Sunday 30th April 2023 2:00pm – Barclays Women’s Championship – The Dripping Pan

Welcome to The Dripping Pan for today’s Barclays Women’s Championship game against Durham. Here is your complimentary e-programme

Rook divider

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT THIS SEASON!

Rook divider

NOTES FROM THE CHAIR

Good afternoon and welcome to the final game of this Barclays Women’s Championship game, against Durham. I hope our visitors from the North East enjoy our hospitality and have a safe journey home.

It has been a season of highs and lows but once again I feel we have developed as a club on and off the pitch in a highly competitive landscape. Scott has done an excellent job in terms of recruitment and managing performances, and of course we will have the memories of the Manchester United game for a long time to come. We came very close to also making the last four in the Continental Cup for the first time, recorded superb victories on the road at Southampton and Sheffield United, relishing playing in the bigger stadiums.

The end of the season is always a time to reflect and I am sure there will be some with us today who won’t be next season. I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has supported the team home and away this season. Our support here has been brilliant and the interaction with the players has been fantastic to see. To our staff – brilliantly led by Maggie, Lynne, Shrey, Biram and Kelly – you’ve done an amazing job, often in challenging circumstances. To the players – thank you. You have represented the club superbly and I know some of you won’t be back here next season, and wish you good luck wherever you go. The management team have built a professional set up on and off the pitch so thank you to Scott, Nat, Christos and Daniel, and the team that work with the squad.

There’s dozens more I could thank, from the tireless work of the Supporters Club, to the staff and volunteers, brilliantly marshalled by Jan. Boysie and his superb pictures. The list goes on – everyone contributing to make the club so fantastic.

The summer is a time for change in football and I am sure there will be some surprises, both good and not so good (depending on how you view things!). The show goes on, we are mere actors on the stage.

Stuart

Rook divider

FROM THE DUGOUT – SCOTT BOOTH

Hello everyone and welcome to the final game of the season.

Just a reflection on the previous two games, it was disappointing. Both different games, both didn’t turn out the way we wanted them to. 

We can take different things from both of them. The last game we played, we created enough chances to win. 

It wasn’t the prettiest of games, a lot that down to the pitch and inability to play too much football on it. 

That said, we created enough chances to win, and that’s the story of our season. We’ve had a number of games this campaign that have been tight and close, and I’d say we should have won a lot of them .

It’s I suppose one of those things we have to keep working on, is turning these tight games into wins. 

If we’re looking at Durham today, it was the same thing when we played them away. we didn’t play well at all but we had the chance to go 2-1 right at the very end and we didn’t take it which came back to haunt us. 

Palace and Blackburn are very different teams which is why they were very different games. We needed to be really incisive against Palace and we just didn’t make the right decisions. 

We made some really sloppy ends to potential attacks, and we knew if we did that against Palace it was going to be difficult to create anything. 

Little bit different against Blackburn, we were able to put them under a bit more pressure, we did play better, but we didn’t take our chances like I said. 

I think as I said, we’ve had a number of games that have been very close, where we’ve lost to a goal or drawn them when we’ve been ahead. 

All-in-all, we’ve competed with everyone. That was one of our main goals at the start of the season to make sure we competed with everyone and we’ve done that bar a couple of games where we weren’t at our best. 

In terms of our league position, of course I’d prefer we were a couple of spots higher, but that’s not the case and the table doesn’t lie, it’s the way it is. 

That’s down to tight games that we’ve lost, but we’ve also won games that were tight and won games that we probably didn’t deserve to win. 

But I think overall a mid-table finish is what we deserve because of the results we’ve got. The biggest thing to take from this season though is that we’ve competed well with every team. 

It will be really nice if we can go out with a big crowd supporting us at the Pan, and three points, that would be the best way we can finish this campaign. 

I’m really looking forward to today, I want to end it with a win, and at home at the Pan. 

Thank you all for your continued support this season!

Scott

Rook divider

PLAY AT THE PAN!

Ever dreamt about playing at the Dripping Pan?  Well join us for a unique opportunity to play at the famous Dripping Pan!

By booking the pitch you will not only have an incredible day out, but you will also be supporting the club, and helping to promote ‘Equality FC’ and ‘Football for Good.’

Here’s a few things you may not know about our unique, bucket list stadium!

  1. Featured as one of the best, most interesting stadiums in Remarkable Football Grounds and British Football’s Favourite Grounds
  2. There is so much to see and explore, quirky beach huts, female pirate statues and a pitch side community garden.
  3. Lewes FC is the only professional club in the world that shares its resources equally between its men’s and women’s teams. This means the Dripping Pan is home to both first men and women’s teams.
  4. Consistently voted the best away day for visiting fans chosen by the Huffington Post.
  5. The Dripping Pan is one of the oldest football grounds in the world, with the clubhouse ‘The Rook Inn’ dating back to Victorian times.

Available Dates: 2nd of May to 21st of May 2023

Price: £1,000 + VAT

What’s included: The pitch, two dressing rooms and the bar.

How to book: Contact Stef at stef@lewesfc.com

Check out our latest documentary to get you excited: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT5APo8C8jQ

DEALING WITH THE SOCIAL MEDIA TROLLS THE LEWES & CURVE WAY

Rook divider

INTRODUCING OUR VISITORS FROM DURHAM

THE HISTORY

The team has competed in the FA Women’s Championship since 2014 having been awarded a licence in its inaugural season. They play their home games at Maiden Castle, part of Durham University.

Durham W.F.C. was founded in 2014 as a collaboration between South Durham & Cestria Girls and Durham University

Durham’s first competitive matches were in the 2013–14 FA Women’s Cup where they reached the fifth round. The team’s first league game was held on 17 April 2014, a 2–4 defeat against local rivals Sunderland at their New Ferens Park home. 

The Wildcats secured their first league victory away at London Bees, with a 1–0 win at The Hive Stadium. Despite a difficult start to the 2014 season, the Wildcats finished 6th. They won five, drew three and lost ten of their eighteen games.

2015 saw a much-improved season for the Wildcats, including a better point total, albeit achieving a lower league finish, 7th place a reward for an injury-ravaged season.

However, 2016, saw Durham really hit their stride, with the Wildcats competing for promotion up until the final weeks of the season. A record-breaking season eventually ended in a 4th-place finish with a highest-ever points total. They were also awarded the ‘FA WSL 2 Club of the Year’ award at the 2017 FA Women’s Football Awards. 

The 17–18 season was the Wildcats best ever season, finishing 4th, gaining 35 points in the process and only two points off second place. Durham also enjoyed their best ever FA Women’s Cup run, reaching the quarterfinals before losing to Everton.

The 2018–19 season started well for the Wildcats, including a Continental Cup win over FA WSL side Everton and a 0–0 draw away at newly-formed Manchester United. 

Durham won 3–1 in the home League fixture, thus becoming the first team to beat the Red Devils. 2018–19 also saw The Wildcats reach their second successive FA Cup quarter-final before narrowly losing 1–0 to Chelsea in front of a record attendance of 1,629. 

Squad List

1 – Naoisha McALOON

2 – Georgia ROBERT

3 – Lauren BRIGGS

4 – Mollie LAMBERT

5 – Sarah WILSON

6 – Sarah ROBSON

7 – Beth HEPPLE

8 – Maria FARRUGIA

10 – Rio HARDY

11 – Bridget GALLOWAY

12 – Lily CROSTHWAITE

14 – Becky SALICKI

15 – Dee BRADLEY

16 – Ellie CHRISTON

17 – Hannah GREENWOOD

18 – Grace AYRE

20 – Saoirse NOONAN

23 – Jess CLARKE

30 – Tatiana SAUNDERS

THE LAST MEETINGS

16 Oct 2022ChampionshipDurham2Lewes1
20 Mar 2022ChampionshipLewes0Durham0
3 Oct 2021ChampionshipDurham2Lewes0
10 Jan 2021ChampionshipLewes1Durham1
13 Sep 2020ChampionshipDurham3Lewes0
LAST MEETING AT THE PAN
Rook divider

The Rooker Prize 2023 Winner

We are delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Rooker Prize – the club’s writing competition –  with a 250 word opener to ‘The Teeny Tiny Toaster Dragon’ is Ronnie Hendra.

Ronnie is a science teacher and ‘massive women’s football fan’. She was inspired to sign up as a Lewes FC owner after seeing this Sky Sports piece about the club.

After becoming an owner, Ronnie saw that the Rooker Prize was open for entries, and had the idea of a tiny dragon living in a toaster. She then ‘wrote it on the train’! Ronnie, who has never written before, says she’s ‘over the moon’ to have scooped the trophy. The judges loved Ronnie’s piece calling it ‘brilliant’, ‘refreshing’ and ‘charming’… and they are now all thoroughly checking their toasters.

A Sheffield United fan, Ronnie regularly supports Arsenal Women, as well as playing herself. However, as a new Lewes owner, our prize winner can’t wait to visit the Pan this Sunday to watch Lewes in their last home game of the season, and to pick up her award at half time from Guy Pratt of Rooker Prize sponsors The Rockonteurs.

Ronnie has elected for her £250 charity winnings to go to the mental health charity Mind, for whom she is also running a half marathon in October this year. She’s looking forward to her visit to Hachette UK too, where she’ll be paired with an editor to discuss ‘The Teeny Tiny Toaster Dragon’.

Read Ronnie’s winning piece below, and catch it on our website along with our judges’ other commended entries next week.

Congratulations to Ronnie, and, of course, Happy International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day to all you Rooks out there!!

READ MORE

Rook divider

LAST TIME OUT AT HOME… COURTESY OF JAMES BOYES

Rook divider

THE 2022/23 BARCLAYS WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

Rook divider

YOUR 2022/23 LEWES SQUAD

Squad No.NameSponsored By
1Sophie WhitehouseNathan Smith
2Ellie MasonScott Currie
3Rhian CleverlyThe Happiness Index
4Amelia HazardDawn Harding
5Charlotte Wardlaw
6Ellie HackLittle Stars Childcare
7Nat JohnsonAlice, Tom & Russ Mould
8Grace Palmer
9Emily KraftMichael Wirtz
10Amber Keegan StobbsBill Lynch
11Emma ThompsonMark Comford
14Paula HowellsBruce Taylor
15Jamie RitaThe English Soap Company
16Kirsty Barton
17Zoe SmithThe English Soap Company
18Rebecca McKennaLeschenault Press & The Book Reality Experience
19Lauren HeriaAlex Lambeth
20Libby Copus-BrownJoe Short
21Valentine Pursey
22Josie LonghurstMartin Scott
23Izzy DaltonLeschenault Press & The Book Reality Experience
24Aqsa Mushtaq
25Kenzie Weir
26Emily Moore
31Laura HartleyMichael Scoates
32Frankie AngelThe English Soap Company
Rook divider
Rook divider

END OF SEASON PARTY

We are delighted to announce that will be celebrating our season with an end of season party.

The party will be held after our final game of the season against Durham on 30th of April (kick off 2pm).

If you have a ticket for the game, you can stay back for the party!

Our men’s team will be in the attendance for the game and the party too.

When?
The party will be held at the Dripping Pan from 4:00 pm after the final whistle. We plan to celebrate another engaging and enthralling season with our amazing fans.

What is happening?
The Rook Inn will be open, there will be food option, including 100 delicious vegan kebabs, which have been very generously supplied by Planted.
Along with that, DJ T.A.S.K. will be performing! So, make sure you bring your dancing shoes.

Kids special
All our little Rooks will have an opportunity to have a kick about on the pitch after the game. They will also have lots of opportunities to have a chat with the players from both the Men’s and the Women’s team.
Football, autographs, pictures and a celebration to inspire and celebrate our little Rooks!

Club awards
At 5pm, we will have our annual club awards in the Dripping Pan. We would love to celebrate our players in front of all our fans. So, make sure you stick around to see who wins the Owners’ player of the season, goal of the season, players’ player of the season….

The party will carry on beyond the awards and fans are encouraged to enjoy the Rook Inn and have a wonderful evening.

Rook divider
Rook divider

FILMING AT TODAY’S GAME

Today there may be film crews in the ground, filming on behalf of Lewes Football Club and other media organisations. The filming is usually for Lewes FC marketing purposes, to show what a match day looks/sounds like and to generally promote what we do. Lewes Football Club respectfully asks for your permission to be filmed. If you do not want to be filmed, please let the crew know directly and they will oblige.  Thanks for your cooperation in helping to build a successful club.

CREDITS AND LEGAL

“The Barclays FA Women’s Championship strongly supports recent FA statements that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly, any form of discriminatory abuse, whether it be based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, faith, age, ability 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).

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 Willa Bailey, Tim Bradshaw, Ed Briggs, Scott Currie, Stuart Fuller, Andy Gowland, Lucy Mills, John Peel, Trevor Wells
Chief Executive Officer Maggie Murphy

Life Members
Peter Brook, Dorothy Brook RIP, Vic Blunt RIP, Pat Dartnell, Gary Elphick, Gordon Fowlie, Peter Hiscox RIP, Billy Nixon, Derrick Parris RIP, 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 Scott Booth
GK Coach Daniel Matraszek

General Manager Lynne Burrell

Nutritionist Stefano Montanari
Club Doctor Dr Daniel Hudson
Head Physiotherapist Adam Hutchins
Physiotherapist Maria Melero
Sports Therapist Liam Jenman
Sport Scientist Ivi Casagrande
Mental Coach Sarah Murray
Data Analyst Tom Drummer
Kit Manager Kerri Coombs

Communications Manager Jack Towers
Commercial Manager Stef McLoughlin
Fan Engagement Officer Shrey Nilvarna

Facilities Manager Damien watts

Golden Rook Rob Read

Web Editors Stuart Fuller & Jack Towers
Progcast Editors Stuart Fuller / Jack Towers / Stan Lahood
Club Photographer James Boyes & Grace Jones