Former manager and striker mourned

Three Bridges are mourning the death of one of the Ryman South club’s former managers.

Harry Easton, credited by many with putting the Sussex club on the footballing map, passed away on Tuesday aged 75. A former striker with Crystal Palace from 1956 to 1962, he went on to play for Crawley Town as a bustling centre-forward.

His first success as a manager came when he guided Haywards Heath to the Sussex County Football League Championship in 1970, the side including current Bridges president Alan Bell.

He first came to Bridges for the 1979-80 season, gaining promotion in his first season at the helm at Jubilee Field and ensuring the club became a force in the league’s First Division force. In 1982 he stood down and later took over the reins at Burgess Hill Town before leaving the area for work and setting up home in Ashford in Kent.

In a statement announcing his passing, a club spokesman said: "A bubbly character, Harry Easton will be missed by all who knew him."