Dave John’s pledge to give £1 for every current and former Hassocks player who completes the Sussex Football 5K for the NHS Challenge means that the Robins’ chairman will be donating over £100 to the fundraiser – and rising.
101 players who have represented Hassocks during Johnsy’s 29 years at the Beacon have taken part in the run so far. The century was brought up on Monday night by Dave’s son Paul, who played 329 games in goal for Hassocks through the 1990s and early 2000s.
Johnsy’s donation has been swelled by his pledge to donate a further £1 for every minute that his grandson, Ben took to complete a 5k.
Ben was the Robins’ Under 18s number one in the 2017-18 season treble winning team. He now lives in Australia and finished his run in a time of 29:01, with Johnsy also offering a further £1 for the friend who ran alongside Ben.
That takes Johnsy’s donation up to £131 so far. No prizes for guessing who Hassocks’ fastest player – and the fastest player of the whole challenge – has been.
The marathon man James Westlake was reluctant to share his time until pushed by Johnsy. We can now reveal that he finished the 5k in an astonishing 15:52.
The full list of current and former Hassocks players to complete the challenge reads:
1) James Westlake
2) Lewis Westlake
3) Liam Benson
4) Dan Stokes
5) Harvey Blake
6) James Littlejohn
7) Will Broomfield
8) Dan Jacques
9) Dan Stokes
10) Louis Pople
11) Bradley Sweetman
12) Phil Wickwar
13) Owen John
14) Lord Phil Gault
15) Pat Harding
16) Joel Harding
17) Anthony Hibbert
18) Spencer Slaughter
19) Jamie ‘The Wizard’ Weston
20) Stuart Faith
21) Richard Thomas
22) Ian Simpson
23) George Willett
24) Josh Hawkes
25) Luke Akehurst
26) Simon Lehkyj
27) Tom Stripp
28) Steve Spies
29) Charlie Pitcher
30) Scott McCarthy
31) Alex Gathern
32) Joe Maskell
33) Scott Kirkwood
34) Charlie Bennett
35) Alfie Loversidge
36) Harrison Lees
37) Jayden Dunkley
38) Luke Vick
39) Chris Maynard
40) Ellis Common
41) Sam Jeremiah
42) Tony Burnham
43) Joe Russell
44) Jake Atherton
45) Tom Howes
46) Harvey Enticknap
47) Luke Marshall
48) Michael Death
49) Brian Husbands (same number as his age)
50) Ollie Lambert
51) Luke Paskins
52) Jame Ingham
53) Elliott Butler
54) Stuart Brown
55) Jack Simpson
56) Mark Enticknap
57) Emma Flin
58) Reece Wickwar
59) Neil Smith
60) Joe Tatford
61) Jack Gardner
62) Lewis Reep
63) Steve Bright
64) Jermaine Blankson
65) Gary Honeysett
66) Jack Troak
67) Eddie French
69) Rob South
70) Arni Kublickas
71) Harvey Ransome
72) Adam Phelps
73) Alex Crawford
74) Kit Tregear
75) George Galbraith-Gibbons
76) Matt Charman
77) Alex Beard
78) Connor Evento
79) Jake Lindsey
80) Joe Bull
81) Mark Darbyshire
82) Jack Wilkins
83) Nick Pitcher
84) Lewis Beebee
85) Ellie Moquet
86) Sam Newman
87) Max Donaldson
88) Sam Cash
89) Joe Fernley
90) Ben John
91) Neil Kane
92) Jordan Badger
93) Sam Badger
94) Alex Spinks
95) Stuart Ritchie
96) Alex Ternouth
97) Ashley Marsh
98) James Broadbent
99) Charlie Jones
100) Paul John
101) Ben O’Leary
The campaign was set up by Kevin Keehan and former Robins midfielder Scott Kirkwood. Non league and grassroots players from across the county undertake a 5k run, take a photo of themselves doing so and then make a donation to the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS charitable funds.
Keehan and Kirkwood originally set a target of £3000. That was exceeded within days and the fundraising shows no sign of slowing as footballers from across Sussex take up the challenge.
If you’re a former Hassocks player who is yet to take part, then please remember to tag us on Twitter when you do (@hassocksfc) so that we can add your name to Johnsy’s list.
Alternatively, you can support the Sussex Football Run 5k for the NHS fund directly by making a donation through JustGiving.
