Follow the red brick road and you’ll soon find it: a hidden treasure buried deep in Brighton’s vault. Nestled at the foot of a South Down slope, it’s the proverbial walk in the park for Whitehawk F.C’s revellers who snake through East Brighton Park’s pathways to happen upon the colourful delights of The Enclosed Ground. For this is a club seemingly secluded from the rest of society, confined to its senses on the outermost limits of the city. Hold that moral compass up into the air, and soon it’ll guide you to where you need to be.
But it hasn't always been like this. A county team for much of its relatively short history, it was in 2010 — 65 years after the club was founded — that they would first compete in the Isthmian League. And so, following promotions, relegations, Brighton City, Lincoln City, more relegations, Dagenham & Redbridge, Jimmy Dack and a pandemic, it leaves the club exactly where they started 12 years ago. Yet somewhere along this winding, jerking road the club’s identity was formed, and the progressiveness of a few hundred Ultras shone through the thick clouds that move with the harsh sea breeze.
It’s difficult to place one’s finger on the direct cause for such swift fluctuation. In an instant this club appeared to drop from the promised land of the National League to the dregs of England’s divisions. Through it all the call for equality and equity has stood strong within its walls, from the Sea End to the Din End; the changing room to the boardroom. Inclusivity, however you look at it, is not prevalent in sport. Tune in to your television to unearth an oppressive world of autocracy and acerbity, where every corner of the screen shows a fake, forged fable as oppose to a folio full of festivity where all are welcome. And now word is starting to spread.
Non-league football is in the midst of defibrillation. Prior to Brighton & Hove Albion’s recent surge through the pyramid, Sussex as a whole was scarcely labelled a footballing county. Even the south as a whole, who's finest offering was Southampton 15 years ago, evidently lacked in esteem. For those dotted around the area: Worthing, Lewes, Whitehawk, Hastings, attendances have risen dramatically. Tony Bloom wasn't responsible purely for Brighton’s boom, but the teams in its catchment area that have celebrated this increase in sporting culture.
For years Whitehawk has carried a notorious banner above its brow. A study by Park Life found that around 45% of local children in the area are in poverty, compared to 19% for the entire country. Noses turned at the name, not until those locked within Brighton’s borders greet it as one of their own will this be a place of growth and prosperity. Yet in its football club it harnesses just that: a place to shelter from intolerance and injustice, a place to take solace in its morals. ‘Racism, we say no. Sexism, we say no. Homophobia, we say no.’ Inscribed on its steps and sung from its stands, it will change your perception of football, your sense of what is just.
As we hastily pass into the month of December, with the bitter chill of winter starting to inch deeper into the bones, on the tilted green grass Whitehawk continue to thrive. Beaten just once in the league all season, the arrival of Shaun Saunders as manager has seen this club similarly transformed on the pitch. Perched in third position, just three points adrift of league leaders Ramsgate, The Enclosed Ground has been built a fortress. Seven games, six wins, one draw; last season this was a club who could only muster a mere four wins at home. It took Saunders 45 days to repeat such feat.
It’s the goals, too. Of the 26 scored in the league thus far, 19 have come on cherished home soil. Celebrations are a guarantee regardless of success, but since August and the arrival of a fresh, fluid squad the emphasis has finally transitioned away from the seats for the first time in years. The expectancy now as the red shirts emerge from the rattling tunnel is vast. The standard has been laid, nets continue to ripple, and the smiles spill out onto the streets of Brighton with each fleeting afternoon.
On Saturday ‘The Hawks’ host the aforementioned Rams. A game that to the rest of the county, let alone nation, will appear insignificant. Spoken about purely in the local press, word of the Whitehawk’s success will only spread if silverware is lifted. But in reaching the zenith it is games such as these, where Premier League football takes a wintry hiatus, that matter most in the sprint for salvation. Victory at the weekend could see Saunders’ side head top for the first time this season. And only if the Din End is packed to its usual rafters can this be a certainty.
Hailed as the 12th man by players and coaches alike, the importance of the persistent noise behind the goal rises with the influx of home fixtures. Whilst Whitehawk have fallen to defeat just once in 90 minutes all campaign — that arriving 11 days ago on the boggy wasteland of Beckenham Town’s Eden Park Avenue — the away form has contrasted that of their home form. Perhaps it is this swirling sound that blankets the blades of turf that give this side the edge on familiar surroundings. Whatever it may be, long may it last as the formidable attacking prowess this side consistently harnesses continues to reach new heights.
An outcasted club for much of its life shrouded in the shadows of its Premier League half-brother over the hill, there is life in this valley still. Here’s your local club, my good friend, make it count. And whilst the world’s eyes watch on through pixels and photos of a soulless wasteland that will soon pass, in Whitehawk there is a place where the hope ceases to fade, where football is played for its intentions, and where people will always come to feel at home. Soon Saturday will be upon us, and the quest to rekindle what is right in this world will be lit once again.
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