Burgess Hill Town still 'very ambitious' despite impending relegation

But this bad news was off-set by some very exciting news. Hill announced exciting new plans that could see the club move into a new £3million purpose built community stadium by the 2021/22 season.

Despite a poor season on the pitch Burgess Hill boast the eighth-best home attendance in the Bostik Premier Division, with an average of 418 over 21 games.

Easter Monday's Sussex derby against Lewes saw a season-high turn-out of 798 at the Green Elephants Stadium.

Hillians' chairman and director Kevin Newell believes that the fanbase is there to support a club at National League level and felt the growing population of the town will only see increased interest in the football club.

He said: “The club is very ambitious and Burgess Hill is a town that is growing rapidly.

“We’re looking at increasing the population over the next ten or 15 years to about 50,000 people. It’s 32,000 at the moment.

SEE ALSO Burgess Hill Town to explore ground sharing options ahead of new ground development | Burgess Hill Town announce plans for new £3million stadium | Burgess Hill Town 'devastated' after late equaliser all-but confirms relegation“With increasing numbers we can say we can support a club playing at Step 3 and I think at Step 2.

“That has to be our medium-term objective, to take us to the highest level possible.

“We had a crowd of under 800 on Easter Monday and Lewes brought 100 or 150 supporters. It means that we had 600 of our own supporters.

“If we can maintain support at that level, or something approaching the level that we’ve had this season, there is no reason why the club can’t progress up the league pyramid.

“We want to take one step at a time. To provide this new facility will be a fantastic stepping stone for the club itself to improve on the playing front.

“First and foremost it’s a question of creating a facility for the community in the area and in Burgess Hill that is something the town can be proud of.”