Eastbourne United

Eastbourne United

Eastbourne United AFC's roots can be traced back to 1894, when the club was founded as the 1st Sussex Royal Engineers FC. In this early period the club played nearby to where the Saffrons (home of Eastbourne Town) now stands, and at the South Lynn ground in Tutts Barn Road, the site of their ground at this time is now covered by the St. Thomas a Beckett RC Primary School. The club then changed ground again in 1901 when Eastbourne Council gave the club permission to use Gildredge Park. The club then changed its name in 1913 to 1st Home Counties Royal Engineers (Eastbourne) FC to reflect a merger between the RA Volunteers with the Territorial Army.

After the War the club continued to play at Gildredge park and in 1920 the club name was changed to Eastbourne Royal Engineers Old Comrades as the Volunteers disbanded due to the end of the war. During their first season as Eastbourne Royal Engineers Old Comrades the club reached the final of the East Sussex Cup beating the Royal Corps of Signals, the game however may be notable as the first ever outside broadcast of a sporting event in England as the Signals brought wireless equipment with them to send match reports back to their camp in Maresfield.

The club joined the Sussex County League in 1921 and made a permanent move from Gildredge Park to their Lynchmere ground. In 1922 they changed their name again when ties with the Royal Engineers were broken and dropped the "Royal Engineers" part of the name, Eastbourne Old Comrades FC and started wearing the white and black stripes on their shirts. At the end of the 1927–28 season they broke away from the Sussex County League and joined the Spartan League, shortening their name to Eastbourne Comrades FC. They left the Spartan league at the end of the 1931–32 season and joined the Brighton, Hove & District League. They won Division One in 1932–33 and were runners-up the following season. In 1935 they re-joined the Sussex County League. After the end of the Second World War they rejoined the Sussex County League for the 1946–47 season. During this period, the club experienced difficult times. They moved to their current home, The Oval, after losing their Lynchmere Ground to development and could only manage mediocre league results. In 1951 the name was changed for a sixth time to Eastbourne United FC.

The club's fortunes changed with the new name and a new coach, George Smith, and between 1953 and 1956 they were twice County League champions, and runners-up once. That success saw them move into the Metropolitan & District League in 1956 (subsequently the Metropolitan League), and in 1964 United joined Division Two of the Athenian League, winning the championship in 1966–67.

Two seasons later, another promotion followed (as runners-up) and United were promoted to the Premier Division. After just one season though, they were relegated back to Division One. However, in 1973–74 the League was re-organised and the Premier Division scrapped.

In 1975 United were relegated to Division Two, and when the Athenian League was disbanded in 1977, joined Division Two of the Isthmian League, and subsequently Division Two (South) following reorganisation in 1984. When further changes to the Isthmian structure were made in 1991, United found themselves in the new Division Three and after one season, opted to rejoin the County League.

Shinewater Association

Shinewater Association was formed in 1990 as a replacement team for the Dental Estimates Board and a member of the East Sussex Football League, being based at the Temple Grove Playing field in the Old Town. Relocating to the Shinewater Lane playing field as the Shinewater Association Club were looking to form a football team. The club was accepted into the Sussex County League Division Three. Facilities at the time were basic, sharing the wooden pavilion building with a local cricket club. In 1992 the pavilion was destroyed in an arson attack and the cricket club relocated to The Saffrons taking the insurance money with them leaving the club with financial difficulties. A grant was secured from the Football Foundation and players were allowed to change in the association club build 400 yards away whilst a new clubhouse was being built.

The new clubhouse was opened during the 1992–93 season and the cricket club moved back in, along with the money to improve the clubhouse which had not followed building regulations.

In the 1996–97 season the team saw promotion into the Second Division giving Eastbourne a fourth senior club. In years afterwards the ground saw continued vandalism, vehicles left on the pitch and set fire to and drainage problems to the pitch. In 2003 a proposal with Eastbourne United was sought and agreed in April 2003.

Placed in Division Two of the County League they struggled initially and in 1996 came perilously close to dropping down into intermediate football after finishing bottom. They recovered however, and within two years had won promotion to Division One as runners-up to East Preston. In 2001–02 however, United were relegated once more.

Merged club

The decision was made to amalgamate with fellow Division Two club Shinewater Association FC at the end of the 2002–03 season. A terrible playing surface at Shinewater's ground in Shinewater Lane, and failure to gain permission to erect the floodlights necessary to advance any further, made it difficult to attract players of sufficient quality in a town where they were already at a premium. In addition, the ground was subject to constant vandalism.

Under the leadership of former Shinewater manager Dave Shearing, the new club won promotion back to Division One at the first attempt after finishing third behind champions Littlehampton Town, and runners-up Worthing United. That progression was maintained in 2004–05 with another excellent campaign and 5th place in the top flight of the County League. With constant rumours of disquiet off the pitch in the local media, Shearing resigned at the end of the 2005–06 season to take a break from football (he subsequently joined Bexhill United), with the Club in 14th position. He was succeeded by former Hailsham Town boss Brian Dennis.