Home start for Pagham - but Selsey are on the road

The fixtures for the first month or so of the new county league campaign are out and Lions boss John Price will be delighted his side have a home start.

New Selsey boss Richard Towers is not so fortunate - the Blues kick off at Worthing United.

But it’s not long before the High Street Ground faithful get their first taste of home action - Selsey host Littlehampton on Tuesday, August 7, when Pagham have a second home match, with Lancing the visitors to Nyetimber Lane.

Relegated Chichester City’s first scheduled game in division two is at home to Southwick on Saturday, August 18.

Midhurst are due to begin on the same day. They traditionally begin with a series of away games because Rotherfield is also used for cricket, and they start under new manager Gary Wheatcroft at Oakwood.

The same day is the planned opening day for division-three clubs. Promoted Sidlesham start by hosting Hurstpierpoint while Barnham begin by entertaining Ifield.

Although fixtures for the rest of the season have yet to be published, the line-up for Boxing Day has been revealed and it sees the Observer’s six county league sides paired up for three derbies - Pagham v Selsey, Midhurst v Chichester and Sidlesham v Barnham.