This evening we welcome the players, staff, officials and supporters of Newhaven to The Crouch as we begin our first foray into cup competition this season, with the inaugural round of the Sussex Principal R.U.R Charity Cup.

It's the first competitive meeting between Seaford and Newhaven since November 2021, when the two sides met at The Crouch in the 3rd Round of the Peter Bentley Challenge Cup. A first-half brace from James Waters, alongside goals from Alfie Rogers and Aaron Winser saw the Dockers win 4-0 on the night. Newhaven went on to make it all the way to the final of the competition, where they were beaten 3-0 by eventual treble-winners and FA Vase finalists Littlehampton.

Newhaven:

Tonight's opponents are unbeaten in all competitions so far this campaign, and arrive along the coast following an impressive 7-1 victory against Spelthorne Sports in the Preliminary round of the FA Cup on Saturday. In the Premier Division they sit 9th, having won one and drawn two of their opening league fixtures.

Managers Andy Cook and Sean Breach have guided Newhaven to back-to-back 3rd place finishes in the last two Premier Division seasons, and no doubt will be looking to go even further in the near future.

Familiar Faces:

Many players have swapped Red & White for Red & Yellow and vice versa over the years, with tonight's tie including several familiar faces for both sides.

Two who will be most recognisable to Town fans this evening would be Newhaven attackers Callum Connor and Callum Edwards, who both starred for Seaford in the playoff-reaching campaign of 2021/22. Having only made his debut in October that year, Connor went on to score 32 goals from 28 total appearances on his way to winning our Player of the Season award.

R.U.R Cup History

Seaford Town are yet to get their hands on the R.U.R Cup, having finished runners-up twice in our history; losing to Haywards Heath in 1967, before falling short to Bexhill in 1974.

Newhaven have won the competition four times overall, and hold the impressive feat of winning the R.U.R Cup two years in a row in 2016 and 2017, with wins over Chichester City and Crawley Down Gatwick respectively.