Eastmond named Eastbourne Borough captain - and Trusty joins too
Eastbourne Borough have signed experienced midfielder Craig Eastmond – and made him club captain.
The 34-year-old has reunited with new Sports boss Matt Gray, who worked with Eastmond during his tenure at Sutton United.
The former Arsenal youngster joined Sutton in 2015/16, and went on to make almost 350 appearances for them – captaining them to the National League title in 2020-21 and at Wembley in the Papa John’s Trophy final.
After leaving Gander Green Lane at the end of 2023-24, he spent last season at Wealdstone.
“I’m delighted for Craig to be my first signing,” boss Gray told the Borough website. “He was my captain at Sutton for four and a half years, and we shared some huge success and had some great times together.
“He’s a leader on and off the pitch, and a great person to have around for the dressing room as well as his experience on the pitch. I look forward to working with him again and hopefully create some more success stories with him as captain.”
Tayt Trusty – a 21-year-old midfielder previously with Maidstone United – is the second new face at the ReachTV Stadium.
Trusty played more than 30 games for the Stones last season, including 90 minutes at Worthing in the Play-off eliminator win.
“Tayt is a player I’m really excited to be working with,” said Gray. “He’s a young, dynamic midfielder whose progress I’ve followed having watched him at Blackpool.
“He’s got plenty of potential at both ends of the pitch and I look forward to watching him continue his development.”
Having earned a two-year scholarship deal at Blackpool, Trusty earned his first professional contract with the League One side in January 2022.
Loan spells with Radcliffe and Hyde United followed, before he gained EFL experience – joining then League Two Hartlepool United on loan in 2023, where he made four appearances.
After signing a new one-year deal with Blackpool in the summer of 2023, he played for the U21s for a full season before making the switch to Maidstone last September.
Meanwhile, Kai Woollard-Innocent has signed a new Borough deal.
The defender joined the Sports for the fourth time in his career – following two previous loan spells and one permanent move – in November 2024 and was almost an ever-present in the second half of the campaign.
He first made the move to Borough in the 2020-21 season, and was virtually an ever-present as the Sports reached the first round of the Emirates FA Cup – losing to Blackpool behind closed doors at Priory Lane.
That season was declared null and void in February 2021, and Woollard-Innocent came back on loan from QPR at the back end of the following campaign to help the Sports finish in the National South play-off places.
After leaving QPR in the summer of 2022, he joined Borough permanently and again was almost an ever-present as the Sports narrowly missed out on the top seven.
Last season he scored four goals in 30 league games (34 in all competitions).
The additions to the 25-26 squad come after midfielder Dominic Odusanya moved to Borough’s National League South rivals Chelmsford City for an undisclosed fee and playmaker Courtney Clarke completed a move to EFL League Two side Walsall.