Hastings United
Hastings United
FOOTBALL CLUB
H
astings United supporters
are no strangers to a good
old fashioned relegation
scrap, but it would
appear that the novelty
has well and truly worn off.
After watching their team win
promotion to the Ryman League
Premier Division in May 2007, five of the
next six campaigns were spent fighting
for survival, three of which went down
to the last day of the season, before their
luck finally ran out in 2013, with the
club dropping back down to Division
One South.
The fact that relegation occurred just a
few months after the U’s had enjoyed
their greatest ever FA Cup run was
nothing if not inconvenient, with club
finances swelled by an unforgettable
third round visit to Middlesbrough, and
the live televising of their second round
replay against Harrogate Town by
ESPN, when a 4,000 plus capacity crowd
packed into their Pilot Field home. The
cash injection that should have set
up a shot at promotion to Conference
South would first just have to be spent
on getting back to the Ryman Premier
instead.
Bookmakers quickly installed
United as title favourites,
and the club were
in
the
hunt
throughout
the first
half of
t h e
2013/14 season, only to fall away and
ultimately sneak into the play-offs
where they suffered an extra time defeat
at Folkestone in the semi-finals.
Never mind though, they could
afford to go hard once again in 2014/15
and duly invested heavily in an
experienced squad that would surely
be able to conquer all before them.
Or perhaps not. At time of writing,
the U’s are on their third permanent
manager of the campaign, have used
forty-seven first team players, and only
goal difference is keeping them out of
the relegation zone. Not without good
reason, supporters are far from amused,
many expressing the view that the club
would simply collapse and die were it to
slide into County League circles.
Nigel Kane was in the manager’s
chair when United last achieved
promotion, and returned for a second
stint at the helm in January 2015. His
reappointment was generally met with
apathy from fans who can be forgiven
for having grown weary at the number
of bosses who have come and gone since
Dave Walters took over as chairman in
2004. Kane was viewed as too safe a
choice, an honest and true servant of the
club, no doubt, but not someone who
was obviously equipped for the task
at hand. Results on
the pitch have
sadly borne
out these
fears.
Hastings United Club Info - www.hastingsunitedfc.co.uk - Twitter : @hastingsufc- Founded 1894
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