Polegate FC and WMRG History
03 Jul 2010

The small village of Polegate, lost thirty-three men in the Great War of 1914-18. At the cessation of hostilities there was a national encouragement for villages and towns to provide a War Memorial for the local fallen. The appeal for funds in Polegate for a memorial unfortunately failed to raise anywhere near sufficient money although this could well have been due to the small number of inhabitants.

At that time the local Member of Parliament was one Rupert Sackville GWYNNE who was very highly regarded as a constituency M P and who resided in the hamlet of Folkington close to Polegate. During his life he was generous to local causes and supported them with funds and donations of land, a matter that he appears to have been quiet discreet about.

The unfortunate situation of Polegate’s plight of being unable to provide a lasting tribute to their thirty-three fallen was clearly something which could not be allowed to pass and so Rupert Sackville GWYNNE together with two Polegate men Clement KNIGHT, and Alfred Pain WIGGINS decided to right the matter.

During 1915 Polegate Comrades FC was formed. They started playing on land just west of the Royal Navy Airship station that used to be sited next to today’s Willingdon Library..

On the 30th of January 1922 GWYNNE, KNIGHT and WIGGINS purchased from Henry Marchant five acres of land off Wannock Road. Records suggest this land may already have been being used as a football field. Certain conditions were made on the purchase in the form of a Restrictive Covenant which states that “The land and any buildings erected on it should not be used for any purpose other than a recreation ground”. This Covenant is binding on the land regardless of to whomsoever the land passes. The purchasers then titled the land as the ‘War Memorial Recreation Ground’. A committee was formed with Rupert GWYNNE as the Chairman.

It was at the beginning of the 1922-23 season the Comrades changed their name to Polegate Sports FC, this could well have been as a result of the newly obtained WMRG being promised to them.

On 16th February 1923 Hailsham Parish Council of which Polegate was then a Ward discussed a letter received from the Secretary of Polegate headed ‘War Memorial Recreation Ground’ in which the land was offered with the Title Deeds to the Council. The Council agreed to take over the land on the terms contained in the letter.

The 20th of April 1923 saw the start of the first Pavilion. It is believed that this is when Polegate Sports FC moved from the Royal Navy site to their new home of the ‘War Memorial Recreation Ground’ Wannock Road Polegate to start the 1923-24 season.

Sadly, Rupert GWYNNE developed rheumatic fever and suffered ever failing health. He died in his early fifties in October 1924, leaving many tasks unfulfilled, the vision for the War Memorial Recreation Ground being one of them. It was at the beginning of the 1924-25 season that Polegate Sports FC became Polegate United FC

The Polegate Women’s section of ‘The Comrades of the Great War’ had fourteen seats erected at the ground completing the task in the October of 1925. Also in 1925 a corrugated iron structure was built to house an ‘Elsan’ chemical sand urinal.

The 16th of April 1926 saw KNIGHT and WIGGINS sign the Conveyance which gave Polegate ‘War Memorial Recreation Ground’ to Hailsham Parish Council. The Conveyance stated that it should be used for the benefit of the inhabitants of Polegate.

By the 1933-34 season records seem to indicate that Polegate United FC had dropped the United from their name to become just Polegate FC, maybe as a result of their new direction and change of playing personnel as they won the prestigious Eastbourne and District Association Challenge Cup a cup that had first been contested in the 1893-94 season when it was won by Eastbourne Swifts FC. The now sadly missed Eastbourne and District league cup was won that year by another sadly missed club Pevensey and Westham FC.

Polegate FC didn’t have long to wait for their next piece of silverware when in the 1935-36 season they were crowned the Eastbourne and District League Division One Cup winners.

Some things never change, when in these early days a letter from a Mrs E Metcalf of No 1 Wannock Drive on the 15th of May 1939 wrote to Polegate Parish Council with a petition asking them to do something to prevent the ongoing long term problem of damage to properties by footballs!! The subsequent screens at the ground today were erected in the 1980, and we are sure to the delight of Mrs E Metcalf !

To move with the times and encourage more people to the ground it was decided on 20th of October 1939 to provide a separate toilet for females.

The Deeds for the War Memorial Recreation Ground were handed to Polegate Parish Council on the 22nd of April 1940. On the 9th of October 1945 Polegate Parish Council discussed a letter from Councillor W A Payne which read as follows; “That this Council fix a plate on the new entrance to the recreation ground so that the public may know that the ground was purchased by the residents of Polegate as a War Memorial to the fallen in the 1914-18 war”. The Council were unanimous in their support.

To celebrate the dedication of the WMRG Polegate FC repeated their feat of 12 years before by winning the Eastbourne and District League Division One Cup again in the 1947-48 season.

In 1948 a new pavilion which had been obtained by the Polegate British Legion, and consisted of a number of sixteen foot wide by six foot long sections on a concrete base, was completed in the July of that year.

Polegate Parish Council discussed the future uses of the pavilion and decided “principally it should be used by bona-fide clubs and for sports meetings, who should as a general rule have first choice. The 3rd of July 1956 saw the entrance to the land moved from the North West corner to its current position.

The current pavilion replaced the 1948 version being handed over on the 9th of November 1964.
In 1972/73 with Polegate FC now playing in the East Sussex League they won the Divisional Cup.

The 1978/79 season saw Polegate FC win the ESFL prestige’s Challenge cup.

In 1987 saw the terms of the Covenant broken when an extension on the pavilion went ahead without it being given to the sports clubs for their use. This incident caused many residents a deep feeling of unease.

In 1996 with Polegate FC now playing intermediate football in the East Sussex Premier division they had their most successful league campaign by winning the league in its centenary year and reaching the Robertsbridge Cup final which they also won albeit by default ( Wadhurst failed to raise a side ). A young member of this successful team was destined to play an important role in the clubs history 10 years later.

The lowest point for the club came in the 1999-00 season when it saw the unfortunate demise of the Football Club. Rising costs and the lack of players meant this proud club had to dissolve until new direction and zeal could be found.

After 3 years of no use the WMRG saw football again in 2002-03 when a neighbouring village used it as the home for their third team.

In 2006 a meeting in a local pub of a number of like minded players took place. They decided that in order to play good football you needed the will to win games have a great social life and balance it against family commitments. They also under took to play at the highest level they could and return to the WMRG.

These players would now form the current club Polegate Town FC and are known as the “Re-Founders”. Their names are Stuart Black, Dave Sheppard (a member of the successful 1996 championship team), Liam Brooks, Mark Davis, Ali Thompson, Neil Illsey, Ed Neuss, Mark Standen and Mick Seacombe.

In their first season 2006-07 the new Polegate Town FC played in the Eastbourne League and reached the Sussex County Junior Cup final losing to Athletico FC 1-2. However they bounced back by wining the Eastbourne League Cup final beating Eastbourne Gunners 2-1 in the final. Both these team have subsequently dissolved.

An internet campaign was started and within two years of reforming the current club presented itself to the Town Council asking to return “home”. During the discussion the current club was described as being a Phoenix of hope for the Town. PTFC carried the day and the 2008-09 season kicked off with Polegate Town having its own football club again.

The club had made the hard decision that season to leave the Eastbourne League due to the dwindling team numbers and rejoin the East Sussex League this coincided with the Clubs return to the WMRG. The club were rewarded by the ESFL for their recent good cup runs with a place in Division One of the league. PTFC had another great season for a young club finishing runners up to “Q-ball”. This promotion to intermediate status football was two years ahead of the clubs plans. Further testament to the strength of the club came when “Q-ball” ceased to exist before a ball was kicked the following season.
The 2008/09 season saw Polegate Town FC win a second cup final beating White Knight on penalties in the Eastbourne Junior Cup final after the game had finished 1-1 aet.

On the home front during 2008 a further potential breach of the Covenant was discovered. This lead to the forming of a residents action group called KORGI [Keep Our Recreation Ground Intact] supported by the incumbent sports clubs, Polegate Town FC, Polegate and Stone Cross cricket club and Polegate BHK Stoolball club.

The planned 2009 development of the WMRG was halted and PTFC remain committed to preventing any further breaches of the covenant. The magnanimous gesture of GWYNNE, KNIGHT and WIGGINS in providing a living War Memorial for Polegate will not be allowed to fade

Such has been the success of Polegate Town FC that for the start of the 2009-10 season the club were able to field a reserve team in the East Sussex Football League for the first time since those dark days in 1999. This team competed in division seven finishing a very creditable 3rd in their first season and runners up in the Eastbourne Junior Cup to the previous years losers White Knight. While the first team lost the Eastbourne Challenge Cup 1-2 to Eastbourne Town’s county reserve team. This season also saw the introduction of a match day programme for the first team home games.

The 14th January 2010 saw the War Memorial Recreation Ground included in the United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials under Title NIWM 59387. This Inventory is maintained by the Imperial War Museum

During the 2010-11 season Polegate Town became a draw to “ground hoppers” people who love football and collect match day programmes. On the field the season resulted in the first XI finishing 6th in the league and winning for the second time the ESFL prestige’s Challenge cup with a fine 3-1 win over Peche Hill, while losing the Eastbourne Challenge Cup for the second successive season against county reserve team Eastbourne United Association 1-3. Town’s reserves finished 4th in division six following their promotion.

Polegate Town FC were recognised by the Eastbourne Herald in their annual Eastbourne Achievers Awards ceremony, as PTFC came second in the papers Adult Sports Team of the year.

PTFC remain committed to the WMRG and continue to support local Armed forces charities.

Our thanks to Paul Woolmer for the back ground history of the WMRG and his support through KORGI in preventing the WRMG being taken away from the sports clubs of this Town.
Richard Marsh of the Eastbourne League ,
Ashley Slaughter Sussex County FA,
Kevin Bray East Sussex League