Robins name James Westlake as new first team head coach
Hassocks Football Club are delighted to announce the appointment of James Westlake as the Robins’ new first team head coach.
A hugely popular figure at the Beacon, Westlake has made 228 appearances for Hassocks across three spells spread over 11 years. He is planning to combine his new role with continuing as a player.
Westlake first joined the club in the 2010-11 season, signed from St Francis Rangers by Mickey Jewell. He was a mainstay of Jewell’s Hassocks side who finished fourth in the Premier Division in 2011-22, the club’s highest ever league position before he returned to St Francis in the summer of 2013.
A brief spell with Haywards Heath Town followed before Westlake re-joined the Robins midway through the 2015-16 season.
His signing had a major influence in Hassocks completing a great escape from relegation in the second half of the campaign under Mark Dalgleish and Phil Wickwar.
Westlake scaled back his football commitments in 2018, focusing instead on his running career. That led to him being the sixth British finisher in the London Marathon, winning the Worthing 10k in a course record and the Brighton 10 Mile in a PB.
He was also selected to represent England in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Despite an injury-hit preparation, Westlake ran the event in another PB of 2:23:05 to finish 20th. Those achievements saw him named in the Mid Sussex Times top 10 sportspeople of 2018.
Westlake was lured back to football when appointed assistant manager of Loxwood by Magpies boss and his former Hassocks teammate Spencer Slaughter in the 2020-21 season.
The duo did an excellent job in leading Loxwood to the final of the Southern Combination Premier Supplementary Shield, where they were beaten by Isthmian League-bound Lancing.
When Slaughter left Plaistow Road in September 2021, Westlake soon followed to sign for Hassocks for a third time. The Robins were again deep in relegation trouble but his return helped spark another turnaround to finish the season in 16th spot, some nine points clear of the bottom two.
Hassocks also reached the semi finals of the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup. They bowed out 2-0 to Southern Combination League champions Littlehampton Town, who were chasing an historic quadruple.
Westlake will be aiming to build on that improved second half of the campaign under his predecessor as head coach Brad Sweetman when the 2022-23 Premier Division season gets underway on Saturday 30th July.
To help him with that aim, Westlake has named Phil Gault and Tom Hughes as his assistants. Gault of course needs no introduction to Hassocks fans.
He is the club’s record scorer in senior football having notched 190 goals in 345 matches, including five in seven in 2020-21.
Like Westlake, Gault joined Hassocks from St Francis Rangers. He has had several spells at the Beacon since first arriving in 2006, the latest of which was his fourth.
As well as Hassocks and St Francis, Gault has also played for Horsham YMCA and Haywards Heath Town in a long and distinguished career.
Hughes meanwhile made a name for himself on the Surrey non-league scene, breaking into the Sutton United first team as a 20-year-old centre half.
He went onto play for Merstham and Croydon before moving to Sussex and representing Rye United, Lingfield and Horsham.
Completing Westlake’s backroom staff will be Hassocks stalwart Phil Wickwar, who will continue to offer matchday support behind the scenes and in the dugout.
