Eastbourne Borough fixtures 2018-19: Borough welcome Steve King's Welling for first home match

Locally-based King has just taken over the Wings managership, enticing Borough Player of the Year Gavin McCallum to join him in North-East Kent. His last visit to Priory Lane saw a dramatic New Year victory for Whitehawk, who were nonetheless relegated from National South. “It’s busy busy from the very start,” commented manager Jamie Howell. “We are of course back in training, and we know exactly what we have to do in this coming month. The series of friendlies will give us a steady build-up and we’ll hit the ground running on August 4. There’s plenty of World Cup fever in the air at present! Everyone gets like a kid in the backyard at times like this, and the task for myself and my staff is to bottle some of that, and channel it into live action.”

The Sports face a packed opening – a quarter of the season – to be played by mid- September. They include an appetising encounter with newly relegated Woking, who visit the Lane on August Bank Holiday, followed by a long haul to Weston-super-Mare on Saturday, September 1.

Howell will need to store up a bottle or two of that inspiration for the long hard winter ahead. “Yep, we’re already looking forward to Truro on February 2!” Borough will clock up more miles than in any season since 2010, when they last played in the Conference National. As well as Truro, long journeys westwards include Gloucester City, Torquay United, Bath City and Chippenham. And with no opponents closer than 60 miles away, the traditional “Christmas Derby” matches entail a Boxing Day trip to Dulwich Hamlet, with the return fixture at Priory Lane on New Year’s Day – and a visit to Woking squeezed in between.

Sat Aug 4 Oxford City A

Tue Aug 7 Welling United H

Sat Aug 11 Truro City H

Tue Aug 14 East Thurrock United A

Sat Aug 18 Chippenham Town H

Sat Aug 25 St. Albans City A

Mon Aug 27 Woking H

Sat Sep 1 Weston-super-Mare A

Sat Sep 8 Dartford A

Sat Sep 15 Slough Town H

Sat Sep 22 Emirates FA Cup 2Q

Sat Sep 29 Gloucester City A

Sat Oct 6 Emirates FA Cup 3Q

Sat Oct 13 Torquay United H

Sat Oct 20 Concord Rangers A (Emirates FA Cup 4Q)

Sat Oct 27 Hemel Hempstead Town H

Tue Oct 30 Hampton & Richmond Borough H

Sat Nov 3 Chelmsford City A

Sat Nov 10 Hungerford Town H (Emirates FA Cup 1)

Sat Nov 17 Bath City A

Sat Nov 24 Buildbase FA Trophy 3Q

Sat Dec 1 Wealdstone A (Emirates FA Cup 2)

Sat Dec 8 Billericay Town H

Sat Dec 15 Buildbase FA Trophy 1

Sat Dec 22 St. Albans City H

Wed Dec 26 Dulwich Hamlet A

Sat Dec 29 Woking A

Tue Jan 1 Dulwich Hamlet H

Sat Jan 5 Chippenham Town A (Emirates FA Cup 3)

Sat Jan 12 Weston-super-Mare H (Buildbase FA Trophy 2)

Sat Jan 19 Welling United A

Sat Jan 26 East Thurrock United H (Emirates FA Cup 4)

Sat Feb 2 Truro City A (Buildbase FA Trophy 3)

Sat Feb 9 Oxford City H

Sat Feb 16 Billericay Town A Emirates (FA Cup 5)

Sat Feb 23 Wealdstone H (Buildbase FA Trophy 4)

Sat Mar 2 Hampton & Richmond Borough A

Sat Mar 9 Chelmsford City H

Sat Mar 16 Hungerford Town A (Buildbase FA Trophy Semi(1)

Sat Mar 23 Bath City H (Buildbase FA Trophy Semi-Final(2)

Sat Mar 30 Hemel Hempstead Town A

Sat Apr 6 Gloucester City H

Sat Apr 13 Torquay United A

Sat Apr 20 Dartford H

Sat Apr 27 Concord Rangers H