Sittingbourne v Hastings United Match Programme 20th April 2019

Hastings United— A Brief History
The present Hastings United Football Club has
existed continuously since 1901 having undergone
three changes of name. One consequence
of those name changes has been that
the club’s history has become inclined to be interwoven
with that of other clubs with similar
names and only recently has its history been
disentangled which is why it may now read
somewhat differently to previous versions.
The origins of the club begin with the founding
of old town side Rock-A-Nore in 1894; however,
five years later they became defunct but in 1901
a new club started-up using the same name.
They won the East Sussex League Championship
in 1907/08 and were to be amongst the
foremost local sides regularly winning trophies
until World War One called a halt to proceedings.
The club has previously played under the banner
of Hastings & St.Leonards and, until the
2003/04 season, played under the name of
Hastings Town.
The club joined the Sussex County League in
1921 and in their first season finished runnersup
to Worthing.
The club joined the Sussex County League
again in1952 finishing second in Division Two in
the 1959/60 season.
After changing the name to Hastings Town, and
in the 1979/80 season, clinched the Division
Two Championship and won the divisional cup.
The following season, the club won the County
League Cup. The 1984/85 season was to be the
last as a member of the Sussex County League.
Following the decision of the then Hastings
United to cease trading, Town applied for membership
of the Southern League and were elected
to the Southern Division. At the same time,
the club negotiated a long term lease with Hastings
Borough Council for the Pilot Field Stadium.
The 1984/85 season had seen Hastings United
struggling against relegation from the Premier
Division and it was a combination of the last day
of the season results—United beating Welling
United 2-1 and Crawley Town doing the U's a
big favour by beating Witney Town - that saw
that Premier Division spot retained by the narrowest
margin. Having done the business on
the pitch, it was to be off-field matters that
caused the demise of Hastings United in June
1985, when financial problems became insurmountable
and the club ceased trading.
Following the demise of United, Town applied to
join the Southern League. Peter Sillett was to
return to The Pilot Field, where he had enjoyed
great success as manager.
Everything fell into place in the 1991/2 season
and they headed the Beazer Homes League
Southern Division table for virtually the whole
campaign, leaving Weymouth, Havant Town
and Sittingbourne to fight over the runners-up
spot.
Peter Sillett was dismissed in December 1991,
with the side at the wrong end of the table.
Dean White was appointed as manager and
successfully steered Town to safety.
Town were to play Premier Division football for
the next six years.
Lottery winner Mark Gardiner became involved
with the club at the start of the 1997/98 season,
but success on the pitch was frustratingly hard
to attain and managers came and went.
By the end of 1999, Town were in turmoil, having
resigned from the Southern League, with the
budget slashed, and players leaving, Town
were placed into administration and the Southern
League refused to accept an attempt to
withdraw the resignation. An appeal to retain
Town's Premier Division status was
unsuccessful but a final effort by a local consortium
was to be successful at the very last moment
and Hastings Town Football Club was
saved.
Continued on the next page