Sussex County Football Association

The Sussex County Football Association, also simply known as Sussex County FA or Sussex FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Sussex, England. The Sussex County FA was founded on 23 September 1882^[1][2] and run a number of County Cup competitions at various levels for teams all across the county. It is affiliated to The Football Association.^[2]

Sussex County Football Association

The logo of the Sussex County FA
Formation	23 September 1882; 141 years ago (1882-09-23)
Purpose	Football association
Headquarters	Culver Road
Location	Lancing BN15 9AX
Region served	Sussex
Chief executive	Ken Benham
Chairman	Thura KT Win
Affiliations	The Football Association
Website	www.sussexfa.com

History

Founded on 23 September 1882,^[2] the Sussex County FA was founded by several football clubs including Burgess Hill, Chichester City and Horsham. The 1882/83 season saw the Sussex FA create the Sussex Senior Cup, which was won for the first time by Brighton Rangers. The competition continues to run and is the longest-running football competition administered by the Sussex County FA.^[2]

Whilst the main aim of county football associations was to ensure clubs had many matches to play, a secondary aim was to help organise the recreation of schoolchildren.^[3] The Sussex County FA was formed at the time when parents in Sussex were pressing local schools to introduce games on Saturdays, with the intention of keeping children out of mischief.^[3]

In July 1981 the Sussex County FA purchased Lancing F.C., to which it moved its operations, effectively making Lancing F.C.'s home of Culver Road the headquarters of the Sussex County FA.^[2] On 2 November 1999 the Sussex County FA became incorporated as a private limited company. At this time, a new board of directors was created, with a second tier of volunteers called 'the Council', which was replaced in 2017 with 'County Members' and a series of working committees, designed to run football matters more effectively and inclusively.^[2]

In January 2024, Thura KT Win^[4] was appointed as Chair, taking the reins from the late Mathew Major, who passed away in April 2023.^[5]

County leagues

The Southern Combination Football League, formerly known as the Sussex County League until 2015 is the highest level league in Sussex with the Premier Division winners being promoted to the Isthmian League or the Southern League. There are three divisions in the SCFL; Premier Division (level 9), Division One (level 10) and Division Two (level 11). Division Two being of intermediate level and a feeder league alongside the Mid-Sussex Football League. Other feeder leagues at level 12 and below include East Sussex, West Sussex and the. Brighton Worthing & District.

In addition there are also Sunday leagues and Youth leagues.

Cup competitions

The Sussex County FA run several cup competitions:^[6]

Men's Sussex Senior Challenge Cup Sussex RUR Cup Sussex Community Shield

Women's Sussex Women's Challenge Cup Sussex Women's Challenge Trophy

There are also various other cups and trophies for all levels of football in Sussex.

Sussex Community Shield

The champions of the Southern Combination Football League and the winners of the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup play each other in this competition

	Season	Winners	Final result	Runners-up	Venue	Attendance	Notes
	2005	Crawley Town	2–1	Horsham YMCA	Gorings Mead	N/A
	2006	Horsham YMCA	0–0	Lewes	Gorings Mead	N/A
	2007	Brighton & Hove Albion	3–0	Eastbourne Town	The Saffrons	N/A
	2008	Crowborough Athletic	1–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Alderbrook	N/A
	2009	Eastbourne Borough	4–0	Eastbourne United	Priory Lane	N/A
	2010	Whitehawk	2–3	Brighton & Hove Albion	Culver Road	N/A
	2011	Brighton & Hove Albion	4–0	Crawley Down Gatwick	Culver Road	N/A
	2012	Whitehawk	4–1	Three Bridge	Jubilee Field	N/A
	2013	Brighton & Hove Albion	3–1	Peacehaven & Telscombe	Falmer Stadium	N/A
	2015	Littlehampton Town	3–0	Whitehawk	Culver Road	N/A
	2016	Eastbourne Borough	3–0	Horsham	Priory Lane	N/A
	2017	Brighton & Hove Albion	7–0	Shoreham	American Express Elite Football Performance Centre	N/A
	2018	Haywards Heath Town	1–0	Brighton & Hove Albion	Culver Road	N/A
	2019	Bognor Regis Town	1–0	Chichester City	Culver Road	N/A
	2022	Brighton & Hove Albion	2–2 4–3 pens	Littlehampton Town	Culver Road	N/A
	2023	Worthing	3–3 5–4 pens	Broadbridge Heath	Culver Road	275

Principals

Office-holders

Office	Name	Tenure
President	The Duke of Norfolk	1900–1920
	Lord Leconfield	1920–1935
	Sir Charles Kirkpatrick	1935–1937
	S.C. Thompson	1937–1946
	H.P. Brazier	1946–1947
	H.A. Ayling	1947–1948
	H.C. Hunt	1948–1949
	H.B. Cox	1949–1950
	A.E. Bailey	1950–1951
	H.G. Cottrell	1951–1952
	E.C. Martin	1952–1953
	R.S. Chatfield	1953–1954
	Sir Alan Saunders	1954–1955
	Dr. John O'Hara	1955–1992
	J.E. Davey	1992–2010
	Les Kempster ^[7]	2010–2023
Chairman/person	Rev J. Walker	1882–1883
	Rev S. Walker	1883–1889
	George Cole	1889–1903
	R.H. Whittaker	1903–1905
	E.A. Newman	1905–1906
	E. Denne	1906–1907
	J.H. Jordan	1907–1908
	S.C. Thompson	1908–1909
	W.O. Norman	1909–1910
	C.F. Butcher	1910–1911
	R.N. Collins	1911–1912
	G.T. Apps	1912–1913
	H.B. Cox	1913–1914
	F.C. Winton	1914–1920
	H.A. Ayling	1920–1921
	G.E. West	1921–1922
	W. Stephens	1922–1923
	M.W.T. Ridley	1923–1924
	H.G. Cottrell	1924–1925
	A.E. Bailey	1925–1926
	W.B. Stone	1926–1927
	F.A. Cull	1927–1928
	J. Morrin	1928–1929
	H.G. Duvall	1929–1930
	H.J. Carnaghan	1930–1931
	A.G. Whittaker	1931–1932
	E. Ford	1932–1933
	H.F. Gentry	1933–1934
	P.F. Chambers	1934–1935
	F.C. Gates	1935–1936
	W.A. Grainger	1936–1937
	F.C. Wells	1937–1938
	R.H. Willmer	1938–1939
	D Noakes	1939–1944
	F.C. Winton	1944–1945
	H.G. Cottrell	1945–1946
	F.J. Comber	1946–1947
	G. Aucock	1947–1948
	J.T. Mengham	1948–1949
	J. Rabson	1949–1950
	A.C. Cruttenden	1950–1951
	M.W. Simmonds	1951–1952
	F.C. Crouch	1952–1953
	J.E. Kibblewhite	1953–1954
	E.J. Wood	1954–1955
	J.C. Langmaid	1955–1956
	F.C. Sparkes	1956–1957
	A. Slee	1957–1958
	H.C. White	1958–1959
	W.M. Pritchard	1959–1960
	K.V. Baker	1960–1961
	R.E. Tarratt	1961–1962
	E. Walmsley	1962–1963
	A.C. Penny	1963–1964
	W.R. Dunlop	1964–1965
	M. Farncombe	1965–1966
	J.E. Davey	1966–1967
	H.A. Skinner	1967–1968
	C.C. Stevens	1968–1969
	P.G. Cunningham	1969–1970
	W.A. Saunders	1970–1971
	A. Holdstock	1971–1972
	A.C. Adfield	1972–1973
	R.G.T. Ginnaw	1973–1974
R.P. Dudley	1974–1975
R.A. Pavey	1975–1976
T. Parry	1976–1977
S.E.L. Viccars	1977–1978
R.F. Wood	1978–1979
G.H. Cannons	1979–1980
K. Sommerville	1980–1981
F.R. Stenning	1981–1982
J. Ades	1982–1983
P. Wilkins	1983–1984
D.M. Bennett	1984–1985
H.G. Brown	1985–1986
P.R. Bentley	1986–1987
P.B. Hiscox	1987–1988
D.C.L. Chilton	1988–1989
J.M. Smith	1989–1990
L.J. Cornford	1990–1991
M.G. Witherden	1991–1992
P.J. Huggins	1992–1993
D.M. Leonard	1993–1994
D.N. Best	1994–1995
J.R. Burns	1995–1996
A.J. Woodland	1996–1997
J.P.S. Cripps	1997–1998
C.F.B. Groves	1998–1999
A.K. Knight	1999–2000
R.A. Pavey	2000–2004
Peter Bentley ^[8]	2003–2013
Matthew Major ^[9]	2013–2023
Thura KT Win^[4]	2024-present
Deputy Chairman/person	P.R. Bentley	1999–2004
	P.M. Chaplin	2004–2013
	Matthew Major	2013
	E. Potter	2014–2015
	G.R. Flemmington	2015–2017
	John Edwards	2018-present
Secretary	Sturgis Jones	1881–1882
	Rev. Spencer Walker	1882–1886
	F.C. Lingard	1886–1887
	Dr. C. Smith	1887–1888
	F. Pollock	1888–1889
	Rev. C.H. Bond	1889
	E.W. Everest	1889–1945
	F.C. Wells	1945–1956
	C.H. Izard	1956–1968
	R.F. Reeve	1968–1988
	D.M. Worsfold	1987–1999
Chief executive	Ken Benham	2000–present

References

1. Harvey, Adrian (2005). Football: The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story. Abingdon: Routledge.
2. "Sussex County FA - History". Sussex FA. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
3. Harvey, Adrian (2013). Football: The First Hundred Years: The Untold Story. Routledge. p. 210.
4. Association, The Football. "Thura KT Win appointed as Chair". www.sussexfa.com. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
5. Association, The Football. "Mathew Major RIP". www.sussexfa.com. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
6. "Sussex County FA - Cups & Competitions". Sussex FA. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
7. "President shortlisted for BBC award". Sussex FA. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
8. "Sad loss of Peter Bentley". Sussex FA. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
9. "Matthew Major elected as Chairman". Sussex FA. Retrieved 27 May 2022.

External links

• Official website