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(This article was originally published in the WFC Programme in the 2002-03 season. It has not been changed, and may no longer be fully up-to date)
Lewes deservedly received a lot of publicity (and an injection of new fans) for their FA Cup and Vase exploits last season, but it was not so long ago that Worthing had a team with a fine cup pedigree.
At the start of the 1999/2000 season, having won the Sussex Senior Cup for a record twenty-first time and reaching the final of the Puma Cup (the now discontinued Isthmian Full Members Cup), not to mention crushing County League giants Burgess Hill 3-0 in the pre-season Roy Hayden Trophy (the Sussex equivalent of the Charity Shield, the Rebels found themselves drawn away to Epsom & Ewell in the FA Cup Preliminary Qualifying Round.
Epsom were in the Ryman Third Division at the time (alongside Lewes), and because they ground-share with Banstead Athletic, the game was to be played on Sunday 22nd August (which suited me perfectly, as in those days I still had a Southampton season ticket). On the day, Worthing ran-out comfortable 3-0 winners (with goals from Marc Rice, Tony Holden and Adie Miles) without breaking into much of a sweat. The next round (1st Qualifying Round) paired us against Sussex rivals Saltdean, who were at the time still a team to be reckoned with (and had defeated us in the previous season’s Floodlit Cup semi). I was to miss this game as I was following Scotland away in Sarajevo, but Helen came to the game (nursing an almighty hangover from a works do) and saw the Rebels pick up a 2-1 win with a late rally that included a screamer from Mark Knee (in his left-back days). This being the Sammy Donnelly era, Worthing chased the game in characteristic cavalier fashion, with no less than five strikers on the pitch at one point!
The Second Qualifying round saw us drawn with a tricky trip to Kent League movers and shakers Deal Town. Although now a spent force, Deal then had a full-time manager and had grand plans for progression (put paid to by a council lease on their ground). The first game was a fortunate 2-2 draw, although the replay was a slightly more convincing 3-0 win. Although I missed both matches due to clashes with Saints games, I was on-hand to travel to Chippenham Town for the Third Qualifying Round.
At the time, Chippenham Town were one of the front-runners in the Western League, and were preparing to step up the pyramid (they are now in the Dr Martens’ Premier). Hardenhuish Park is situated on the edge of the town, and has quite a rural feel. Being perched at the foot of a hill gives it quite a wicked slope, and Worthing struggled at first to get to grips before eventually showing signs of their class, including a sublime volley against the angle of post and bar. The game was drawn 1-1 in front of a decent-sized crowd of 468, bringing about a replay on the Tuesday. By this time, Worthing were becoming the focus of some (limited) media attention, as a journalist had decided to follow “Man Utd” (i.e. Mangotsfield Utd, then also a Western League team – in the season when Manchester Utd were excused from cup duty to go to Brazil) from the opening matches, and then adopt the winning team right through to the final (this has been documented in the book “Grass Roots to New Suits”).
Ironically, the replay date clashed with the Scotland vs Bosnia game at Ibrox Park, so as I sat and watched Scotland defend a slender one-goal lead, Helen was in the Ibrox concourse on the phone to Roy in the Press Box to get an update, just in time for Worthing to score the third goal in our 3-1 win. That win brought us the game we had all been waiting for – Dover Athletic at Woodside Road in the Fourth Qualifying Round – just one game away from the First Round Proper.
Although Dover were never one of the best supported Conference teams (and they have now of course slipped back in to the Dr Marten’s League), they were in the top six when we hosted them. A crowd of over 1,000 watched Dover take a first-half lead, and witnessed several controversial refereeing decisions (including penalty a not awarded and a goalkeeper not sent off) go against Worthing before Ben Carrington rose to the occasion. In the 90th minute, with practically the last kick of the game, Ben smashed home a 25-yard volley from the inside-right position sending the home fans into raptures and earning the Rebels a 1-1 draw and a place in the First Round draw. The cheering had barely stopped when we all gathered in the Main Bar to watch the draw on BBC1. Obviously, we all hoped for a big club (Reading, Millwall, Stoke), or the big derby clash against Brighton, so a few people were a wee bit disappointed about being drawn away to Rotherham. Anyway, we still had to get past Dover in the replay, and winning away from home against a Conference side was never going to be easy.
Half-day holidays were swiftly arranged, and we headed to Dover in the car along with “lucky charm” Matt. My friend Matt has only seen a handful of Rebels’ games, but they have included over the years the 8-2 win at home to Barton, the 4-2 comeback at Northwood (known as the “Ben’s Shorts” game) and several matches in the ’99 Cup Run, including Saltdean, Chippenham and the Dover home game. We arrived at the Crabble Ground (which is perched imposingly at the top of a hill) just in time for the bar opening, and settled in with those who had arrived on the team coach. A good 300 Worthing fans made the journey to the far south-east, and all held their breath throughout the goal-less 90 minutes. After barely surviving an injury-time scare when Dover beat Lee Bray only to see the shot rebound off a post, the game moved into Extra Time. The deadlock was to be finally broken on 116 minutes, when Miles Rutherford recovered the ball from yet another Dover attack in the right-back position and sent a 60-yard diagonal ball to super-sub Tony Holden. Holden was 25 yards from goal, and did not flinch as he connected first-time to send an exquisite volley past the advancing Paul Hyde in the Dover goal. Cue pandemonium on the terrace, as half the team vaulted the fence to join in the celebrations. We hung on for the last 4 minutes to secure a famous victory and a place in the First Round Proper for the third time in Worthing’s history.
If anything, the game away to Rotherham, coming less than two weeks after the emotion of Dover, was a bit of an anti-climax. Worthing put up a gallant performance against the then high-flying Division Three side (who were promoted to Division One within two years), but went down to a 3-0 defeat, a standing ovation from the whole ground and glowing praise from the manager Ronnie Moore. Moore showed how highly he rated Worthing by bringing his first-team to Woodside for a friendly at the start of the following season.
So there is the tale of Worthing’s own cup heroics, in the days before the new FA sponsorship deal brought the riches now afforded to successful non-league cup teams. That was not to be the only cup success we enjoyed that season, reaching the Final of the Floodlit Cup (where with ten men and a substitute goalkeeper in midfield, we lost in extra-time to Burgess Hill), and reaching the quarter-finals of the Sussex Senior Cup. Interestingly, we defeated tonight’s opponents 4-0 in the second round, in front of a Woodside crowd of 165, boosted by a single-figure Lewes travelling support.
For me, the performance of the season took place in the Dover replay, and here is the team that shone that night (along with their current whereabouts):
- Lee Bray (quit football to concentrate on work, although has since played sporadically for Southwick)
- Miles Rutherford (Bognor)
- Mark Knee (Worthing striker)
- Mark Burt (Southwick)
- Paul Kennett (Lewes)
- Guy Rutherford (Bognor)
- Simon James (Moneyfields)
- Lee Cox (Withdean)
- Marc Rice (coaching abroad)
- Simon Funnell (Southwick)
- Ben Carrington (Worthing right-winger)
Subs:
- Adie Miles (Pagham)
- Paul Thomas (Chicester City Utd)
- Tony Holden (Southwick)
7th Feb 2004