Lewes and District Sunday League

[turienzo's lovechild]

one thing I can't work out- why is pitch hire in B&H so much more than in, for example, Adur & Worthing? I can't see how it could cost them more to maintain a pitch in B&H than in Adur & Worthing. We booked a pitch in Worthing for a friendly a while ago and it was well cheap

 

[Return of the Rev]

one thing I can't work out- why is pitch hire in B&H so much more than in, for example, Adur & Worthing? I can't see how it could cost them more to maintain a pitch in B&H than in Adur & Worthing. We booked a pitch in Worthing for a friendly a while ago and it was well cheap

The extra is to spent on clearing up after our visitors have move on.

 

[Pbeard18]

one thing I can't work out- why is pitch hire in B&H so much more than in, for example, Adur & Worthing? I can't see how it could cost them more to maintain a pitch in B&H than in Adur & Worthing. We booked a pitch in Worthing for a friendly a while ago and it was well cheap

as little as £35 a pitch out that way. £72 at Waterhall!!

 

[The Birdman]

I played in Div 4 North of the Sussex Sunday League back in the 70s I am sure there was a lot more teams in the south we played a few games in Surrey but a lot of the games where against Crawley sides many sponsored by business .the HQ was at queens square in Brighton.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

played for a Newhaven pub in the mid 80's,Bridge Inn Hammers we was called

some bloke sponsered us until we lost one game 5-4,we was 4-0 up at half time

demanded the kit back he had bought and the next game someone turned up with this kit,but it was for kids,no one could get the shorts on

remember one game it was so windy the keeper took a goal kick and it ended up going out for a corner

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Was the sussex sunday the biggest sunday league in the country? Got told this yesterday?

Yup, 17 divisions, top, 2 intermediate then 14. Our team started off at the bottom and by the time I stopped was in Div 1 & knackered with all the youngsters running around. If you won a div easily you could jump up 2 sometimes.
Great times, apart from the bogs at Waterhall ten mins before kick off after 100 guys had passed through in the previous twenty

 

[bobby baxter]

Having played in the lower reaches of SSFL the biggest disadvantage was the pitches. The infamous Hollingbury slope. Wrights Farm where not only did you get wind, rain and fog on a good day, on one pitch, the hump in the middle was so bad that the goalies couldn't see the other goal. Good days though.

Not sure it would have been as good if it wasn't so well organised by Ron Pavey then Dennis Strudwick out of the Queens Square offices.

On God, Wrights Farm, I have recurring nightmares about that pitch, no changing rooms, call at an address to pick up the nets, bitter cold with howling wind, barely a blade of grass on a rutted concrete like surface that sloped all over the place.
Happy days

 

[samtheseagull]

I play for DPA in the Lewes sunday league prem div, loads of teams have dropped out in last few seasons, bit of a joke now

 

[Gwylan]

I play for DPA in the Lewes sunday league prem div, loads of teams have dropped out in last few seasons, bit of a joke now

Does that explain why no-one plays on the pitch next to Lewes rugby/cricket club any more? Last two seasons there's been a game on every Sunday morning, this season ... nada

 

[Worthing exile]

On God, Wrights Farm, I have recurring nightmares about that pitch, no changing rooms, call at an address to pick up the nets, bitter cold with howling wind, barely a blade of grass on a rutted concrete like surface that sloped all over the place.
Happy days

Which team did you play for? I turned out for PPA.

 

[scamander]

I remember playing for a mens team as a 16 year old (Buckingham Park). Played lots of pub football and I think that the decline can be attributed to a number of reasons:

Cost/value for money
Without doubt the main reason, it’s very expensive to play these days. The facilities haven’t got better, but you are paying more for them. The last season I played subs seemed extortionate for what you got. In London I was lucky to play in a league with lots of ‘Old Boys’ teams, these were sports clubs with several pitches (mainly rugby but one set aside for football). The pitches were fantastic, you could play decent football on them plus the facilities were really good.

Attitude
I finished playing last season, now I’ve played against and for rough sides here and up in London (Houslow Sunday league was full of characters). When I started playing down here again several years back I was quite astounded at how nasty the game had become, not hard but ‘nasty’. I’m not going to try and invoke some golden age of pub football where every player was some salt of the earth geezer who had a side to him. However, some of the matches I played in there were guys looking to injure players deliberately. Everyone seemed to be a wannabe gangster.

Now, again, not trying to say the game was played by vicars when I played but there was an unwritten rule that most of the players worked outdoors, you didn’t want to (nor felt the inclination) to snap someone’s leg or such because they had a livelihood. It seemed that rule had gone to the wind. I saw some awful tackles/stamps etc and though I wasn’t that sort of player had the ‘enforcer’ in my team made any of the sorts of tackles the skipper would have had words with him.

Competition
The growth of 5-a-side football leagues has stripped players who would otherwise have had weekend football as their only outlet. I have several mates who play this, the Astroturf is a great surface, it’s value for money (fewer players means to get more of the ball) and doesn’t eat up a morning/afternoon of your weekend. A couple of them used to play weekend football and have said they wouldn’t entertain it now.

 

[BigGully]

I remember playing for a mens team as a 16 year old (Buckingham Park). Played lots of pub football and I think that the decline can be attributed to a number of reasons:

Cost/value for money
Without doubt the main reason, it’s very expensive to play these days. The facilities haven’t got better, but you are paying more for them. The last season I played subs seemed extortionate for what you got. In London I was lucky to play in a league with lots of ‘Old Boys’ teams, these were sports clubs with several pitches (mainly rugby but one set aside for football). The pitches were fantastic, you could play decent football on them plus the facilities were really good.

Attitude
I finished playing last season, now I’ve played against and for rough sides here and up in London (Houslow Sunday league was full of characters). When I started playing down here again several years back I was quite astounded at how nasty the game had become, not hard but ‘nasty’. I’m not going to try and invoke some golden age of pub football where every player was some salt of the earth geezer who had a side to him. However, some of the matches I played in there were guys looking to injure players deliberately. Everyone seemed to be a wannabe gangster.

Now, again, not trying to say the game was played by vicars when I played but there was an unwritten rule that most of the players worked outdoors, you didn’t want to (nor felt the inclination) to snap someone’s leg or such because they had a livelihood. It seemed that rule had gone to the wind. I saw some awful tackles/stamps etc and though I wasn’t that sort of player had the ‘enforcer’ in my team made any of the sorts of tackles the skipper would have had words with him.

Competition
The growth of 5-a-side football leagues has stripped players who would otherwise have had weekend football as their only outlet. I have several mates who play this, the Astroturf is a great surface, it’s value for money (fewer players means to get more of the ball) and doesn’t eat up a morning/afternoon of your weekend. A couple of them used to play weekend football and have said they wouldn’t entertain it now.

Good post.

But as I do, I will throw this into the mix.

1) Sports Club maybe associated to companies isnt a true reflection on what you would expect as 'normal' Sunday league facilities, I am still surprised that some are saying facilities are worse than say in the 70's, 80's or even the 90's, pitches have reflected throughout the levels what is happening at the higher levels with far better pitches, back in the day changing in your cars without access to changing rooms, showers seemed the norm.

2) Today, any challenge that isnt perfect is inevitably coupled with a scream from the recipient of the challenge and the mass outrage by each player and officials from that players team, with the usual 'he could of broken his leg' and 'he's been doing it all match', its embarrassing to see, usually it is no more than a foul with hardly any intent by a player that would really not know how to hurt another player anyway, perhaps I am discussing with a much younger Sunday league players, but back in the day they wouldnt even have been fouls .......

3) Saturday players less likely to play and I cannot comment on the 5 a sides but seems a likely cause for less participation on a Sunday.

 

[scamander]

BigGully,

I agree in part with the challenges, the culture of "don't let him know it hurt" has all but gone, however, I am referring to challenges which border on the criminal. In one game our centre forward was lying on the floor and their CB stamped on his lower back and got a laugh from a couple of players next to him.

I know we can all point to one extreme example, but my perspective is that nasty challenges when I was playing were more about winning the ball/make a statement. The ones I saw more recently were more about trying to injure someone.

I agree about the facilities, it triggered many a memory of changing in a car (or next to it).

I'm sure many teams mistime and don't challenge perfectly, perhaps I was just unlucky!

 

[Da Man Clay]

I'm amazed at the amount who think the game has got violent. I've been playing Sussex Sunday for about 10 years and can count on one hand the number of games that I had a concern people were actually trying to hurt the opposition - and I play in the lower end of the league where you would expect those sort of teams to be playing.

 

[BigGully]

BigGully,

I agree in part with the challenges, the culture of "don't let him know it hurt" has all but gone, however, I am referring to challenges which border on the criminal. In one game our centre forward was lying on the floor and their CB stamped on his lower back and got a laugh from a couple of players next to him.

I know we can all point to one extreme example, but my perspective is that nasty challenges when I was playing were more about winning the ball/make a statement. The ones I saw more recently were more about trying to injure someone.

I agree about the facilities, it triggered many a memory of changing in a car (or next to it).

I'm sure many teams mistime and don't challenge perfectly, perhaps I was just unlucky!

I am guessing thuggery has always been about on a Sunday morning, I told the story about the player going to his car and returning with his car jack to attack the referee, this was in Preston Park approx, 1978.

But I have watched a lot of Sunday league football lately and the outrage to any foul (intent or not) I find staggering, we are talking about a whole generation that have been brought up on a diet of screaming and feigning footballers and even a tough fair challenge is scorned upon, I just see a whole culture change which for me seems less physical challenging but more demonstrative outrage.