Welcome to another episode of the Sussex Non-League Podcast, where we take a look at all things non-league in Sussex.
Matt Pole and is joined by Sussex sport guru Steve Bone, and a very special guest.
This week, we are joined by Eastbourne Borough owner Simon Leslie, who has been at the helm at Priory Lane since the summer.
We’ll get Simon’s take on his first nine months in charge of the Sports, and bring you all the latest from the local non-league scene here in Sussex.
Matt Pole and is joined by Sussex sport guru Steve Bone, and a very special guest.
This week, we are joined by Eastbourne Borough owner Simon Leslie, who has been at the helm at Priory Lane since the summer.
We’ll get Simon’s take on his first nine months in charge of the Sports, and bring you all the latest from the local non-league scene here in Sussex.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Right, welcome to another episode of the Sussex Non-League Podcast, where we take a look at all
00:05 things non-league in Sussex. I'm Matt Poul and I'm joined by Sussex Sport Guru Steve Bone and a very
00:10 special guest. This week we are delighted to have with us Eastbourne Borough owner Simon Leslie,
00:15 who has been at the helm at Priory Lane since the summer. We'll get Simon's take on his first
00:21 nine months in charge of the sports and bring you all the latest from the local non-league scene
00:24 here in Sussex. First and foremost, Simon, thank you very much for joining us today. How are you
00:28 getting on? It's an absolute pleasure. I am at home as well as at the helm. Excellent stuff,
00:35 but as we mentioned in our intro, you've been at the helm at Borough now for about
00:40 nine months or so. How would you sum up your time in charge so far?
00:43 Difficult question that. Yeah.
00:52 It's been turbulent. I've definitely had an MBA in soccer ownership. That's the best way to describe
01:00 it. There have been some high moments and there's been a lot of lows. I guess a roller coaster,
01:08 right? So I'm up and down. One minute I feel like we're in nirvana and the next minute it's
01:17 emergency ward 10 with more injuries than anyone else can cope with.
01:20 Started again this week and we can talk about that as well. But
01:27 it's a brutal business. There's 72 clubs in the National League. All of the owners,
01:36 I imagine, have made a fair bit of money or been quite successful in some business or not,
01:42 but yet none of them can turn a profit, probably with the exception of Maidstone this year,
01:47 at running a football club. And that doesn't make any sense to me. So it can't just be all our fault.
01:55 It must be. The system is a little bit broken and I want to be the vocal one who's trying to fix it.
02:02 Of all the challenges you've faced since taking over, what have been the hardest? What have been
02:11 perhaps the most unexpected ones? And have there been more sort of unexpected things than you
02:17 foresaw? It was tales of the unexpected.
02:21 I think the injuries. We've been really unlucky with injuries.
02:26 And you can point the finger at anybody you like. Was it your recruitment? Was it your S&C? Was it
02:37 this? Was it that? Was it the other? Was it the weather? Was it the way the wind's blown?
02:41 I just think we've been generally quite unlucky. Because we're the squad of 21, 22.
02:51 And then all of a sudden we've had to use like 45 players over the course of the season. And
02:58 you can't not pay the original 21. You've got to pay both sets. So that was definitely a
03:03 financial shock. You know, the fans moaning and complaining. You know, they've got full right to
03:08 do. We haven't delivered on the pitch. So that's par for the course. I think it's really just
03:17 the effects of the injuries, poor refereeing, which every single owner, chairman, manager, CEO
03:31 and anybody else will listen to them, will complain about. And it's the inconsistency in the
03:38 refereeing at this level. We're like a training ground. So either you're good enough and you get
03:46 nicked up towards the league, or you stay here because you're not good enough. And if you're
03:51 not good enough in the league, they drop you down here and it's like the naughty boys club.
03:58 Well, how do you see things now, Simon? Seven points from the last nine suggest the team is
04:03 on the up. You must sincerely think that this team can very well keep the sports in the National League
04:08 South the way things are going at the moment? I've never really felt, you know, I don't talk
04:13 about the recession word or the R word. I never talked about recessions when they were going on
04:20 either. Because, you know, fundamentally, I think we've got a good team. I think the team is
04:26 probably the strongest it's been now under Adam's leadership. And our form is mid-table to top,
04:35 you know, mid to top of the table form right now. So let's see how we carry that on. We were
04:40 unbelievable on Tuesday night until the unforeseen injury to Alex. And I think we would have gone on
04:50 and won that game as well. So we were beating Slough 3-1 last time we played them when I left.
04:57 I had to leave for a flight and we ended up drawing three all. So tomorrow we can make up
05:03 for giving them that three points. Absolutely. I was going to ask you about a little bit about
05:09 Adam Murray. Obviously, you had a change of manager mid-season. And I know when Mark Beard left,
05:14 it was quite amicable. And, you know, he left with your best wishes. It just didn't work out for him
05:19 for different reasons. Adam and the management team you've got in place now, what is it about
05:24 them that make you think they are the right people to take the club forward and to deliver what you
05:30 want to see delivered? Mark's been to the last three games. Obviously, Sam is still playing for
05:38 us. And, you know, I'm always looking for opportunities to help Mark. You know, I wanted
05:43 to give Mark his first real management role. I probably stayed way too loyal, but I'm not
05:52 embarrassed by that. This was part of my commitment to doing what I'm doing, which is to help the
05:59 players, help the managers, give everyone an opportunity to shine. I think with Adam,
06:08 he's like a mad professor. You know, his attention to detail on the pitch and his ability to read
06:16 a game of football is unreal. I mean, even some of his management team will say to me,
06:21 you know, he's some of the best we've worked with. He's just he is unbelievable at seeing the game
06:28 and setting them up. I think he's more of a leader, more of a boss, let's put it that way.
06:37 So, you know, I think Mark was definitely very much one of the lads and I think he's created
06:43 that little bit of difference. You know, I've spent the last 30 years as a man manager, building
06:49 teams, giving people who didn't have the talent, confidence that they could be something special.
06:58 So that's what I've always done. So that's what I wanted to bring to football. And if I can
07:03 complement that with Adam's attention to detail on the pitch, then we can build something really,
07:08 really special. Sorry, Steve. Sorry. Yeah, just as a little supplementary to that, I guess you've
07:15 got quite a large number of young players. So having the sort of leader, the boss type character
07:21 is important for them. You know, they need a certain amount of sort of authority and discipline
07:26 and you must feel he's the right type of manager to help them develop as players.
07:32 And as people. 100% he's been managing, assistant with some of the greatest managers.
07:38 What for manager's name I can ever remember. But obviously he came from Cheltenham, which was a
07:48 League One team. When he went to Cheltenham, they were booked the league with no points or something.
07:52 And when he left, they had certainly get themselves closer to getting out of trouble.
07:58 So. I'll tell you what the other thing that I noticed this week is when he put Matt Green in
08:05 the mat work with him at Mansfields, he's an old pro, played hundreds of games in the league.
08:11 And the work that Matt's been doing with the younger players as well, showing them stuff,
08:16 one on one. And we've not asked him to do this, but that's the thing that we've probably been
08:22 missing to have that, you know, that severity and that support within the changing room.
08:29 Not so not doesn't come from the manager, but comes from the players themselves. And
08:32 I've been super impressed with what he's brought to the team. And
08:36 I can't wait for him to get on the pitch and score some goals as well.
08:40 Absolutely. I'm sure you have your immediate goals this season, Simon, but what is the long term,
08:48 your long term vision for the club? How do you keep growing? And is it a case of you having
08:52 something akin to like a five year plan of growth for the club or is it step by step at the moment?
08:57 I'd be nice to have a five day plan that doesn't go awry.
09:00 I have a big vision of what we want this club to be. We want, I'm terribly sorry, I've got this
09:14 horrible cough that won't go away. It's 100 days. I'm only 25 days in.
09:17 Just don't pass it on to the players.
09:20 Yeah, I keep saying away for them. So the, to have an epicentre of wellbeing, biohacking,
09:28 testing. So we become somewhere where some of the latest technology can come in and they can
09:36 test it on players. And I'm working with biosynergy, I'm working with cryobrite in Brighton.
09:45 So there's a lot of stuff that we're doing, human regenerator. These are machines that I want to
09:51 bring to Eastbourne and encompass within our facilities. But I've got the challenges of
09:57 electricity board, not having enough electricity. The planner's not giving me a green light on my
10:02 planning vision. And then beyond that is to really have a wellbeing centre where people can come,
10:10 recover, regenerate. And also we can incorporate so many more players.
10:17 We're getting released by the academies, I'm very much on the cusp of that now.
10:24 And I want to give them that second chance. And we had great success with Fletcher
10:32 and he was on the bench for Wolves in the FA Cup at the weekend. So we were all very proud.
10:36 And if we can do that more and more times, and I think the more times you do that,
10:42 more and more players want to come here because they can see they're going to get the exposure,
10:46 they're going to get the spotlight. And there's more chance of them getting to where they want
10:50 to get to. Absolutely.
10:52 I've got just a sort of a sideways question for you, really. If I, let's say I came to an
11:00 Eastbourne Borough game and we were having a chat in the boardroom and I said, Simon,
11:04 need to confide in you, I'm thinking of buying a non-league football club.
11:08 What would you say to someone who said that to you? Would you, knowing what you know now,
11:14 would you say yes? Would you say no? And if you would say yes, what advice would you give them?
11:18 Wow. Sorry, put you on the spot with that one.
11:27 I think everybody who I spoke to said, don't buy it, don't do it, don't do it,
11:33 don't do it. You're just going to burn your cash. And they were right.
11:37 I guess I'd have to give the same advice. But at the same time, I think when you see so many
11:46 green shoots, you see rewards of the work that you're doing.
11:52 Both myself and Alan have been doing interviews and our message is consistent. We both want the
11:59 same objective for the project Eastbourne. And we've been getting the nicest emails from fans
12:05 of people saying, ignore the minority, the majority of us love what you're doing. And
12:15 honestly, I can't tell you that some of the emails are so nice. I sit in a box of tissue sometimes
12:21 and I'm like, I can't believe what they're saying, because we really are making a difference.
12:25 Even the walking football team played at Arsenal last week and they beat Arsenal 4-1. And I just
12:34 think that before I come along, none of these sort of opportunities would have come out because
12:39 everybody was focused on the one team. Even the women's team, they went eight from eight in the
12:44 last eight games. They've had a really good year, haven't they? And we really want to push them
12:49 onwards and keep investing in that. So it's not, you know, whilst the first team is the one
12:55 everybody's focusing on, we are investing through the club. Our spirit of football team is doubling
13:02 in size. So everyone's important. It's not just the first team, but obviously we're measured by
13:10 how successful the first team do. And I think if we can continue this form that we're in now,
13:18 then we will be in a good place wherever, whatever league we're in next year.
13:22 We have mentioned it there, but the women's team have had a really wonderful season,
13:26 haven't they, Simon? Tell us a little bit how they've been going on this season.
13:29 We changed the management team there as well. Mid-season, they hadn't won a game, I think,
13:36 when Billy came in. Billy's been around in East Sussex football, obviously was successful at
13:44 Hastings and Haywards Heath, and he lives around the corner. So this is a lot more convenient for
13:49 him. And honestly, he's made some great signings and they're doing really well. And not only are
13:59 they doing really well, they're attracting quite good crowds for their games, especially at this
14:04 level of football. Some of the games are played on, you know, park pitches. So when they do play
14:12 at home, they've been scoring six, seven, eight goals. And it's like, you know, it's Instagram
14:19 friendly goals as well. It's not like tapping, you know, shots from outside the box and landing
14:24 in the top corner. So it's been brilliant. And this Saturday sees Borough go down to Slough.
14:30 How do you see that one going? Have you looked at that?
14:32 Can you rephrase that, please? Sorry?
14:34 Can you rephrase that? I didn't like the way you said that.
14:38 Eastbourne Borough will be travelling to Slough, sorry. I'll have to rephrase that.
14:41 So how do you see that one going? I'm hoping you've not booked any flights
14:46 20 minutes before the game ends.
14:48 I'm going to stay to the very end. I mean, Slough have had a great run and they're doing really
14:55 well at the minute. They're in form as well. So it'll be two form teams going, you know,
15:00 head to head. And I'm excited. I mean, it's been a weird week. You know, we were on Sky News
15:08 this week. Breaking news for our game being abandoned. What's really disappointing about
15:15 this whole thing is that no one from the league has reached out. I mean, all the teams,
15:20 only two people haven't reached out to us. Truro, who basically caused the issue of having no
15:27 medical facilities at the ground, which was really, really poor, because, you know, I was stressed
15:34 out. If I'd had a heart attack at that ground, nothing would have happened. And it's part of our,
15:40 you know, part of the rules. You've got to have a medical team there. And what I think is really
15:44 unfair at the minute, you've got Thornton, which are clearly trading insolvently. They're not paying
15:50 their team. They're not paying their staff. And then you've got Truro, you know, all these games,
15:56 they're ground sharing and they're not taking the rules seriously. And I just think that's,
16:00 you know, then you've got Torquay, which are actually, you know, in administration. And it's
16:05 not fair. It's an unfair trading conditions. And I don't think that teams who are behaving like this
16:13 should be allowed to stay in the league when other, you know, when the rest of us are all
16:18 paying our staff, paying our taxes, doing everything we should be properly. And I don't
16:23 think that's, I don't think the league are taking it seriously enough. And we've heard nothing from
16:28 the league, not a, you know, how's your player? What's going on? Is he all right? What happened on?
16:32 I just think that's unacceptable really in this day and age.
16:36 Two things I'm just chipping with there. Just for balance, we should say that we have asked,
16:42 I contacted Truro yesterday for a comment on the complaint that you've made about the sort of
16:47 medical cover that was at the game. Haven't heard back from them yet, but we hope to at some point.
16:54 And can we ask now, how is Alex? How is Alex doing? Okay. Is he on the road to recovery?
16:59 He's going to be out for a while, I believe, isn't he?
17:01 Excuse me. He's having an operation tomorrow. So, you know, that tells you the severity of it,
17:09 that he's having an immediate operation. You know, I don't know what, you know, if,
17:17 how and what and how long he'll be back, but he's definitely going to be out for a while.
17:24 Certainly won't see him again this season. And it's so disappointing. He was on the ground for
17:30 nearly an hour in the rain. And if it hadn't been for our CEO, who basically coordinated everything,
17:38 got the ambulance out and they had to inject him with morphine on the pitch. They did a brilliant
17:44 job, the ambulance service. But then our players had to carry him on the stretcher to the ambulance.
17:50 You know, all these little things. And, you know, I know the referee was struggling and his linesman
17:56 because of seeing what he saw. I think his knee was completely twisted. And I just don't think
18:04 people realise how much effect that had on the players. Some of the players were crying and it
18:08 was like, it's a horror. And if there'd been someone medically trained, I mean, this is what
18:16 they actually said, "Oh, Bob behind the bar, he's the first aider." And I'm like, "This isn't a
18:21 first aid job. We need someone with some gasses in there." And had they been there, we could have
18:29 got him off the pitch. We could have finished the game. But at least he would have been warm and,
18:37 you know, in a much more comfortable situation. So yeah, they really let him down. They've let
18:43 their club down as far as I'm concerned. And they've certainly let us down.
18:47 Yeah, well, obviously we want to give all our best to Alex and obviously best of luck to Borough
18:53 this Saturday. Thank you very much for joining us, Simon. If you can stick around while me and
18:56 Steve chat all things Sussex non-league. We now know who will face Horsham in the Sussex
19:01 Senior Cup final following last week's semi-final showdown between Hastings and Littlehampton.
19:05 Steve Bone, who came out on top in that one? And yeah, do you think there's a clear favourite
19:10 for this final? I think it might be the most exciting final in years.
19:14 Yeah, looking forward to it actually. So Hastings beat Littlehampton 3-0.
19:18 Quite comfortable according to their manager, Chris Agata. Well, I spoke to Mitch Hand this week,
19:24 the Littlehampton joint boss, and he was saying he'll sort of look back on that semi-final with
19:30 some regret for a while because they did have, he felt they did have chances, you know, while they
19:35 were still in the game. And if one of those had gone in, it could have been very different. And
19:39 they have caused a couple of cap ups since this season. So, you know, they were perhaps a little
19:44 bit unlucky and can think about what might have been. But Hastings are through. So we've got
19:48 Horsham against Hastings. We've got two Ismian Premier teams going up against each other. And it
19:54 looks on paper like it should be pretty close. It's nice to have two teams in the final that
19:59 haven't been in the final for a while. We need Eastbourne Borough to get their sign in soon again
20:04 in the next year or two. I'm sure that will happen. It's a bit of a personal battle between
20:10 you and me, Matt, isn't it really? Because you speak to them every week. I speak to Chris
20:13 Agata every week. Clearly Hastings are going to win. So I don't know. I don't think we need to
20:17 have any further debate. I actually think Hastings, what might work in Hastings' favour is
20:22 that Horsham have had a very, very long season, just sheer number of games they've played. That's
20:27 going to be the final game. It's going to be a week or two after the last league game. It might
20:31 just be one game too many for them. But I'm sure Don will have other ideas and Horsham will be able
20:36 to give Hastings a good game. Looking forward to it though. Yeah, absolutely. It does beat the
20:42 normal and I mean not to, what's the word, disparage these teams. But normally it's Brighton
20:47 under 23s against Crawley, isn't it, Steve? And it's nice to see proper non-league teams contest
20:51 this final. Before we talk about Worthing's National League South form, Simon, you said
20:58 you've got something else you'd like to add about Adam H. Yeah, I mean, one thing I forgot to mention,
21:04 you know, we sold Leon Gravata to York and I guess Adam knew him from his time at Worthing
21:14 and watched him play. I think one thing that was really disappointing was that
21:19 after his first game, which was only I think about 30 minutes, Adam went on this interview
21:26 and really slated him. And I just think that, you know, he just bought a player, it's his first
21:32 outing, he's got up a league, it's probably the highest level he's played. Give the kid a chance.
21:37 He could have said anything. He could have said, you know, okay, it was his first chance,
21:43 didn't do brilliantly, you know, I know he's going to be a great player for the club. But he was
21:47 absolutely right with his folder. And it's disappointing to me because this is what this
21:54 game was about. It's about developing these players, giving them an opportunity to play
21:59 the best ability they can. And then you can't torture them as soon as they have one bad game.
22:04 I don't know what's going to happen there. I was really disappointed because I actually thought
22:09 Adam was generally a nice chap. And I thought it'd be very good for Leon to go there as well.
22:15 Well, I would say I would just chip in there. And I'm quite surprised he said I didn't see
22:20 that interview. I'm quite surprised at that because in all the times I've spoken to Adam,
22:24 when he was Worthing manager, he's always been very sort of fair minded about players and, you
22:30 know, reticent about being critical of individuals really. So, I don't know, maybe the sort of
22:36 pressure of the start he's had at York City might have come into that there. They have now had their
22:41 first win, haven't they? So, hopefully things turn around for him. But yeah, good luck to Leon.
22:47 Hopefully it'll work out for Leon up there. I hope he gets another chance because, you know,
22:52 he's a great kid, great player. And like all of them, you know, anyone who's played for me or
22:59 been part of this project, I'm constantly messaging them and just trying to keep them enthused. And,
23:05 you know, one of the challenges of me is that I'm there and I want to see people succeed and
23:11 do well no matter where they're playing. Yeah, absolutely. You've mentioned Adam
23:16 Hinchford there, formerly of Worthing, Steve. How has he been getting on at York City? When
23:21 he was appointed, the Minstermen were very much mired in a relegation battle in the National
23:25 League. How's he been getting on? Well, they still are. He's had, I think I'm right in saying,
23:31 he's had four games so far. Last Saturday was his first win. They had a very late winner and that
23:37 has put them, so they're in the bottom four. They're in the top spot in the bottom four.
23:43 But it's very tight. I looked at the table earlier and there's something like 11 clubs,
23:48 including some above and some below the line, separated by about six points. So,
23:53 it's going to be a real battle to the death, I think, in that division. You know, clearly,
23:59 he's gone up there with the short-term aim of keeping them up. That's part of what he's
24:02 gone there for after they changed their manager. That's the first thing, that's all he'll be
24:07 focused on at the moment. And I would think that win last Saturday will have given everybody,
24:12 you know, fans and owners and everybody new hope that they can do it. Just like, as Simon will
24:17 know, sometimes you have a little bad run, one win can change the whole mood, can't it, Simon? It can
24:23 just give everybody a lift at the right time. So, keeping on their results between now and the end,
24:29 that's for sure. I am too. I want him to play up.
24:34 No, well, hopefully he does. But his former club, Worthing, are currently having an awful time of
24:41 it at the moment and their playoff charges very much stuttered. The Reds are now down to fifth
24:45 after a run of one win in six. What do you put this downturn in form down to, Steve?
24:50 Obviously, people look at Adam Hinshaw, Wood's departure, but not the rot, but the
24:55 dip in form did very much kind of start while he was still in charge.
24:59 Yeah, they did lose a couple of games, you know, in the last, I think, maybe lost two of the last
25:04 four with him still there. They then actually had a very good win up at Chelmsford in Aaron
25:09 Rossin's first game as interim manager, which gave everyone hope that they would just sort of sail
25:15 through to sort of finish second or third. But they've had three defeats since then, two at home
25:19 inside a week, and then they lost three-one at Chippenham last weekend. I spoke to Aaron in the
25:24 week and he was saying that the Chippenham game was the first one of those three where he's felt
25:29 they kind of deserved to lose. He thought they were a little bit unlucky in the two home games.
25:34 A few things went against them, but he was quite pleased with the performances and they were
25:38 creating chances, less so at Chippenham, which was a cause for concern. He had four games in his first
25:47 in 13 days to kick off with, which didn't give him much time to sort of implement some of his
25:52 ideas on the training ground. He's now had that. Now he's had eight. By the time they play Bath on
25:57 Sunday, it's live on TNT Sports on Sunday, home to Bath. So by then he will have had a full week
26:05 and a little bit more to work with them on the shapes and patterns and formations and things.
26:09 So we'll see if that's made a difference. But yeah, I mean, they're still right in the playoffs.
26:13 They're in the fifth, but they do need to get things moving again if they want a decent sort
26:17 of playoff semi-final at the end of the season. I obviously don't follow Worthing as closely as you
26:24 do, Steve, but at one stage they were absolutely flying second. Is there a danger that they could
26:28 drop out of the playoffs altogether? Yeah, I mean, the points-wise it's possible.
26:34 They need to, they can't afford to keep losing basically. They need to win more than they lose
26:38 from here on in. Their aim should be still to finish second or third. Simon, interested to
26:45 know, I know Eastbourne Borough played them twice over the sort of transitional period for Eastbourne.
26:50 Did you see them and did you rate them highly? I thought they were the best team of the league
26:55 that we played with out of everybody. We should have beaten them in the cup.
27:00 Their goalkeeper, I think we made him internet famous. He had millions of views with all these
27:04 saves he made. And that was a 1-0. And then in the league games, I think the beat was 4-0 or 3-0.
27:11 And they absolutely played us off the park. They were unbelievable. That was the sort of
27:16 transition of Mark. That was Mark's last games. But they were so well drilled, so organised.
27:22 I think the issue they've got is they've got a very thin squad. I think they've had a few injuries.
27:29 Obviously, they've had a few players. But for me, they're the best team I've seen this season.
27:37 Well, fingers crossed it turns around for him. But one player who has been in action
27:43 is Olly Pearce. And he's been turning up in a quite unusual area, isn't he,
27:49 Steve? Somewhere that I didn't expect him to see. He played for England's C on Tuesday night,
27:56 I think it was, against Wales C. I must admit, I don't know a lot about international football at
28:04 that level. I don't really follow it. It seems to be a little bit hit and miss. They don't seem to
28:08 play a lot of games, actually, unless I've just missed them. But he was a sub for England,
28:12 came on midway through the second half, and apparently made quite an impression. England
28:16 actually lost, but he certainly livened them up. Tried one shot at goal with a bicycle kick,
28:23 which shows you what a confident player he is. He's had such a season with Worthing. The girls
28:30 have dried up a little bit for him lately in the little barren run they've had. It's been a barren
28:34 run for him as well. But he's had a great season, deserves that call-up, and hopefully it won't be
28:39 the last for him. I suppose the worry for Worthing fans might be that he's now, with the season he's
28:46 had and the England C call-up, is he going to get snapped up by someone at a higher level? That
28:50 always comes with the territory, doesn't it? But Worthing fans will hope that he's at Woodside
28:55 Road for a long time to come. But no, well done to him for the call-up.
28:58 Absolutely, well done, Olly, indeed. Meanwhile, Lewis has been back on the continent,
29:03 flying the flag for Sussex in Europe. This week saw the Rooks travel to Oslo in, I believe,
29:08 their final group stage game of the Phoenix Trophy. How did Tony Russell's side get on, Steve?
29:15 We can say that Lewis are the only Sussex team to be unbeaten in Europe after Brighton. Brighton
29:22 had a couple of defeats at either end of their campaign, didn't they? Slightly different
29:26 competition. This is the Phoenix Trophy. They were specially invited into it along with other clubs
29:31 around Europe, semi-pro and amateur clubs around Europe. In their group of three, they've come
29:38 through unbeaten, two wins, two draws. That means they're off to finals weekend, which will be in
29:44 Italy. I believe it's the second week of May. The four group winners, I think, go through.
29:50 So, I imagine you're looking at the semi-final, third and fourth place play-off and final.
29:55 Chance for a real celebratory end to the season for them. They've suffered a little bit in the
30:02 league, possibly as a result of these games. Maybe not. We don't know how they'd have done
30:07 in the Italian Premier League if they hadn't been in Europe. So, they're sort of mid-table,
30:13 a little way off the play-off race in the Isbjorn Premier. But such a great experience for their
30:17 fans. Their fans went in decent numbers to Belgium earlier in the season when they played there,
30:23 and to Norway this week. It was very snowy, freezing apparently. But I've seen some of
30:30 the pictures and they look like they all had a good time. So, great experience for the whole club.
30:36 Absolutely. Well, best of luck to them. Do we have any idea who they could meet in the
30:41 knockout round? Might be putting you on the spot a little bit there, Steve.
30:43 You're putting me on the spot and I haven't got a clue, I'm afraid. I'll go into that on the next
30:47 Non-League podcast. Well, if that doesn't get people involved for the next one, Steve, I don't
30:52 know what will. Finally, the Premier League may be set for an exciting end to the season with
30:57 Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal all involved in a tight race for the title. But an even more hotly
31:02 contested battle could be found at the top of the SCFL Premier, can't it, Steve? How is the
31:06 fight for SCFL honours and promotion to the Istvanian League South-East shaping up?
31:11 Yeah, quite exciting. It's been a bit weather disrupted in the past month or so. A couple of
31:16 teams have only played two games in the last month. It looks like probably a two-horse race between
31:23 Stenning and New Haven. Well, they would be the two favourites to win it. A point between them
31:29 at the moment. New Haven have been top a lot of the season. I think Stenning have just edged
31:33 them off at the moment. Mark Dunford's favourite non-league team, Kroger Athletic, are hanging in
31:39 there as well, probably inspired by him mentioning him on the last podcast. They are about five
31:44 points behind, but I think they've got a couple of games in hand, so they're still in the chance.
31:48 Hassock's fourth, probably a little bit too far behind. But of course, the teams there are,
31:53 you know, everyone in the top five in that division, second to fifth, get through to
31:58 play-offs and are going for a second possible promotion place to the step four, Esme, in
32:04 South East. So, lots to play for for a lot of teams down there. So, we'll continue to keep an eye on
32:08 that. Absolutely. It's shaping up to be a very exciting end of the season. And as per tradition,
32:13 Steve, we need to pick a Sussex non-league game of the week. Off-podcast, I've already told you
32:18 mine, but you teased us with what yours could be. I wonder who that would be. What are you going for?
32:25 I'm going to go for the league we've just been talking about. I'm going to go for Stenning,
32:29 home to Eastbourne United Association, this week. Stenning, we'll be looking at that as a good
32:36 chance to get a good home win, the shooting field. Eastbourne United are one of the teams just
32:42 still in the chance of play-offs. So, I think that will be a decent game there between two teams that
32:47 we like covering in our papers. So, good luck to those two. Your own choice of game of the week,
32:54 might it be in the Horsham district at all?
32:57 It might very well be, Steve. Horsham are playing Hastings United on Saturday.
33:03 I think it's also this Saturday is non-league day, if I'm not mistaken.
33:07 Yes.
33:07 Before we move on to my game of the week, Steve, do you know if Eastbourne Borough are potentially
33:13 doing anything to mark non-league day? I know you're down at Slough, Simon, but have you got
33:18 anything to entice fans to get down to Slough with Borough?
33:23 No, that was non-league day. Slap on the wrist for me.
33:27 Oh, well, that's fair enough.
33:31 We'll make up for it next Friday then.
33:34 Say again?
33:36 We'll make up for it next Friday.
33:38 Oh, absolutely.
33:39 I should say, the Borough fans travel to games in good numbers, whether it's non-league day or not,
33:44 don't they, Simon? They could get away support this season.
33:48 We've been filling a coach and a half this season.
33:54 I mean, we even had fans there on Tuesday night.
33:59 That's a long way for someone to come and sit back at three o'clock in the morning.
34:06 But no, we'll have a good couple of hundred at Slough tomorrow.
34:12 We're taking a lot more fans that are coming to us. Even Yeoval didn't bring that many people to
34:17 us this year. So our fan base is growing.
34:21 The thing that I think I'm most proud of is last week we probably had 100 16 to 20 year olds.
34:31 And that was the sector that I really went after. I went down to give talks at a lot of the schools
34:37 because I wanted more and more youngsters to come because that's the future of our fan base.
34:42 Yeah.
34:42 Absolutely.
34:46 The reason why I bring up non-league day is that I know that Horsham are very much
34:49 holding something non-league day related at home to Hastings on Saturday in the Ismian
34:53 League premiere. Again, a game that could have a massive bearing on the player for
34:57 ace Horsham in third, Hastings in eighth. But Hastings have just come off the back.
35:01 I think it was, what did we say it was? It was they beat Hornchurch on Tuesday,
35:05 didn't they, Steve? And it was quite a landmark victory.
35:07 Yeah, beat Hornchurch. First team to beat Hornchurch in the league since mid-December.
35:12 And Hastings went about a month without a game. They had about four called off.
35:16 In the sense they've done really well. They've got through to the Sussex Cup final,
35:19 winning two draws in the league. And Chris Agatha is very much eyeing up a playoff place himself.
35:24 Absolutely. Yeah. Well, yeah, we'll have to wait and see how that goes. I said the Ismian
35:29 Premier League is very much shaping up to be a tight division this year. I should also mention
35:33 Horsham FC women on Sunday, they beat Shoreham in the, I'm going to try and get this right,
35:38 I've got it written it down here, the SC, something like that, the Sussex Women and
35:42 Girls Football League Challenge Cup final. Forget the abbreviations, otherwise I'll be here all day.
35:46 They will play either Pagham or Saltdean in the final, which I think will be held at Sussex HQ
35:54 at Lansing on the 18th of May. So very well done to them. They're on the back page of County Times
35:59 this week. So pick up a copy if you have anything interested in Horsham. So, yeah, thank you very
36:05 much for joining us, Simon, this week. It's been an absolute pleasure and best of luck to Barrett
36:09 this week. And yeah, we will see you all next week. Thank you very much, Steve. Yeah. Thank
36:19 you very much for listening. We'll be back when we're back.