As a club it is disheartening to see our neighbours at Newhaven and Ringmer and now Saltdean that have the backing to develop their grounds and support to improve sporting facilities. Whilst at the same time we try to improve facilities at The Crouch, which has been our home for over 100 years, and we are reminded that the club is located in a place that is seen as an inconvenience to some.

To note; I have made Seaford Town Council and the campaigners aware of our change in plans before writing this announcement.

When I met with the campaigners, they proposed a compromise of us replacing our existing pitch side railing with something like:

At the time we were not prepared to make this compromise as it does not solve all of our problems which a fence would have had a greater impact in solving. But now we are going to focus on our key issues:

Improving the playing quality of the pitch
A safer playing environment for our youth disability teams
Protecting the pitch from toxic dog waste

All of which can be solved through a better pitch side barrier as above. But in return of meeting this compromise we have asked for the campaigners and the councils support to make the pitch area inside this railing to become the sole and exclusive usage of the club. We are awaiting a response from the campaigners but we are hopeful of a positive response as this is what they asked for in a compromise.

Ultimately, we want to create the best and safest playing environment on that pitch and the only way we can do that is by limiting the access to only the clubs usage. Only by having exclusive usage of the pitch area can we monitor the footfall on the pitch and improve the standard to be in line with our county league competitors.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported us during this difficult time. Your kind comments, support on social media and petition signatures have helped us to see the light at the end of a dark tunnel and all of us at the club are appreciative of your support.

Our hope is now that we have lowered our expectations, the attacks on the football club will cease, so we can focus on making the football club the best it can be without aggressive distraction.

Yours Faithfully,

Tom Webster
Chairman