Langney Sports. Who?

No worries Barton, great post as always. I will add my usual wiki ground post..

Priory Lane or Langney Sports Club is home of newly promoted Eastbourne Borough, who play in the Conference National League. Building commenced in 1983 when the club was playing as Langney Sports, joined the Sussex County Football League. Over the years the ground has seen a lot of development. Which included a small seated stand, executive boxes, and three tea bars. Part of the staduim complex includes the Langney Sports Club which is open to non members on match days, an indoor bowls centre and tennis courts.

In 2006 the stadium was chosen by the Football Association to stage all three of England’s fixtures in the Non League Home Nations Tournament.

The ground has been built by volunteers starting with the Peter Fountain stand which was extended in the early 1990s. The Mick Green stand was built in 1995 ready for the 1995-96 season.

The record attendance is 3,770 against Oxford United in the FA Challenge Cup 1st Round on the 5 September 2005

Main Stand has a seating area for 542 spectators, there is a Directors' Suite and Main Sponsor's Executive Suite. Also an Announcer's Box and Press area is also situated in this stand.
The Mick Green Stand houses the dressing rooms, a tea bar (with seating inside), and provides covered terracing at the Priory Road end of the ground. The upper floor has four Executive Suites, in addition to the exclusive ‘Legends Lounge', with windows fronting on to the pitch.
Peter Fountain Stand is a covered terrace and houses a tea bar.
River End Stand is a covered terrace but has no amenities.
There is a car park for 400 vehicles, mainly behind the River End stand with a small car park in front of the clubhouse.

For the 2008-2009 Season, the admission prices are as the following.

Afternoon Games
Adults: £12.50
Concessions: £8.00
Children: £4.00

Evening Games
£11.50
£7.00
£3.00

There is no additional charge for seats.

The ground is situated to the east of Eastbourne with access to the A27 and A22 main roads. The nearest railway station is Pevensey & Westham which is a 30 minute walk away, although more trains serve Eastbourne from London, Brighton and Hastings but is a bus ride or a taxi ride away.

If you are driving to the ground from the North and West, take the A22 and / or A27 towards Eastbourne and then follow signs to Eastbourne Crematorium. Passing the Crematorium and taking the third exit on the roundabout, the floodlights come into view straight away. From the west, take the A259 to Pevensey and follow signs to Westham Village, once in Westham turn left passing the railway station until the roundabout. Turn left at the roundabout.

Yes Jamie I know so many would love to know and meet barton downs. But don't you think not knowing and having the mystery adds to his posts? its like Kendo Nagasaki, the masked wrestler, you knew he was good, never failed to please and entertain, yet he always wore a mask.

Who was he? what did he look like, you wanted him to lose, so his mask would have to come off, but really if that was to happen, the magic of him might be lost. Not saying that Barton's magic would ever be lost, but I'm enjoying just guessing.

He must be about the same age Phil ;D so why not?

Thanks Dave. Now I've discovered Wiki, I'm fully aware that Kendo was born in Stoke-on-Trent, of all places, in 1946. That makes him a few years older than me.

Nagasaki must be an old potters' name - possibly more Burslem than Hanley?

Jamie, thanks for the comments. I stand on the popside, nearer the edge of the Babbacombe End penalty box than the halfway line. I wonder if others on this site stand close by?

Dave, have to admit to being partial to watching the WWF now WWE. The 'story' lines are to say the least corny but its good entertainment.

Ah the Stone Cold Stunner, The Peoples Elbow, The Steiner Recliener, The Worm. I can hear Buba ray calling "Devon, get the table".

I could go on.....................but wont

...When i went to the last game at the Atspeed Stadium Horsham last season, it is interesting that the Horsham YMCA Ground is right next door. So i was sat in the grandstand watching the Horsham match and i could see, albeit the reserves, of YMCA playing too.

Staying over in Eastbourne - before coming back to have a wisdom tooth out in hospital today - means this is my first opportunity to add to this thread since Tuesday night.

Must admit I was impressed by the set up at Eastbourne Borough. Although the first impression is of a club re-located to an out-of-town site, nothing could be further from the truth. Instead this is an example of the local club - local to Langney that is - building their own ground from nothing over the years.

Full credit also to Eastbourne for keeping the same manager for over ten years and maintaining the bulk of the squad that's got them to the BSP. According to Tuesday's programme, five of the squad have played more than 250 games for the club (the right back has played over 800!) and another six have played over 100 games for the first team.

This makes Eastbourne Borough very similar to Histon. Whether they can quite match Histon's current position is another matter but you would imagine that, long-term, Eastbourne is the club with the greater potential.

The next season or two will be crucial for both clubs. Do they attempt the transition to full professionalism? How high do they aim? How do they replace long-serving players - and at what financial cost? It's a difficult one. Salisbury took the plunge by employing full-timers and look what's happening there.

To give an idea of how far Eastbourne Borough has come take a look at this entry from Tony Williams' non-league grounds book (1990) which I picked up this week for £3 in a secondhand bookshop in Tunbridge Wells:



I also took the chance of taking a look at the grounds of Eastbourne United Association and Eastbourne Town.

Now, I must declare an interest in The Oval, home of United. Aside from Plainmoor this was the first remotely "proper" football ground I ever peered inside. I was aged eight and on holiday. My dad and myself were walking along the seafront when we saw the floodlights in operation. We walked through the gates and saw ten minutes of an unknown game. I'm not saying it was a life-changing experience but it was certainly one of those little events that helped cement my interest in football.

Forty-four years on and it doesn't appear that history has been too kind to The Oval or Eastbourne United. Back in 1964 they were newly-elected to the Athenian League and, possessing floodlights, would have been ahead of many rivals. Now they are in the Sussex County League (albeit doing well) with a cordoned-off stand and, most probably, no chance of progression.

Eastbourne Town, by contrast, are playing at a neat arrangement now quite separate to the cricket field at the Saffrons where Sussex played until 2000. However, you still enter the football ground through the old cricket gates. This brought back memories of the first county cricket I ever saw: Sussex v Worcestershire at Eastbourne, August 1964: Dexter, Parks, Snow, the Buss brothers, Headley, Graveney, Gifford (but sadly no Len Coldwell, the Worcs and England bowler from Newton Abbot).

Thanks to acscricket.com/Archive/Scorecards/27/27074.html for the last paragragh!