Worthing
FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/FOOTYFOCUSMAG
Worthing
FOOTBALL CLUB
Worthing FC has been making tremendous progress in recent
times both on and off the field. Football Focus Magazine recently
caught up with Club Chairman Peter Stone to find out more about
the good work that they’ve been doing lately.
Involvement
He told us, “I’ve been involved for three years now
and Chairman for eighteen months. Football has always
been my first sport (born and grew up in Leeds) and I
used to watch Worthing FC in the late 80’s/early 90’s
when I first moved to the area. I eventually fell out of
love with the professional game, kids came along and I’d
stopped playing and managing.
In March 2015, the Club was rescued from the brink
of extinction by George Dowell, a 21 year old who had
been paralysed from the chest down in a car accident
when he was 17 and a promising young footballer.
George took over the Worthing FC and with the help
of Calvin Buckland, set about trying to rebuild both a
Football Club and a Community football based facility
for the local youngsters.
Through my brother in law, who was playing for
the Club, I got to meet Calvin and George and offered
my help behind the scenes. The big attraction was the
opportunity to create something so much more than a
winning team on a Saturday afternoon.
We sat down and established a vision to build a club
that the community of Worthing could be proud of,
built with three core values - Ambition Without Ego,
36 Issue 85
Connectedness, and Regional Talent. These reflect what
I think makes Worthing FC special, and in a large and
growing town where people love their football, the
potential was clear and enormous.”
The Role
“Cashflow is by far and away the biggest challenge,
the same for any non-league football club really,
alongside the commercial and fundraising aspects that
are essential to make us less reliant on the goodwill of
individuals to fund the club’s operation.
In terms of rewarding aspects, these are many. Seeing
an army of volunteers giving huge amounts of time and
commitment unconditionally to run our merchandise
operation, provide food on matchdays, maintain
our pitch, supervise matchday operations, man the
turnstiles, drive our excellent social media outlets, wash
and prepare kit, or handle the wide array of secretarial
duties.
Engaging with the fans, from the eight year old
mascots who line up in the tunnel in front of a 1000+
home crowd and tell you ‘this is a dream come true’ to
the older generations who played for Worthing FC in the
60s and beam at the progression they are now seeing.