Tom Bombadil
Well-known member
Why hasn't Worthing got a team at a decent level in the non-league pymarid. Looking at the size of the town you'd think they could support a reasonably succesful side, yet they're stuck in the Ryman south.
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Worthing Non League
- Thread starter Tom Bombadil
- Start date
Vatican Citys No.2 Keeper
Rebels & Albion
As a worthing fan i will take a line from gus by saying that current times at Woodside "ees complicated"!!
I'm sure [MENTION=8124]Pinkie Brown[/MENTION] would be able to go into a lot more detail than I could!
I'm sure [MENTION=8124]Pinkie Brown[/MENTION] would be able to go into a lot more detail than I could!
Tom Bombadil
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #4
In waht way is eet compleecated
mune ni kamome
Well-known member
Age profile of the population prevents large enough support. Impossible to fit enough toilets into Woodside Road.
Two many of the people at the top have only been intrested in turning up on a Saturday to get a cucumber sandwich in the board room, they treat it as a day out rather than having any serious ambition.
The club have never done any sort of decent marketing or going into schools, they had a massive chance during the 90s with Gerry Armstrong to make something of it but let the opportunity pass them by, the word ambition hads always been a bit of a dirty one at WFC
The club have never done any sort of decent marketing or going into schools, they had a massive chance during the 90s with Gerry Armstrong to make something of it but let the opportunity pass them by, the word ambition hads always been a bit of a dirty one at WFC
Pinkie Brown
Wir Sind das Volk
Pretty fair assessment, nail on head etc. But only part of the problem.
Worthing were offered a place in the Conference when they finished runners up in the Isthmian Premier back in the 80's. The directors turned the invite down due to the financial commitment involved. Or as you describe, lack of ambition. Little has changed to this day. Ironically, one of the directors of Worthing FC at the time who was against Worthing joining the Conference was....Ray Bloom!
Worthing FC, despite their potential catchment area & loyal support, have stumbled from one financial crisis to another with periods of brief resurgence.
Lack of ambition, bad financial decisions, new managers, directors & sponsors coming & then going after falling foul of the ruling junta, meddling interference on & off the pitch - Just a small sample of whats gone wrong at Woodside. A common denominator in much of the above has been one particular director. Those who know the non league scene will know exactly who I mean. Some of the operational decisions in recent years have been lunacy beyond belief.
Its a common policy for despot dictators to appoint family members & trusted cronies to positions of power, ala Gadaffi, Sadam etc. Worthing FC has followed this policy in recent times to a tee.
Never mind appointing the best talent for the job!Then there's the complicated setup of the ownership of Woodside Road. A trust known as Worthing Sports & Social own the ground with articles written years ago stating the ground was for the sports activities of the people of Worthing. Many trustee's have passed away over the years. At present, the only known 'trustees' are...Morty Hollis plus one of his daughters. Many supporters are concerned about 'influences' who have sneaked their way into positions of power at Woodside Road & fear that someone could 'Do an Archer'.
To cut a long story short, Worthing FC has been run into the ground when it has the potential to be on a par with a club like Eastbourne Borough for example.
Many here will have heard of Victor Gladwish, the Horsham based millionaire who used to sponsor many non league clubs. He pulled the plug on his sponsorship at Worthing. Why? The laws of libel sadly prevent me from elaborating. Needless to say, the reason for Victors departure is now part of the inner sanctum at Woodside!
BensGrandad
New member
The question of Worthing havinga top amateur side have been doing the rounds for as long as I can remember. Back in the 50s they were in the Corinthian League and the question was being asked then.
Basically Worthing is Brighton and hove Albion , up here a town the size of Worthing without a league football club people would think there is something wrong, that's because there is something wrong!
It's likepeople from Huddersfield travelling to watch Barnsley people up here would think why do that!
It's likepeople from Huddersfield travelling to watch Barnsley people up here would think why do that!
16bha
New member
Worthings turning in to a rugby town
Worthingite
Sexy Pete... :D
hmm....... think everyone is underestimating what is happening down at Woodside. Some great football is being played, with 4 or 5 of them capable of playing far higher up the pyramid than they currently are. Reason that they're at Worthing now is due to loyalty - a number of them went to Whitehawk, before realizing the grass isn't greener. A decent enough run in the FA Cup earlier this season (by non league standards) saw them 90 minutes away from the first round proper. The chances of going up are pretty reasonable IMHO, providing they can shore up the last minute brain burps (last minute goal against the previously mentioned "Man City of the Ryman League" on Saturday for example dropped 2 points). It's a cracking atmosphere down there, and well worth a look if the Albion are playing too far away to be able to go.
bobby smith
New member
Pretty fair assessment, nail on head etc. But only part of the problem.
Worthing were offered a place in the Conference when they finished runners up in the Isthmian Premier back in the 80's. The directors turned the invite down due to the financial commitment involved. Or as you describe, lack of ambition. Little has changed to this day. Ironically, one of the directors of Worthing FC at the time who was against Worthing joining the Conference was....Ray Bloom!
Worthing FC, despite their potential catchment area & loyal support, have stumbled from one financial crisis to another with periods of brief resurgence.
Lack of ambition, bad financial decisions, new managers, directors & sponsors coming & then going after falling foul of the ruling junta, meddling interference on & off the pitch - Just a small sample of whats gone wrong at Woodside. A common denominator in much of the above has been one particular director. Those who know the non league scene will know exactly who I mean. Some of the operational decisions in recent years have been lunacy beyond belief.
Its a common policy for despot dictators to appoint family members & trusted cronies to positions of power, ala Gadaffi, Sadam etc. Worthing FC has followed this policy in recent times to a tee.
Then there's the complicated setup of the ownership of Woodside Road. A trust known as Worthing Sports & Social own the ground with articles written years ago stating the ground was for the sports activities of the people of Worthing. Many trustee's have passed away over the years. At present, the only known 'trustees' are...Morty Hollis plus one of his daughters. Many supporters are concerned about 'influences' who have sneaked their way into positions of power at Woodside Road & fear that someone could 'Do an Archer'.
To cut a long story short, Worthing FC has been run into the ground when it has the potential to be on a par with a club like Eastbourne Borough for example.
Many here will have heard of Victor Gladwish, the Horsham based millionaire who used to sponsor many non league clubs. He pulled the plug on his sponsorship at Worthing. Why? The laws of libel sadly prevent me from elaborating. Needless to say, the reason for Victors departure is now part of the inner sanctum at Woodside!
Good old Morty he must be 150 by now
bobby smith
New member
bobby smith
New member
Pinkie Brown
Wir Sind das Volk
Wheres POOKY now, is he still involved in footy
Not involved with football although still a officially a director at Worthing. Hasn't been near the place for over two years.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Except they play 7 miles west of Worthing in Angmering.
Always left me gobsmacked that the largest populated town in West Sussex lags so far behind in the non league pyramid. Comparison... Burnley is a town with a population of around 75,000, you can double that and add a substantial amount on to reach the Worthing population. I wonder if it is the largest populated town in England with the lowest pyramid position?
mike79
Active member
dudley largest without a league club
around 300K
warrington big too
around 300K
warrington big too
Yeah agreed but at least they have the choice, Oldham, Rochdale and Bury have there own teams too,but plenty go to watch the big Manchester clubs also, I went to watch Worthing when I came back the day before the Barnsley game , crap football only 300 people there which is about half the support they were getting 10 years ago, and to top it all are only one league above county league
mune ni kamome
Well-known member
Slightly off topic but I once had an amusing experience at Woodside road. Back in the early seventies I played in a team called Lewes Swifts. We were in about division 12 of the Brighton league and we entered the annual 5 a side competition at Woodside Road. Who did we draw in the first round but Worthing, the biggest team in the competition and full of the well known "names" of Sussex football.. However we had an ace in the hole in our team. I can't remember his name but we had a lad who was so quick no one could catch him even though he was useless. Soon after kick off we booted the ball forward and he was away. Got everything right, went round the keeper and slotted home. The biggest giantkilling in history so nearly came off as we unfit bunch of Friday night drinkers tried to hold out. No happy ending though, we were overwhelmed in the last couple of minutes. I think they scored 4 in the end. I often wonder if there are any records of those days.
Lenny Rider
Well-known member
- Sep 15, 2010
- 5,807
Pretty fair assessment, nail on head etc. But only part of the problem.
Worthing were offered a place in the Conference when they finished runners up in the Isthmian Premier back in the 80's. The directors turned the invite down due to the financial commitment involved. Or as you describe, lack of ambition. Little has changed to this day. Ironically, one of the directors of Worthing FC at the time who was against Worthing joining the Conference was....Ray Bloom!
Worthing FC, despite their potential catchment area & loyal support, have stumbled from one financial crisis to another with periods of brief resurgence.
Lack of ambition, bad financial decisions, new managers, directors & sponsors coming & then going after falling foul of the ruling junta, meddling interference on & off the pitch - Just a small sample of whats gone wrong at Woodside. A common denominator in much of the above has been one particular director. Those who know the non league scene will know exactly who I mean. Some of the operational decisions in recent years have been lunacy beyond belief.
Its a common policy for despot dictators to appoint family members & trusted cronies to positions of power, ala Gadaffi, Sadam etc. Worthing FC has followed this policy in recent times to a tee.
Then there's the complicated setup of the ownership of Woodside Road. A trust known as Worthing Sports & Social own the ground with articles written years ago stating the ground was for the sports activities of the people of Worthing. Many trustee's have passed away over the years. At present, the only known 'trustees' are...Morty Hollis plus one of his daughters. Many supporters are concerned about 'influences' who have sneaked their way into positions of power at Woodside Road & fear that someone could 'Do an Archer'.
To cut a long story short, Worthing FC has been run into the ground when it has the potential to be on a par with a club like Eastbourne Borough for example.
Many here will have heard of Victor Gladwish, the Horsham based millionaire who used to sponsor many non league clubs. He pulled the plug on his sponsorship at Worthing. Why? The laws of libel sadly prevent me from elaborating. Needless to say, the reason for Victors departure is now part of the inner sanctum at Woodside!
Take on board what you say Pinkie, but without Morty Worthing would have gone to the wall years ago.
Unfortunately time has moved on, younger fans wont remember when Worthing were a far bigger club than Crawley but those days are gone, and non league football itself is heading for a massive sea change.
Remember the times when there were three live games on TV for the whole year, F A Cup Final, European Cup and England vs Scotland, well those days were when non league got people through the gates in numbers, I once went to see Shoreham play Southwick on a Friday night at Middle Road in County Div 2 and there were 700 people there.
As for Worthing on the pitch they are without doubt in the best shape they have been in years under Chris White, but paying one of the smallest budgets in the League, on the youth side they have a crop of local Under 18's coming through, a number of which will hopefully make it into the first team picture in time, with another group of 14-16 year olds also shaping up well.
But as a club being realistic, and having seen the problems Lewes had in the Conference, the best Worthing could ever hope for is flirting with Conference South, the costings to go any higher would just prove too much for a club of that size to take on.
Regarding the sea change, I can see a number of clubs at County Level going to the wall, or merging, as vounteers and money run out at non league level.