Eastbourne Borough F.C.
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| Full name | Eastbourne Borough Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Sports | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1964 (as Langney) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Langney Sports Club (Capacity: 5,664 (542 seated)) |
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| Chairman |  Len Smith |
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| Manager |  Garry Wilson |
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| League | Conference National | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007-08 | Conference South, 2nd (promoted via playoffs) |
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 Current season |
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Eastbourne Borough are a semi-professional English football club, based in the town of Eastbourne, East Sussex, and are members of the Conference National division. Compared to many other so-called 'non-league' clubs (i.e. those outside English football's top four professional divisions), Eastbourne Borough are relative newcomers to this level of football. They are known as The Sports after their previous name as Langney Sports. Eastbourne Borough play their home matches at the Langney Sports Club sometimes known as Priory Lane.
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[edit] History
They were formed in 1964 as Langney F.C., naming themselves after the Langney district of Eastbourne in which the club continues to play its home games. From 1968 until 2001 they were known as Langney Sports FC, renaming themselves Eastbourne Borough to ensure the club could be identified with the town of Eastbourne.
On forming in 1964, Langney FC entered the Eastbourne & District Football League, competing in Division 2. Prior to season 1968/69 there was a change of name to Langney Sports F.C. when the club affiliated to the Langney Community Association. At this time the club was playing on local recreation grounds before moving to Princes Park near the seafront. At the end of season 1973/74, the club won promotion to the Premier Division of the Eastbourne & Hastings League. The following nine years saw Langney Sports recognised as the most progressive club in the Eastbourne area.
[edit] County League Years
In 1983 the club was elected as a founder member of Division 3 of the Sussex County League and at the same time, moved to its current home ground at Priory Lane, in the heart of the residential area of Langney.
In 1986/87 Langney Sports became Third Division champions, and completed a treble by winning both the Division 3 League Cup & the Eastbourne Challenge Cup. Sports followed this with yet another promotion the following season, this time elevating them to Division 1. In 1992 Langney reached the final of the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup, losing 0-1 to the reserve team of Sussex's only professional club, Brighton & Hove Albion. Apart from two seasons (1994/95 and 1995/96) when they finished in 11th and 9th place respectively, Langney never finished outside of the top four in Division One, and in 2000 finished the season as Sussex County League Champions, and were promoted to the Eastern Division of the Southern League.
[edit] 21st Century Football
After one season in the Southern League, the club was renamed Eastbourne Borough. In their second season they finished seventh, and in the following season finished second, and were promoted to the Premier Division. Though they only finished 11th in their first season in the Premier Division, the club were elevated to the newly-formed Conference South for the start of the 2004/05 season. A further promotion was almost earned immediately as the club finished fifth, and won the Conference South play-offs, beating Cambridge City 3-0. However, they were beaten 2-1 by Altrincham (who had won the Conference North play-offs) in the play-off final at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium, and remained in the Conference South.
The next season they finished in the bottom half of the table at 17th place and the 2006/07 season they just missed out in the play-offs at 7th place. The 2007/08 season was the best Eastbourne Borough had done. From the start of the season until 1st January 2008 they were unbeaten at the top of the league. Lewes became the first team that season to beat them and themselves were at the top of the table. At the end of the season they finish 2nd place with 80 points, Lewes won with 89 points.
The club won promotion to the Conference National on 8 May 2008 with a 2-0 win over Hampton & Richmond Borough in the Conference South Play-off final at Broadhall Way, Stevenage.
[edit] Honours and Achievements
- Eastbourne Challenge Cup:
- Sussex Division 3 League Cup:
Winners: 1986/87
- Sussex County League Cup:
Winners: 1989/90
- Sussex Floodlight Cup:
Finalists: 1986/87
- Sussex Intermediate Cup:
Winners: 1997/98
Winners: 2001/02
Finalists: 1991/92, 2002/03
Division 1 Champions: 1999/00
Division 2 Champions: 1987/88
Division 3 Champions: 1986/87
Eastern Division Runners Up: 2002/03
Playoff Winners: 2007/08
First Round: 2005/06, 2007/08, 2008/09
Third Round: 2001/02, 2002/03, 2004/05
[edit] FA Cup History
During the 2005/6 season, the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, when a battling performance saw them hold League Two club Oxford United to a 1-1 draw at home, winger Ollie Rowland holding his nerve to score a 90th-minute penalty. [1]
This epic match gained the club three massive milestones. These were:
- 1. The first time that Eastbourne Borough had played a fully-professional league-side.
- 2. The first time that Eastbourne Borough were given national television coverage (highlights of the match at the Priory Lane ground were shown on BBC's Match Of The Day)
- 3. For the first time ever the home and away supporters had to be segregated due to the huge attendance of 3,770.
The East-Sussex side failed to win the replay at Oxford's Kassam Stadium on a cold mid-week November night. [2] Despite losing 3-0, the Borough squad put up a very good fight and were extremely unlucky not to score. Ex-Yeovil Town striker Yemi Odubade played particularly well and caused many problems for the Oxford defence, so much so that Oxford manager Brian Talbot admitted he was very interested in having the talented youngster play for his side and asked the Eastbourne Borough committee if he could take Yemi Odubade on a trial at Oxford United. In January 2006, Oxford paid Sports £15,000 to sign Odubade on an 18-month contract. [3]
Again the club reached the FA Cup first round in the 2007/08 season and played Conference National side Weymouth. Borough lost 4 - 0 to a crowd of 2711 supporters. [4] Also lost to the same scoreline in the 2008/09 season away to Barrow in the 1st round replay. [5]
[edit] Current squad
As of November 27, 2008
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[edit] Notable former players
[edit] Coaching Staff
Garry Wilson - Manager
Nick Greenwood - Head Coach- Simon Colbran - Assistant Coach
- Dean Lightwoood - Goalkeeping Coach
- Ray Tuppen - Physio
[edit] Management History
Below is a list of Langney Sports (1983 - 2001) and Eastbourne Borough (2001 - Present) managers since 1983.
| Dates | Name | Achievements | |
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| 1983 to 1997 | Peter Cherry |
Took Langney Sports through all 3 Sussex County League divisions | |
| 1997 to January 1999 | Steve Richardson |
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| February 1999 to Present | Gary Wilson |
Took Eastbourne Borough from Sussex County League to Conference National in 9 Years Won the Sussex Senior Cup in 2000, and finalists in 2003 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Eastbourne Borough 1-1 Oxford", BBC Sport (2005-11-05). Retrieved on 27 November 2008.
- ^ "Oxford 3-0 Eastbourne Borough", BBC Sport (2005-11-16). Retrieved on 27 November 2008.
- ^ "Oxford capture Eastbourne striker", BBC Sport (2006-01-27). Retrieved on 27 November 2008.
- ^ "Eastbourne 0-4 Weymouth", BBC Sport (2007-11-10). Retrieved on 27 November 2008.
- ^ "Barrow 4-0 Eastbourne", BBC Sport (2008-11-18). Retrieved on 27 November 2008.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- BBC Sport:Eastbourne Borough
- Full Record of Langney Sports' League Positions
- Full Record of Eastbourne Borough's League Positions
