One Robins legend takes over from another at the head of the club
A familiar face is the new chairman of Hassocks with Super Pat Harding succeeding Dave John, who announced his retirement at the end of last season after over 30 years day-to-day involvement running the Robins.
John initially arrived as general manager when the club were playing intermediate football at Adastra Park, becoming instrumental in transforming Hassocks on and off the pitch.
He played a leading role in the move to a purpose-built ground at the Beacon, coinciding with the Robins rising to step five of the non-league pyramid in 1995.
Hassocks have remained in the top flight of the Southern Combination League ever since, making them the division’s longest serving club.
Since then, John has fulfilled virtually every role going at the Beacon. He has served four spells as first team boss, managed the Under 23s and Under 18s and been director of football.
The youth setup is arguably his biggest legacy. One of the first changes John made upon joining the Robins was introducing a youth team with the aim of providing a pathway into senior football.
Over 100 players have since come through the Under 18s into the first team, allowing Hassocks to compete whilst still maintaining their long-held ethos of not paying players.
Included amongst that number is Super Pat. Some 23 years after John as Robins manager gave Harding his senior debut, Super Pat now succeeds him as chairman.
Despite standing down from running the club, John will continue to be a familiar face around the Beacon having been made president.
In further recognition of his service, the bar in the Clubhouse has been renamed the Dave John Lounge and a picture of a slightly younger Johnsy surveying the Beacon during its construction will hang on the wall.
Super Pat meanwhile steps straight from the pitch and into the boardroom. The forward announced his retirement from playing last month after a glittering non-league career spanning two decades, 990 games and 348 goals.
248 of those appearances and 156 of those goals came for Hassocks over two spells which bookended Harding’s career. In between, he played for Eastbourne Borough, Horsham, Whitehawk and Burgess Hill Town.
Having come through the Robins youth system to become Hassocks’ second-highest ever scorer after Phil Gault, Harding knows the club better than most.
With his appointment as chairman confirmed, Harding said: “I am honoured to officially become Hassocks chairman.”
“A great club with integrity, which I’ve inherited in wonderful condition thanks to the previous chairman, Dave John. Volunteers have been phenomenal. I’ll leave the club in a better condition than I find it.”
