Meeting to discuss Sidley’s future

Anybody with a genuine interest in the future of the Blues is very welcome to attend the meeting, which will take place at the New Inn, Sidley, from 8pm.

Sidley chairman Dickie Day said: “If the club is going to rise from the ashes next year, we need new people on board. Several of the committee have said they don’t want to be as involved as other years, and we really need a new secretary and new treasurer.”

Sidley’s future was plunged into doubt from the moment parent company Sidley Sports & Social Club ceased trading due to severe financial difficulties at the end of April 2013, leaving the club without a home ground.

After efforts to negotiate a temporary groundshare with another club proved unsuccessful and with no prospect of a swift return to Gullivers, the club decided last summer to withdraw from the Sussex County Football League and take ‘a year’s break’.

Day says the club has held a couple of subsequent meetings largely to keep in touch, but the next convention should determine the direction Sidley will now take.

Sidley were formed in 1906 and were founder members of Sussex Division Two in 1952. The club did the Division One and John O’Hara League Challenge Cup double in 2000/01.