- 29/05/2025
Matt Pole is joined by Sussex sport guru Steve Bone and special guests promotion-winning Burgess Hill Town joint managers Gary Mansell and Jay Lovett.
Gary, who’s making his second appearance on this podcast, played in the Brighton & Hove League. His coaching career has progressed through the age ranges at Burgess Hill and he had particular success running the club’s under-18s. He eventually earned the job of first team manager - which he has done for nearly two years, mostly recently in a joint capacity with Jay.
As for Jay, he has chalked up 30 years in football, having played for a variety of clubs including Lewes, Crawley Town, Brentford, Hereford, Eastbourne Boro, Whitehawk and Met Police.
His coaching and management career began at South Park before he moved on to his first spell as Hillians boss and he has also spent time on the coaching staff at Eastbourne Borough. Jay now works for the Russell Martin Foundation and is based at Cardinal Newman sixth form. In that role, he has celebrated his side winning the English Schools Super Cup.
Gary and Jay have recently led Burgess Hill back to the Isthmian Premier Division via the south east division play-offs, in which they won 2-0 at home to Margate in their semi-final before going to Sittingbourne - who were unbeaten at home in the league all season - and winning on penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
Now Jay and Gary are planning for life at step three, where the Hillians have not played since 2019, and it comes at an exciting time at Leylands Park, with lots happening off the pitch too.
Gary, who’s making his second appearance on this podcast, played in the Brighton & Hove League. His coaching career has progressed through the age ranges at Burgess Hill and he had particular success running the club’s under-18s. He eventually earned the job of first team manager - which he has done for nearly two years, mostly recently in a joint capacity with Jay.
As for Jay, he has chalked up 30 years in football, having played for a variety of clubs including Lewes, Crawley Town, Brentford, Hereford, Eastbourne Boro, Whitehawk and Met Police.
His coaching and management career began at South Park before he moved on to his first spell as Hillians boss and he has also spent time on the coaching staff at Eastbourne Borough. Jay now works for the Russell Martin Foundation and is based at Cardinal Newman sixth form. In that role, he has celebrated his side winning the English Schools Super Cup.
Gary and Jay have recently led Burgess Hill back to the Isthmian Premier Division via the south east division play-offs, in which they won 2-0 at home to Margate in their semi-final before going to Sittingbourne - who were unbeaten at home in the league all season - and winning on penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
Now Jay and Gary are planning for life at step three, where the Hillians have not played since 2019, and it comes at an exciting time at Leylands Park, with lots happening off the pitch too.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of the Sussex Non-League Podcast, where we take a look at all the latest goings-on at grassroots football across the county.
00:08I'm Matt Pohl, and on this edition, I'm joined by Sussex Sport Guru Steve Bone and our latest special guests,
00:14who on this occasion are two promotion-winning joint managers, namely Jay Lovett and Gary Mansell.
00:19They really need no introduction after their recent exploits in managing Burgess Hill to promotion in the Isthmian Premier Division, but we'll introduce them anyway.
00:26Gary, who's making his second appearance on this podcast, played in the Brighton Home League.
00:31His coaching career has progressed through the aged ranges at Burgess Hill, and he had particular success running the club's under-18s.
00:37He eventually earned the job of first-team manager, which he's done for nearly two years, most recently in a joint capacity with Jay.
00:43As for Jay, he has chalked up 30 years in football, having played for a variety of clubs, including Lewis, Crawley Town, Brentford, Hereford, Eastbourne Borough, Whitehawk and the Met Police.
00:52His coaching and management career began at South Park before he moved on to his first bill as Hillian's boss, and he's also spent time with the coaching staff at Eastbourne Borough.
01:01Jay now works for the Russell Martin Foundation, is based at Cardinal Newman's sixth form, and in that role, he has celebrated his side winning the English Schools Super Cup.
01:10Gary and Jay have recently led Burgess Hill back to the Isthmian Premier Division via the South East Division playoffs,
01:14in which they won 2-0 at home to Margate in the semi-final, before going to Sitting Bourne, who were unbeaten at home in the legal season,
01:21and winning on penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
01:24Now Jay and Gary are planning for life at Step 3, where the Hillians have not played since 2019,
01:29and it comes as an exciting time at Leyland's Park, with lots of happening off the pitch too.
01:34Welcome to the podcast, both of you, and if we could start with you, Jay,
01:37it's been four weeks since that magical night in Kent when promotion was achieved.
01:41What are your memories of it now? It must be nothing but good memories.
01:46Fantastic memories. I think memories that would definitely last a lifetime.
01:51I've watched a video of that final penalty about 25 times, and just watched the whole thing sort of erupt straight after that last penalty was missed.
02:00And then I've had a few comments, obviously, afterwards, with Gary and I celebrating afterwards, my dad dancing.
02:07I've had the mickey taking that on me a little bit.
02:10Some people said I look like David Pleat jumping up and down, but it was absolutely fantastic.
02:16What a night. The atmosphere was electric.
02:21As I said, the game started off a bit nervous, and then we sort of got to half-time,
02:26had a good chat with the boys, and sort of settled our nerves, and we played a bit more style in the second half.
02:33And that sort of brought us back into the game, and maybe could have won the game in 90 minutes,
02:38but it doesn't matter. We got the job done.
02:40And, yeah, the whole evening was memorable and an absolutely fantastic evening.
02:46Gary, when you were on the podcast with us previously,
02:50Burgess Hill at that point were third in the table.
02:52You seemed to have been third all season.
02:53We talked about the fact that you could almost start planning for your route through the playoffs and to promotion.
03:01When all that was confirmed, and you were third, and you knew who you were going to play,
03:04and you knew who you'd have to be, were you confident going into those playoffs?
03:08Or are managers always thinking, at the start of playoffs, it's a lottery.
03:13Anybody can win?
03:16It was a bit of both, to be honest.
03:17Yes, we were confident, but all four teams would have been confident,
03:21because all the games between all four teams were tight throughout the season.
03:26So when we knew we were playing Margate, we kind of looked back at the games we'd played already.
03:31We'd beaten 2-1 at home, and we drew one all away.
03:34But the away game, we felt it was one of the few games where we might have got away with one.
03:38So, yes, we were confident that we could beat anyone in there.
03:43But at the same time, we felt anyone in there could have beaten us.
03:47But two brilliant performances on the Tuesday and the Friday, particularly the second half in both games,
03:54got us what we felt we deserved.
03:56Yeah, it was great to see.
04:02Jay, just going back further, going back a year ago, you returned to the club as joint manager with Gary.
04:09You made some strong signings early on, you know, very early in the summer.
04:13Was there always a conviction, you know, from that point onwards that this could be a serious sort of promotion bid
04:20and promotion was, you know, was the aim and was something that you could achieve in the season that's just finished?
04:29I think at the start of the year when Gary and I got together, we sat down and we went through exactly what we wanted from our squad for the season.
04:39And we sat down and obviously said we wanted the players to be able to fit our formation and play the way we want to play.
04:44But we also wanted players that had the right character, enjoyed each other's company within the changing rooms.
04:53And also when we put our squad together, we wanted players with a sort of winning mindset.
04:57And a lot of players that we've had have had success in other leagues, if not a league that we just got promoted from and know how to carry a team over the line.
05:07So when we started putting that squad together and the names started coming in and people started agreeing,
05:11I think it gave us a sort of an inner belief that we had a good squad that would definitely go and compete within the league.
05:17We're also very aware that we're of some other very good sides there with some good budgets, with some very good players.
05:24And we knew the league was strong last year.
05:26So, yeah, we had an inner belief within ourselves.
05:29It wasn't obviously to go and win the league, but it was to be in and around the mix towards the end.
05:33And that's where we were. And as I said, we carried that belief over when we finished in those playoff positions and we won the playoffs.
05:42And I think, you know, especially that second half display, we won it the way we wanted our team to play as well.
05:47So we're very pleased about that.
05:50Gary, in the latter part of this season, you took on the title of director of football at Burgess Hill and you're also now on the board as well.
05:56Tell us a little bit about that role and how it relates to your work as joint manager alongside Jay.
06:01So the idea of the director of football was due to David and Vicky, the owners being new to running a football club.
06:11They just felt they needed a bit more focus on the football side of things to allow them to work closer on the more commercial side of things and the infrastructure of the site and the operations on that side.
06:23So the director of football role just allows me more time to go and make sure we've got the right resources and the right tools around the first team and then continue and grow the structure underneath the first team to keep producing players that will come up and join myself and Jay in the first team set up.
06:43Yeah, it's a long term, it's a long term thing, isn't it?
06:51You must be looking, you know, you're not just looking to what's going to happen next season.
06:55You're looking sort of beyond that as well.
06:57Is that the sort of thinking of the club now?
07:00You're looking at what you can do next year, but you're looking beyond that as well.
07:04Yeah, we have a long term vision for the club, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch and setting up a structure that makes the club sustainable.
07:14Obviously, there's a lot of investment going into the new pitch for next season.
07:19And then there's more investment that will help us invest then in the infrastructure of the set up of the club from sort of the youth set up all the way through to the first team.
07:29And make it sustainable so that we can hopefully go up again, but with a more sustainable model that protects the long term future of the club.
07:40And Jay, looking at next season, you're back in the Eastman Premier, back at Step 3, where Burgess Hill were last playing in 2019, I think.
07:48It's been a few years to get back there.
07:50What's the feeling around the club at the moment in terms of looking ahead to that and how much of a challenge it will be?
07:55For example, is there a lot of work to do on the squad?
07:57Do you need to strengthen that squad quite a bit?
08:00What's the thinking at the moment?
08:02I think, first of all, I think the club's very excited about being back in the Premier.
08:07It's been a while, as you said, 2019 since we've been there.
08:11I think the exciting thing is it's a fresh new challenge for everybody.
08:15It's a fresh approach that we've got with, as I said, with Dave and Vicky coming in, a whole new squad that we had, we built last year.
08:22We've done well this year and the sort of the rollover and the spill of us being successful in the pitch and what can I do in the league above next season.
08:32I think in terms of the squad and the way we sort of want to go forward is that when we designed the squad at the start of the year, we knew a lot of the players had played higher already.
08:44So we're very capable of competing at step three.
08:48They've had a fantastic season.
08:50And as I said, the culture of the club is one of the main important things.
08:53So I think we'll be carrying a lot of the squad over from last year to this year.
08:58And I think that's important to keep that rather than ripping up squads all the time and then try to put new squads back together.
09:04They've also had a year of playing with each other where they know how each other plays inside out.
09:10And that's massive for us as well, because we don't have to go back to the drawing board from square one and sort of install those beliefs and patterns and stuff like that as well.
09:19I think naturally that you'll have one or two that will move on and one or two that will come in.
09:24And we're a start to identify sort of those people as well.
09:28But after we've spoken to the current squad, and as I said, we mainly want to roll over the current squad that we've got because they have competed at that level before.
09:36We feel with the style of football we play, they suit the way we play.
09:40And we want to keep that going into the new season.
09:44Gary, is the aim in your first season back in the Premier Division just to consolidate or are you setting your sights a bit higher and aiming for a top-end finish?
09:51I think any club's minimum target is consolidation, but we're much more ambitious than that.
10:02We feel the squad offers a lot more than that.
10:05We certainly expect to do more than that.
10:09Our ambition is to win every game we go and play.
10:12So our target at the start will be win the title.
10:15When that's out of reach, it'll be make the playoffs.
10:18If that's out of reach, it'll be mid-table.
10:20If that's out of reach, it'll be finished as high as we can.
10:23And that's how we will approach absolutely everything in that we'll go for the highest possible finish we can until it's unreachable.
10:32And then we'll reassess and realign.
10:35And you spoke a little bit about your longer-term future earlier for Burgess Hill Town.
10:43And is there a three- or five-year plan for where the club sees itself or are you taking it season by season at this stage?
10:50There's always a five-year plan of where we'd like to be.
10:53But we are working season by season because, you know, it's a big transition for us going from grass to 3G and the site being redeveloped.
11:04That's going to have an impact on us for next season.
11:08And then once we kind of grow into that and we settle into the ground, then we can maybe look on the picture a little bit more as to where we're at.
11:16And then the season after that, it might be something else.
11:19And then the season after that, something else.
11:21And I was just going to say, maybe a question for Jay, just in terms of the club moving up from Ismian South East to Premier.
11:29I guess now you can take a bit of inspiration from what Chichester City have just done.
11:34You know, they went up through the playoffs exactly the same route as you last season.
11:38At that point, everybody was saying, oh, can they stay up? Can they stay up?
11:42They've gone and finished six and very nearly got in the Ismian Premier playoffs.
11:45Do you look at them and you think, right, if they can have that sort of season, you know, why can't we?
11:51Absolutely. I think Chichester have had a fantastic season and they've done, if you look at their squad,
11:57they've kept the majority of the squad that got promoted from step four to going to step three.
12:02And they've done a fantastic job.
12:03They've got some very good management down there with Darren Kilpatrick and Potter down there as well.
12:07You know, they're really on the ball. They're good coaches.
12:11They went on the leagues inside out.
12:13And, yeah, they're definitely a team to look at and try and emulate the same sort of what they did next year.
12:18And if we do do anything like that, what a successful season we would have had because they've been absolutely fantastic.
12:25And as you said, it went down to, I think, the last game of the season, wasn't it?
12:28Yeah.
12:28To find out who then went on to get promoted from the playoffs.
12:34So, yeah, we take a lot of inspiration from them.
12:37We do it in our own way, obviously, but they've done fantastic.
12:42And, you know, if there's maybe a team of the year to look at in Sussex clubs,
12:47I think they've got to be one of the teams up there to get that accolade, really.
12:50Yeah, absolutely. They are indeed.
12:52Well, thanks, guys. That's a great insight into everything that's going on at town at the moment.
12:56We wish you well for the next season.
12:58But we will be coming back to you as the podcast progresses.
13:00But now we'll move on to looking at how Sussex's non-league clubs fared as the 2024-25 season drew to a close.
13:07And since the last podcast, the Sussex Senior Cup final has been held and Horsham have retained the trophy.
13:13Tell us how they did it, Steve. We were there.
13:15It wasn't classic by any means.
13:17Yes, it seems a while ago now, doesn't it?
13:19It does, yes.
13:20It might go, I suppose, as we speak now.
13:22So, yeah, Horsham-Littlehampton final this year, which we were both looking forward to,
13:28two of the teams that we cover quite extensively in the papers and everything.
13:32And it wasn't a classic.
13:34It was not a great spectacle, but it was a good battle, wasn't it?
13:39Littlehampton, who are now two divisions below Horsham, following Horsham's promotion,
13:46really made Horsham work hard for it.
13:48Looked for all the world as though it was going to go to penalties.
13:50And then fifth minute of six in injury time, up steps James Hammond,
13:56hasn't scored a free kick like that all season, puts that one away.
14:00And I spoke to him afterwards and I said,
14:02what was going through your mind when you stepped up to take that free kick?
14:06And he said, I was aware that I hadn't scored one all season,
14:09but everybody was going away the next day.
14:10We didn't want it to go to penalties.
14:12I just knew I had to score and I did.
14:14And that's a great sort of great weapon to have in your team, isn't it?
14:18If you can have a player like that.
14:19So, yeah, great for Horsham.
14:23First non-league team to win it two years in a row since the start of the 90s,
14:28I think, when Crawley Town did it as a non-league team.
14:33Harsh on Littlehampton, you know, that's two big finals they've got to and they've lost both,
14:36but they've done never so well to get that far.
14:38You know, I think we should say that.
14:39I don't know, I mean, Matt, you've spoken to Dom since the end of the season,
14:44you know, to him personally, but it was quite important to add that cup final win to their league win, wasn't it?
14:50Yeah, it was.
14:51And he's come out and said that this season off the back of that senior cup win has been without doubt
14:55the best season of his managerial career.
14:57You look at the Isthmian Premier win on the final day of the season,
15:01got the Senior Cup 95th Minute winner.
15:03And amongst all that, you forget they got to the first round of the FA Cup for the third time in four years.
15:08Another deep run in the FA Trophy.
15:10And as Dom was keen to point out, a Sussex Community Shield win,
15:13which I think everyone in the press room completely forgot that he'd won that.
15:17But yeah, it's been a fantastic season for them.
15:19And for them to have now won, I think, four trophies in two seasons
15:23after playing close to 120 games off the back of their two FA Cup runs last season.
15:29It's just, it's absolutely phenomenal.
15:30And I think, obviously, I'm going to be a bit biased because I covered Horsham this season.
15:34I think between them and Chichester City, I think they are my two teams of the season.
15:38What was Mitch Hand's reaction to the Cup final, Steve, to give a bit of balance?
15:44How did he see things?
15:46Yeah, I think he was proud of his players, A, for getting there
15:49and B, for making Horsham work so hard for it.
15:53There was a bit of criticism for the way Littlehampton played from some quarters afterwards.
15:58I think some Horsham fans said it was a poor advert for Sussex football.
16:02People don't like, some people don't like the way that Littlehampton play.
16:09You know, they get stuck in.
16:10It's sort of, in a way, it's quite old-fashioned football, but it's effective.
16:14And he was making, you know, he didn't feel the need to make excuses for that.
16:18He said, you know, if we had the game again, we'd go with the same approach again.
16:21We had to try to win the game and try to stop Horsham playing.
16:24And to a large extent, although they ended up losing, you know, it was mission accomplished in that way.
16:30So, yeah, Littlehampton, you ignore them at your peril, really.
16:34A very good Cup team, got some good battling players in there.
16:37And, you know, although they were disappointed too much, I think I'm pleased with the effort that they put in.
16:46Gary, you've obviously come up against Littlehampton Town this season.
16:49What have you made of them when you've played with them?
16:51And they seem to be the Cup kings at the moment, the Sussex.
16:54Yeah, exactly how you've described them, really.
16:57What they do is they turn the game to their advantage.
17:02You know, they know their strengths and weaknesses.
17:05And what they do is they try and make the game a level playing field so that it suits them.
17:11They have been a bit of a fall in our side over the last couple of seasons.
17:14We managed to get a home win, but they knocked us out of the trophy on penalties
17:19by doing exactly what they did to Horsham, turning the game to their strengths.
17:24You know, while it's not our approach or our kind of style, it's, you know, sometimes you have to adapt
17:32and you have to play a different way to gain an advantage.
17:35And they've done that and they've done really well at it to get all the way to the Amex.
17:40And on the night, we're very, very close.
17:44Yes, they were indeed.
17:45The other big news of the past few weeks has been the National League South playoffs,
17:49which have involved both Worthing and Jay's former club, Eastbourne Borough.
17:53But it didn't go their way, unfortunately.
17:55How did it pan out, Steve?
17:57It was quite heartbreaking in the end.
17:59Yeah, it showed how harsh the playoffs can be, really,
18:02because Eastbourne Borough finished third in National South.
18:06Worthing finished fourth.
18:07And both have ended up going out of the playoffs to Maidstone United, who finished seventh.
18:13And, you know, the rules are the rules.
18:16And people know at the start of the season that the team who finishes seventh is going to get in the playoffs.
18:20You can't do anything about it.
18:21But it still seems a bit unfair when you go out that way.
18:25So Worthing played them first in an eliminator, fourth against seventh at Woodside Road in the midweek
18:30and lost 2-0, two penalties, one early, one late.
18:33And I think Worthing, by their own admission, were a bit flat that night.
18:37They'd gone so close to the title that had probably just taken a bit out of them.
18:41They weren't probably at their best that night.
18:44That then put Maidstone through to a semi-final away to Eastbourne Borough.
18:48The way that Eastbourne Borough have played at home this season, they were strong favourites.
18:53They hadn't lost at home all season.
18:55They'd been scoring goals for fun at home at the tail end of the season.
19:01Typically, it didn't go their way on the day.
19:04Won all very late on.
19:06Maidstone down to 10 men.
19:08Again, everything still in Eastbourne's favour.
19:10And, of course, Maidstone, other team, would go up and get a late winner.
19:13So, sad end to the season for both Eastbourne and Worthing.
19:16And they'll look to go again next year and go one better and win the title.
19:21You know, you win the title, you avoid the playoffs.
19:23That's the only way to avoid it, really.
19:25Other than that, you know you're going to be in a bit of a lottery.
19:28And, you know, on this occasion, it hasn't gone their way.
19:31And it didn't go Maidstone's way in the final either.
19:33It was Boreham Wood who eventually got the second promotion place.
19:36So, they've gone up to national premier.
19:37Absolutely, yes.
19:39And since then, Adam Murray has left Priory Lane.
19:43He was then unveiled as the kid amidst Harry's manager.
19:46How has this been received in Eastbourne's circle, Steve?
19:48I must admit, it did take us all by surprise.
19:50It did take us by surprise.
19:52Although, I think what we've heard since from the club is that he'd perhaps given the owner
19:58and the chief exec there indications that he was a little bit homesick.
20:03His family are up in the sort of Midlands and north of there.
20:08He's got five kids, I think it is.
20:10And he wasn't spending enough time with his family.
20:13So, he wanted to, you know, the main sort of drive in him leaving Eastbourne
20:18was that he wanted to move back closer to home.
20:20So, his resignation was accepted by Eastbourne with some reluctance.
20:29He then, a few days later, took over as manager of Kidminster Harriers,
20:33National North.
20:35So, same level as Eastbourne Borough.
20:37So, a decent move for him in that it takes him back closer to his family.
20:41And then, a week after he'd gone, Eastbourne Borough unveiled their new manager,
20:44who is Matt Gray, who is best known for being the man who took Sutton
20:50from National Premier into League Two a few years ago.
20:54Did very well with Sutton, then got them also to Wembley into the EFL Trophy final after that.
20:59So, comes with a good pedigree.
21:01Been out of the game, been out of management for about 18 months.
21:04But, back in it now, knows how Eastbourne play and knows what the ambition is down there.
21:13You know, Eastbourne Borough certainly don't want to be stuck in National South for too many years.
21:16They want to move on, onwards and upwards.
21:19So, he's on board with that.
21:20And, yes, it seems at the moment to be a very good appointment for all parties.
21:25It does indeed.
21:27Jay, we've mentioned that Eastbourne Borough were one of your former clubs.
21:30What are your memories of your time at Priory Lane?
21:32And what do you think of the new era that's unfolded under Simon Leslie at Eastbourne Borough?
21:40I've got very fond memories of Eastbourne Borough.
21:42We had, I was there for, I think it was three and a bit years.
21:46And we were very competitive in the Conference South and got ourselves promoted into the National League.
21:53And had a very good first season in that National League.
21:56I think we finished about mid-table, which surprised a lot of people as well.
21:59So, the club's got, you know, the structure to be a National League side.
22:05I think one of the stats on that one is the biggest town outside, well, the biggest town that has never been in a professional league.
22:14So, I think, you know, it's dying to go up.
22:18I think with the new infrastructure of Simon Leslie and with Alan Williams there as well, they've got, you know, big ambitions and big plans for the place.
22:25And, you know, I think they'll be very competitive again for next year.
22:29And they've obviously brought another manager in, Matt, who's, as you said, got experience of taking Sutton up through the leagues as well into the Football League.
22:37So, you know what it takes to get the side up there.
22:40They always put good squads there.
22:42They're a full-time outfit now as well, which really helps.
22:46And that's the way sort of, you know, step two, step one football is going now.
22:50It is pretty much full-time football.
22:53Yeah, it is indeed.
22:54And I suppose the big question is, Jay, can they do it next season?
22:58If this season's anything to go by, it'll be ever so tight and ever so tough for them to do it.
23:02But what do you think?
23:03There's no reason why they can't do it.
23:07But then again, there are, as you saw this year, so many other teams up there with the same ambition and the same sort of infrastructure and have had conference football, you know, National League football before and know what it takes to get up there.
23:20And that's why the league was so tight this year.
23:22And I don't think I can remember anyway that a league being so tight as it was this year, I think it moved around two or three times, didn't it?
23:31So, yeah, if you're a betting man, you wouldn't know where to put your money.
23:35But can they do it?
23:36Yes, of course they can.
23:37But there are other teams up there competing with them.
23:40Absolutely.
23:41You'll be a very excited National League South next season.
23:43The SCFL playoffs have also been finalised since our last podcast.
23:48How did they go, Steve?
23:49And who's looking forward to playing at a higher level next season?
23:52Yeah.
23:53And having said how cruel and unnecessary playoffs can be, as far as the SCFL playoffs go, they actually worked perfectly.
24:01Because in both the Premier Division playoffs and First Division, the team who had finished second ended up winning the playoff final.
24:09So, in the Premier Division, that was Crobra, who we've been talking about all season.
24:13They've been the one team pushing Haseks.
24:17Well, I'll say that.
24:18Nobody's really pushed Haseks because Haseks were 20 points clear from about Christmas.
24:22But Crobra were second for most of that season.
24:25So, they came through the playoffs and beat Eastbourne United.
24:30It was quite a tight final.
24:31But Crobra came through, had home advantage on the day.
24:34And are now looking forward to playing in the Isthmian South East alongside Haseks, who were, of course, promoted as champions.
24:41So, well done to them.
24:43And in Division 1, again, it's been a theme of this podcast all season.
24:47We've been talking about how old Seaford and Forrest Rowe were neck and neck at the top of Division 1 almost all season.
24:53They were level on points for quite a long time.
24:55Seaford eventually pulled away.
24:56And as we said on the last one, they won the title.
24:59But it's Forrest Rowe that came through.
25:01Playoffs beat Infinity in the final after coming from behind to beat Arendelle in the semifinals.
25:09So, they, having finished second in that league, are also up into the SCFL Premier for next season.
25:13So, yeah, nice to see playoffs work like that.
25:15They don't often.
25:17It always seems to be the lowest-placed teams that get through.
25:19But, no, well done to Krobra and Forrest Rowe for joining their respective champions in the Division 1 for next season.
25:27Absolutely.
25:27And final one, we've also had the Peter Bentley Cup final since the last pod where Haseks took on Krobra.
25:33Steve, who came out on top of that one?
25:35And more importantly, why was this game being shown live in a bar in Portugal?
25:40Well, it's the Peter Bentley Cup.
25:41Why wouldn't it be shown live in Portugal?
25:44Yeah, Haseks against Krobra in the final of that one.
25:49Krobra had already won the RUR Cup earlier in the season.
25:53So, they were looking for a cup double.
25:54Haseks were looking for the league and cup double.
25:56And it was Haseks who got there.
25:583-1 on the day.
25:59And the reason it was being shown in Lisbon, in a bar in Lisbon, as you say, is that Lewis Westlake, assistant manager to James at Haseks, was on his stag do.
26:12Booked a long time ago.
26:13They probably didn't think they'd still be playing a game in the second week of May when they booked that.
26:17Probably safe to think the season would be over by then.
26:21So, Lewis, James and quite a few other people from Haseks were all out in Lisbon and managed to get a stream of the game.
26:32So, they probably got some funny looks sort of watching this obscure English game.
26:36And all the locals, I'd imagine, would have been wondering what they were doing and what they were watching.
26:40But they were happy, as was everybody at Haseks.
26:42So, Haseks actually, with a weakened team and a standing management team, did well to still win that game.
26:48They've waited 123 years since their formation for their first senior football trophy.
26:54And now they've got two in about three weeks.
26:56So, well done to them.
26:58And as we've said, they're looking forward to tackling the Eastman South East next season.
27:02Absolutely.
27:02It reminds me of when I tried to get the Sussex Senior Cup final in a bar in Montenegro, Steve, on the same night as the Champions League semi-final.
27:09And after explaining to them when the Sussex Senior Cup final was, the answer was still no.
27:13So, they're lost.
27:15It was worth a try.
27:15It was.
27:16It was worth a go.
27:17So, Gary, how do you think Haseks and Kroger will find step four?
27:21We've seen that there isn't too much for gap when you look at teams like Eastbourne Town this season.
27:26And what quality, sorry, do you think they will need next season?
27:32I think it is a big jump, actually.
27:34Eastbourne Town done really well to get points on the board really early.
27:38They found the second half of the season a little tougher.
27:41But the points they got early helped.
27:45I think in terms of Haseks and Kroger, Kroger have been there before.
27:50So, the management team will know what they're kind of stepping into.
27:53I think for Haseks, it's completely new ground.
27:57Although, in their chairman, Pat, they've got someone that's played hundreds and hundreds of games at step four.
28:02So, you know, he will know the level and they're going to need to tap into that experience.
28:09I think it's going to be a tough division this year.
28:11I think the sort of top eight, nine teams are all going to strengthen.
28:16So, I think it's looking to win those local derbies and win that sort of mini league in the bottom half of the table is going to be key.
28:24Every point they take from them kind of games is going to be really, really important.
28:29Brilliant.
28:30Well, thank you very much for joining us this week, chaps.
28:32It's been absolutely brilliant.
28:33Best of luck to Burgess Hill Town next season.
28:35And thank you very much, as always, Steve, for joining us.
28:37And don't forget to keep checking out sussexworld.co.uk forward slash bot for all the best coverage of your local football plus your local Sussex weekly papers.
28:43And keep your eyes peeled for bonus editions of the podcast during the summer, where we'll be joined by a variety of guests looking ahead to what 2025-26 will have in store for Sussex non-league clubs.
28:53Thank you very much for listening.
28:54And we will see you all when we see you.
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