Club captain set to return from nine months out for 2023-24 season
Hassocks club captain Lewis Westlake has committed to the Robins for 2023-24 as he prepares to return from nine months out injured.
The midfielder played 10 of the opening 11 games of last season before injury struck in September’s 4-2 away victory at Horsham YMCA. Westlake was not seen for the first team again, although he did manage two appearances later in the campaign for the Under 23s.
Not that it stopped him keeping busy. Westlake took over the Robins’ official Twitter account, offering matchday updates with a twist.
Particular fans of his work were said to be goalkeeper James Shaw, Jack “He’s put the ball on the railway tracks again” Troak and half the Newhaven squad who drew 2-2 at the Beacon on Saturday 25th March.
Westlake is currently in his third spell as a Hassocks player. He first joined the Robins in the summer of 2016 from Lancing having previously played for St Francis Rangers.
The following two seasons saw Westlake make 62 appearances for Hassocks before returning to Lancing briefly at the start of the 2018-19 season. Next came a move to Loxwood, for whom he turned out 22 times.
Westlake moved back to Hassocks in February 2019. His second spell with the Robins consisted of 16 appearances over 12 months until the first Covid-19 lockdown hit and grassroots football ground to a halt.
The appointment of his former Hassocks teammate Spencer Slaughter as Loxwood manager in the 2020 close season saw Westlake return to Plaistow Road.
Slaughter soon named Westlake as his captain with the midfielder skippering the Magpies to the final of the Southern Combination Premier Division Supplementary Shield, where they lost out to a Lancing side about to be promoted to the Isthmian League.
When Slaughter left Loxwood four months later, Westlake joined Steyning Town. He made only two starts and one substitute appearance before following Slaughter and brother James back to Hassocks in October 2021.
Westlake scored four times in his first five appearances. His goal threat, set piece prowess and partnership with James in the middle of the park helped Brad Sweetman’s side pull clear of the relegation zone in the second half of the campaign.
The six goals Westlake plundered in 2021-22 made it the most prolific of his career And after missing most of 2022-23, the return to the fold of a player with 113 career appearances for the Robins under his belt will be akin to a new signing.
