches Jake Legrange and Johnny Buggy

Golden Rook Rob Read
Web Editor Stuart Fuller
Progcast Editors Paul Sheppard and Stuart Fuller
Club Photographer James Boyes

NEXT UP – TUESDAY 23rd NOVEMBER 2021 7:45PM

CORINTHIAN CASUALS – ISTHMIAN PREMIER LEAGUE

TICKETS NOW ON SALE