Thank you for your fantastic support in the 2021-22 campaign
Hassocks attracted more fans to the Beacon in 2021-22 than in the last completed season of 2018-19, despite spending most of the latest campaign battling against relegation.
Average Premier Division attendances at the Beacon increased by 17 percent in the 2021-22 season, reflecting the growing popularity of the Southern Combination League.
The increase is based on average crowds the last time a season was played to a finish, in 2018-19. Hassocks averaged 111 that year, finishing the campaign safely ensconced in mid table.
Attendances at the Beacon jumping is made all the more impressive by the fact that the Robins spent much of the past nine months battling relegation.
Hassocks attracted their biggest crowd for the visit of Premier Division leaders Littlehampton Town in April. 280 turned out to watch the Robins lose 6-2 to the Marigolds, who
one week earlier had made history by becoming the first Southern Combination League side to reach the FA Vase final.
Attendances across the Premier Division as a whole were up 33% on their 2018-19 levels. Littlehampton were both the best supported club and achieved the biggest increase.
The Flora Sportsfield attracted an average crowd of 260 in 2021-22 compared to only 66 in 2018-19 when the Marigolds were in Division One.
Littlehampton’s increase of 294% exceeds any other club by quite some way. Broadbridge Heath were closest to the Marigolds, a 114% increase from 56 to 120 coming as a result of
the Bears moving from their former Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre home into a brand new purpose-built stadium at High Wood Hill.
Hassocks ended the season in seventh spot in the attendance league table. Littlehampton topped the charts, followed by Eastbourne Town on 255, Peacehaven & Telscombe on 231, Bexhill United on
199, Eastbourne United on 136 and Newhaven on 133.
In total, 46,930 people passed through the turnstiles of Premier Division clubs in 2021-22, compared to 35,311 in 2018-19.
The league and all its members can be proud of those numbers, as non league football continues to provide an alternative to the money-filled world of the Premier League.
Hassocks will be hoping to continue to grow attendances in the 2022-23 season through better results and an influx of new residents to Hassocks.
It was noticeable that crowds began to rise as the Robins’ form improved. 12 of the Hassocks, opening 19 Premier Division matches were played at the Beacon when the team were struggling for results.
Had the Premier Division fixture list given a more balanced split of home and away fixtures – four home matches in a row occurred more than once through August and September – then the average Beacon attendance might have been even higher as more people turned out to watch a more successful team.
To that end, new head coach James Westlake has wasted no time in strengthening his squad, signing a mixture of new faces and former favourites. There should be plenty of intrigue into how the summer rebuild pans out once the Premier Division season gets underway in late July.
Unprecedented levels of housebuilding are also taking place in the village and whilst it is a controversial subject with lots of justified concerns over how the area will cope, it increases the local audience for the football club to potentially tap into.
Thank you to everyone who attended a game at the Beacon last season for your fantastic support. We hope to see you back again in 2022-23.
