The new Southern Combination League season begins on Saturday – and Hassocks and Haywards Heath Town are among numerous sides rated as promotion contenders.

The Robins are back in the SCFL Premier after relegation from the Isthmian outh East last season, a year after they won the SCFL title.

Heath go again after two seasons in which they have started like a train only to falter and miss out.

Neither Robins boss James Westlake nor his Blues counterpart are making any bold predictions, but both are happy with their pre-season preparations and looking forward to a hugely competitive season in the division.

Lancing manager Dale Hurley is looking forward to the SCFL kick-off

placeholder image — Lancing manager Dale Hurley is looking forward to the SCFL kick-off

Apart from the near neighbours, other sides tipped to do well include East Grinstead, Guernsey, Horsham YM, Roffey and Eastbourne United.

Hassocks’ signings include teenage midfielder Omar Abdsami on loan from Lewes, experienced duo Kyle Sim and Lewis Croal and ex-Robinf U18 star Charlie Bonwick-Adams.

Westlake said: "We’re pleased with how the squad has come together so far. We are still wanting to bring in one or two more to strengthen us further going into the season and we hope to be able to do that over the next couple of weeks.

“Player availability has been an issue for us throughout the majority of pre-season, as I’m sure it is for many clubs at this level. The performance against Burgess Hill should give us great confidence and certainly set a standard for us for the coming season.”

Haywards Heath Townmissed out last season but are ready to go again | James Gething

As for Westlake’s aim for 2026-27, he said: “It will be another competitive season at this level and challenge we as a group are looking forward to. It is hard to predict at this time of the season with so many games to play but the aim is to be in the fight at the top end of the table.

Heath have signed defenders Joe Alman, Ian Robinson and Jake Legrange and forwards James Waters and Lukas Franzen-Jones and boss Green told us: “Pre-season’s been good. We’ve had some positive results.

"There was a bit of recruitment needed – we’ve had a few players leave and few come in, but we’re happy with those that have come in – they’re good lads and good players.

"We’re feeling positive for the season. The league’s looking quite competitive this year but I think we prefer that, to be honest.

"We look in good shape and are looking forward to that first game on Saturday. There’s a lot to be positive about and we’ll give it another good crack.”

Meanwhile, Lancing and Wick are among the 20 sides in the premier division going for glory and both will be out to improve on last season’s efforts.

Lancing finished 19th but were not relegated and boss Dale Hurley has had a busy summer reshaping his squad for the new campaign.

They had a friendly at home to Littehampton Town last Saturday and although the Golds won, it was a useful runout.

Boss Hurley said: “Pre-season has gone well, it’s actually gone really quickly this year and the boys are ready to play competitive games.

"We’ve had six friendlies, teams in leagues above and below and on grass pitches and 3G so a good blend. We’ve spent time on the pitch and in the ‘classroom’ learning about eachother as a group and better understanding our playing principles.

"The squad is shaping up nicely, we’ve had a couple move to higher leagues, notably Omar Abdsami to Lewes and Oliver Deda to Eastbourne Town, Will Tillman also left to join Roffey at the start of pre season. We wish them all well.

"We’ve had some brilliant additions to the squad, a couple we’ve had our eye on and a couple that have come out of nowhere in pre season and we’re pleased to have them in. Not only are they good footballers but they’re great people which is really important in our recruitment to create a good environment at the club.

"The league is probably the most competitive it’s been in a long time, I don’t think you can predict who’s going to win it, with 7/8 teams throwing a lot of money to put their names in the hat.

"I’ll be boring and say we’ll approach it one game at a time and see where we end up. We have a couple of runs where we’re going to have to dig deep and be resilient, but that’s the culture we’re embedding, we will be looking to win every game we play and be consistent in our approach.”

Wick will be groundsharing with Bognor Regis Town while work is carried out at Crabtree Park as they aim to build on last term’s 13th place finish.

Saturday sees Lancing host Seaford in their opener, while Wick go to Eastbourne United. Then Lancing go to Pagham on Tuesday and Wick host Midhurst on Wednesday.