Bostik Blog: Learning to love Lewes

By Ian Townsend

Ben Lane explains why a group of secondary school pupils in Colchester have adopted an East Sussex side as ‘their’ team

The rolling hills of the East Sussex Downs in which Lewes is located is quite different from the ancient capital of Colchester. Britain’s oldest recorded town, as far as football goes, hasn’t had the most illustrious history and with Colchester United currently plying their trade just three divisions above local Bostik Premier side Brightlingsea Regent, non-league football in this part of East Anglia has the potential to have a significant presence: alongside Regent you have Witham Town, AFC Sudbury, Heybridge Swifts and Maldon and Tiptree all within easy reach. To put it bluntly, ‘Col U’ do not provide much local competition for spectators or interest. Lewes and other non-league sides in East (and West) Sussex on the other hand, with Brighton’s ascent into the Premier League, have stiff competition for fans yet Lewes’ reach and appeal with their much lauded ‘ownership’ scheme has extended far beyond the boundaries of the Bostik South. With such a strong and successful Bostik League presence around Colchester why have one group of school students decided that Lewes is the team for them?

The students in question attend The Gilberd School and are members of the 7yBLA form group which is unsurprisingly, the form group I am tutor of. The conclusion you may well jump to when I reveal that I am myself an ‘owner’ of Lewes is “well obviously!” However as teachers and parents will tell you, teenagers rarely do or accept things that they do not want to do or accept. Many tutor groups at the school have adopted charities that they contribute to over the academic year however with a ‘boy heavy’ tutor group I took the bold step of initially prescribing ownership of Lewes with them. Lewes are far from a charity of course, but the values they stand for provided a unique opportunity to discuss and support gender equality- all within a context that gave the boys in the tutor group little wriggle room to resist.

When they were first told about how as a result of me being an owner they were all owners by proxy, the first two questions I was asked were “Who?!” and “Where’s that?!” Once those were dealt with the more excitable members of the form group started to formulate big plans of signing Neymar, taking an executive suite for a match or turning up at The Dripping Pan for a trial. Soon though discussion turned to why gender equality and pay in society and sport is important and it was fascinating to see students who would not have under normal circumstances given these issues a seconds thought, be engaged and enthused all because of a team in the Bostik South. On our form notice board we have the current Lewes away shirt with ‘Equality FC’ proudly displayed, and a mini whiteboard where I update the latest results for the men’s and women’s teams. Lewes are now referred too as ‘we’ (“how did we do this weekend?”) to the extent that I have been asked by a group of students to try and organise a trip for those that are interested to the Pan. The really striking thing is that word about Lewes is beginning to spread throughout school. Students who I teach also see these results and the shirt and begin to ask questions about Lewes and the work they do, and if just one student takes the time to look up Lewes’ website and see the values they are promoting as a result, if this behaviour was replicated, then what a boost it could potentially be for Lewes and the Bostik League.

The point I am trying to make then is this: supporters of the sides mentioned earlier may well be frustrated that the students’ following of Lewes comes at the expensive of their own, however this case provides evidence that if the values are right and marketed correctly, the support for local non league football is there. It just needs harnessing. With prices to Colchester’s New Years Day game vs Cambridge costing £15 for those aged under 21 and with household budgets becoming increasingly tight, Bostik League teams have the opportunity to capitalise. ‘Kids for a quid’ or ‘Kids go free’ is of course a great start but Lewes have a unique selling point: community ownership and a social conscience to boot. Wouldn’t it be fantastic for the Bostik League and the health of other non league clubs too if this was the norm rather than the exception?

Ben will hopefully be writing more for us in future- and not just about his high flying Rooks! You can follow him on twitter here.

Where next?

Ware's Craig 2: The Sequel Former Billericay Town and Kingstonian manager Craig Edwards has moved on once more- only a month after taking his last job
Bostik League attendances are still on the up! December attendances show yet another rise

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