Eastbourne Town
Football Club
About Eastbourne Town FC
Eastbourne Town is the oldest senior football club in Sussex having been founded in 1881 as Devonshire Park, being named after its first home ground – A venue now known for staging one of the premier pre-Wimbledon tennis tournaments. In fact, it was the arrival of tennis at the ground in 1880 which ultimately was to lead to it becoming the predominant sport and the subsequent relocation of both cricket and football. After five years of playing at the Park, the club moved to the newly opened “Saffrons Field” colourfully named after the variety of crocus which had originally been cultivated on the site for use in the preparation of medicines.In 1889 the club changed its name to Eastbourne and fielding a side of ‘gentlemen amateurs’ began to dominate in county football winning the Sussex Senior Cup eight times, and being runners-up on a further three occasions, up to 1907. The first grandstand was built in 1894 and at the turn of the century the whole complex was enlarged by the incorporation of Larkin’s Field. In 1907 the club aligned itself with the then Amateur Football Alliance when it split from the Football Association and became founder members of the Southern Amateur League where they remained until after World War II. During the 1920’s the club won two League Championships, reached the final of the national AFA Senior Cup in four consecutive seasons, winning on two occasions, and made five further Sussex Senior Cup Final appearances albeit with only one success. The following decade did see a further two Senior Cup victories and success at the first attempt in the County Charity Cup. Good attendances saw the ‘popular’ Town Hall side of the ground asphalted and a new wooden grandstand erected behind the goal at the Larkin’s Field end.
The ground survived World War II in tact with friendly matches being played there throughout on a regular basis. In the summer of 1946 the pitch was moved closer to the cricket ground to facilitate the Town Hall side being terraced - although it was not until 1962 that the Meads Road end section was covered. Following one post-war season in the Southern Amateur League, the club joined the Corinthian League in 1946 where they remained until the competition merged with the Athenian League in 1963. In the immediate post-war years the Saffron’s attendances averaged 3,000 with the ground record of 7,378 being set when Southern League side Hastings United visited in an F.A. Cup tie on 10th October, 1953. During this era there were further Charity Cup successes, a Sussex Senior Cup win in 1953 and an AFA Invitation Cup success in 1970. Two years later, after more than eighty years of being known as the ‘town club’, the club’s name was changed to its present form. In March, 1969 the wooden grandstand was destroyed by an arsonist and although ‘temporary’ cover was provided, it was twenty-five years before a replacement was opened; the stand being named in memory of club stalwarts Sid Myall and Taffy Jones.
Falling attendances made it uneconomic to continue in the Athenian League and in 1976 Town resigned, their final match being in the League’s Cup Final where they lost 1-2 away to Cheshunt. Accepted into the Sussex County League the newcomers lifted the Championship at the first attempt and the following year reached the final of the Sussex Senior Cup. Thereafter the first team’s best finishing position was third on two occasions but generally the trend was downwards. The installation of floodlights for season 1994/95 saw a resurgence in results, therefore, it was a shock when after finishing ninth in 2000, a year later they found themselves relegated after dropping ten places and finishing next to bottom. An immediate return to Division One was almost achieved in 2002; however, promotion was won in 2003 when Town finished in second position.
Following the return to the County League Top flight the club secured the League Championship in 2007 and with it came promotion to the Ryman League.
One of a dozen clubs in Sussex to hold the prestigious FA Community Club status, ETFC received a reprieve from relegation in 2010, subsequently the club has worked hard to retain its place in this Ryman League.
Now running over 25 teams at all levels and with David Jenkins as Chairman and Danny Bloor as manager, the club looks forward to a bright future.
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