Eastbourne Borough begin their third season in non-league football’s top flight on Saturday (August 14th) with an opening day trip to Tamworth.
It has been a busy summer on and off the pitch at Priory Lane as the part-time club prepares to take on the likes of Grimsby, Darlington, Luton and York in the Blue Square Bet Premier.
Borough have strengthened their squad with five new signings in the close season, all with a good pedigree in the non-league game – goalkeeper Rikki Banks (Lewes), defender Matt Langston (Histon), midfielders Steve Brinkhurst (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Kane Wills (Ebbsfleet United) and striker Richard Pacquette (York City).
Banks, 22, started his career as a trainee at Crystal Palace and was at Worthing prior to joining Lewes in 2008, where he was named player of the season last year.
Sussex-born Langston, 29, a long-term target for Borough, hit the headlines at Histon for scoring the goal that knocked Leeds United out of the FA Cup in November 2008. He began at Watford before spells at Aldershot Town and Cambridge City.
Brinkhurst, 19, and Wills, 20, both played for Brighton and Hove Albion against Borough in the 2009 Sussex Senior
Cup final. Brinkhurst spent a period on-loan last season at Lewes, while Wills featured in the Blue Square Bet Premier for Ebbsfleet United. Both are talented young midfielders looking to establish themselves at this level.
Like Langston, Pacquette, 27, also has an FA Cup pedigree as he scored at Anfield in Havant and Waterlooville’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Liverpool in January 2008. Pacquette, who has won two international caps for Dominica, began his nomadic career at Queens Park Rangers, but spent the most successful period of his career at Worthing (30 league games, 17 goals), Havant (68 league games, 22 goals) and Maidenhead United (30 league games, 17 goals). He scored four times in 18 appearances for York City in 2009-10.
Up-and-coming youngsters Ross Treleaven, Ollie Rowe and Ethan Strevett have also impressed during Borough’s pre-season warm-up matches. The club have won six of their seven friendlies – against Eastbourne Town (4-0), Brighton and Hove Albion (3-2), Tonbridge Angels (2-0), Hastings United (2-1), Lewes (3-1) and Eastleigh (4-0). The only loss came in a battling 0-1 reverse to npower League Two side Southend United.
Assistant manager Nick Greenwood is confident the quality of the new additions, plus the work done on the training ground in pre-season, will enable the club to get off to a flying start.
He said: “The players have worked extremely hard, doing three sessions a week since the end of June. It is absolutely crucial to get a good start in this league. Every point matters and you need to start accumulating points from game one.”
The match at Tamworth’s The Lamb Ground kicks off at 3pm. The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 1-1 draw, Ben Austin scoring Borough’s goal. Tamworth finished 16th last season, just three points ahead of Borough.
Eastbourne Borough’s first home match of the new campaign is on Tuesday August 17, against Hayes and Yeading United, at Priory Lane. Kick-off is 7:45pm.
Borough Squad Numbers-2010-11: 1. Danny Knowles; 2. Darren Baker; 3. Neil Jenkins; 4. Matt Smart; 5. Ben Austin (captain); 6. Matt Langston; 7. Jamie Taylor; 8. Simon Johnson; 9. Andy Atkin; 10. Richard Pacquette; 11. Matt Crabb; 12. Ethan Strevett; 13. Rikki Banks; 14. Simon Weatherstone; 15. Nathan Crabb; 16. Steve Brinkhurst; 17. Ollie Rowe; 18. Kane Wills; 19. Ross Treleaven; 24. Gary Elphick; 26. Dan Brown.
