Sussex Sunday League all time low?

Return of the Rev · Sep 4, 2016

Around 47 teams in 4 divisions :ohmy:

Recall when i played it had 13 divisions

Is this the lowest amount of teams playing in the Sussex Sunday league?

Is it costs or a generation with more to do on a sunday :moo:

BensGrandad · Sep 4, 2016

That was when Ron Pavey was running it but since he passed away it has reduced in numbers but then having said that so have most leagues due probably to other past times and hobbies coming more to the front.

Da Man Clay · Sep 4, 2016

Cost and general poor administration the last few years. Played this morning and for just under £120 we got a 16 year old referee and changing rooms that didn't have a working shower. Brilliant.

Gazwag · Sep 4, 2016

Part I would guess is a shortage of kids coming through as they spend their lives playing football with their fingers in their bedrooms and parents can be bothered to take their kids

AmexRuislip · Sep 4, 2016

Gazwag said:
Part I would guess is a shortage of kids coming through as they spend their lives playing football with their fingers in their bedrooms and parents can be bothered to take their kids

Did you ever play footy in Bexhill?

Dirk Lehmann's Python · Sep 4, 2016

Gazwag said:
Part I would guess is a shortage of kids coming through as they spend their lives playing football with their fingers in their bedrooms and parents can be bothered to take their kids

Unlikely. The amount of 6-a-side leagues out there on 3G pitches is more likely the 'problem' imho.

All the serious stuff is played on a Saturday and the 'fun' is now in 6-a-side. Which is a shame as I bloody love Sunday League.

The Birdman · Sep 4, 2016

I played in the northern Div 4 which include Mid Sussex Crawley teams right up to Redhill and gradually new leagues were formed and one was the Lewes Sunday leauge. We went to meetings at its HQ near the clock tower in Brighton. I think it had over twenty leagues. Politics always ruins good set ups.

darkwolf666 · Sep 4, 2016

Da Man Clay said:
Cost and general poor administration the last few years. Played this morning and for just under £120 we got a 16 year old referee and changing rooms that didn't have a working shower. Brilliant.

Changing rooms, changing rooms... That's bloody luxury. Here in Kent in the Sheppey Sunday league the changing room is the back seat of your car! And as for a shower you are having a laugh.

Like the OP I played and ref'd when there were 13+ divisions plus north divisions to cover Crawley etc. How times have changed...

SIMMO SAYS · Sep 4, 2016

Started in Div 14? 1976
Won a big cup for being top of fair play vote. Never won anything after :moo:

Finished in Div3 22 years later :ohmy:

Retired at the age of 38 ffsake!

BN9 BHA · Sep 4, 2016

Gazwag said:
Part I would guess is a shortage of kids coming through as they spend their lives playing football with their fingers in their bedrooms and parents can be bothered to take their kids

There are still loads of kids playing football, my youngest has just started his seventh season, the club he plays for has three teams at under 13s. There are 5 divisions in the Sussex Sunday youth league.
The kids are really keen, it's keeping them interested when they get to 17-18, my 18 year old is still playing though.

crookie · Sep 4, 2016

West Kent Sunday League gone from 7 divisions to 4 in the last few seasons. Hope it carries on, been playing in it for 25 years !!

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Gwylan · Sep 4, 2016

Gazwag said:
Part I would guess is a shortage of kids coming through as they spend their lives playing football with their fingers in their bedrooms and parents can be bothered to take their kids

That's not true at all. I've mentioned before that I tried for two years to get my son into a team but all the teams in B&H were full, with long waiting lists. There's certainly no shortage of young players coming through

And nor is it true that the number of players is declining. I was looking at figures from the FA which showed an increase of players, although many of these players were opting for 5-a-side or other forms, rather than traditional 11-a-side. The survey also showed that squads were getting bigger, reflecting that large numbers of people played but played less regularly

dstanman · Sep 4, 2016

So do any of the local leagues see any of the money from Sky/BT that supposed to come down to the grass roots

Biscuit Barrel · Sep 4, 2016

I used to referee in the Sussex Sunday League. I was at Braypool this morning and there was two games being played. When I used to referee there in the late 90's there was at least 6 games being played.

hans kraay fan club · Sep 4, 2016

Gwylan said:
That's not true at all. I've mentioned before that I tried for two years to get my son into a team but all the teams in B&H were full, with long waiting lists. There's certainly no shortage of young players coming through

And nor is it true that the number of players is declining. I was looking at figures from the FA which showed an increase of players, although many of these players were opting for 5-a-side or other forms, rather than traditional 11-a-side. The survey also showed that squads were getting bigger, reflecting that large numbers of people played but played less regularly

Definitely something in that. My (Saturday) side have around 25 registered players, but we rarely have more than 14 available any given week.

Like the OP I also played in Div 13 of the Sussex Sunday league (at the age of 16). Seems a long time ago!

Return of the Rev · Sep 4, 2016

dstanman said:
So do any of the local leagues see any of the money from Sky/BT that supposed to come down to the grass roots

bhawoddy · Sep 4, 2016

SSFL had 15 divisions when I started, 1 prem, 2 intermediate and 12 junior leagues. All teams down to about junior 6 were decent as I recall.
It's sad to see, what was a vibrant SSFL, reduced to just a few teams.

mooey · Sep 4, 2016

I played in the crawley league and lewes many a morning throwing up at the side of the pitch after a heavy night.didnt like the lewes league loads of dirty players did both my knee ligaments and ankle playing there and experienced a fair amount of racism too.

The Birdman · Sep 5, 2016

When I first played was for a team called Oaklands at Barn Cottage HH around 1978 five to eight years latter we formed a Sunday Team at Scaynes Hill and we won the Sussex Sunday league div 4 north. A lot of our players played Premier in the Mid Sussex League on Saturdays several good teams left the Mid Sussex league to join the Brighton league which was stronger like Franklands Village and St Francies HH
Many of the teams in the Sunday leagues were company teams. Crawley Traders British Cala Langley sports etc.later American Express.

Dirk Lehmann's Python · Sep 5, 2016

Another mention - the facilities in Brighton are absolutely shite. Look at Waterhall. Changing rooms are unchanged since the 70s when presumably a freezing cold concrere building with errratic showers was acceptable. One pathetic access road for the ambulances which is usually full becase the travellers have shut the car park. In the days of lottery grants and 3g surfaces it's joke.

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