‘Post-season fortnight is vital’ – Lewes FC director hints at impending manager announcement

After previous men’s team manager Craig Nelson departed the club at the end of the season to take up a new role at Tonbridge Angels, Lewes have been busily preparing for another new regime.

In an exclusive interview with SussexWorld, newly re-elected director John Peel, in his capacity as men’s team Club Secretary, explained how the recruitment process works.

To begin with, he heaped praise upon Nelson, as the boss who managed at Step 5 side Glebe in 2023/24 now makes a step up to the National League South.

“I’m really happy for Craig, as are the wider club,” said Peel. “I’m so delighted Craig got to experience Lewes in all its many forms and that we gave him a platform to express himself that his previous clubs weren’t prepared to.

“His talent is obvious and we depart on really good terms. I’m excited to follow his progress both professionally and personally.”

With various managers leaving positions immediately after the season, however, thoughts turn quickly to the club’s next appointment.

In contrast to a merry-go-round which saw Lewes, Worthing, Whitehawk and Hastings United all search for a manager last summer, the Rooks are in limited company this time around. This seemingly allows them to get ahead of the curve.

“The post-season fortnight is a vital period, so our ambition is to have somebody in place by then,” said Peel.

Peel also implied that Lewes have acted swiftly thanks to a clear line of thinking. “We have our own shortlist of people who we’d like to speak to. Ideally, you’d be looking at a shortlist of 4-5 people,” said the Lewes director.

Offering a clearer view of who may be hired, Peel confirmed that, as with the appointment of Bromley-based Nelson, the club had cast its net far and wide.

“Locality is of no relevance to us, nor experience, if the fundamental criteria are met,” said Peel.

After another season in which the vast majority of playing staff hailed from London or Kent, the topic of having a managerial team based in Sussex has again come into focus.

Since Darren Freeman left the club in October 2019, the club have opted for managers with limited ties to the local area in Hugo Langton, Tony Russell and Nelson.

Lewes have seen success on the pitch in this time by finishing 7th, 6th, 8th and 13th in the past four seasons, but there have been calls for more homegrown players to join the likes of Toby Bull, Josh Spinks and Jack Meeres in the side.

“Craig, and Tony [Russell] and Joe [Vines] before him, certainly have sought to recruit from Sussex. But simply being from Sussex shouldn’t give a player priority,” said Peel. “They have to have the talent and motivation to go with it, and it needs to represent value for money to the club.”

Peel added: “We have previously spoken to Sussex-based players, but the challenge has been that other clubs will offer double what we can, and that includes teams in the league below.”

“We had a couple of players who were with us last season (2023-24), who moved to a Sussex club for double the money. We had an approach this season from a Sussex club that were offering to triple one of our player’s wages if they joined them.”

While clubs like Worthing and Horsham have been able to profit from picking up players from Brighton & Hove Albion’s academy, this fortune does not befall all of Sussex’s sides.

Lewes, Whitehawk, Hastings and Bognor Regis have had fluctuating fortunes as they have chopped and changed throughout recent seasons, and while there is always clamour for homegrown players, results show this is a difficult balance to strike.

Peel said: “If you look at the approaches of the clubs locally, then they have started with a Sussex-based core, but that has diluted as their competitiveness and ambition has increased. There has been an explosion in playing talent based in South London over the past decade, and it would be remiss of us to ignore that given its proximity to us.”

Peel added: “Ultimately, I think as long as you feel proud to wear a Lewes shirt, it shouldn’t matter where you come from. I could name quite a number of players, but I think Bradley Pritchard is a great demonstration of that.

“What we know we do extremely well is create an environment for a player to excel. There’s a sizeable number of players previously with us that now play at a higher level, and that was always the intention.”

Regarding this present managerial search, Lewes look set to continue their approach of seeking the best man for the job regardless of location. Their success with Nelson, who was a relative unknown in managerial terms, breeds confidence that this ethos can provide more positive results.

A large network of well-informed contacts is also to thank for their help with making firm decisions. “I’m not sure you can ever be 100% sure about a candidate,” admitted Peel.

“However, from hearing about other clubs’ processes in terms of appointing managers, I think we go the extra mile in our due diligence. We’ll study videos of their games and their recruitment approach.

“Our network is strong, so we’ll speak to players, managers and officials from their previous clubs. Values are very important to us, so we’ll try to garner as much information on that as possible.

“Ideally, you want to have an armoury of information about someone before you even have that first conversation, after that is a natural conversation. Likewise, we would want any candidate to have undertaken some pretty detailed research on us and who we are.”

With news of an appointment expected as early as this weekend, all eyes will be on the Dripping Pan’s white smoke. After a season of reduced budgets and reduced expectations in 2024-25, as well, Peel hinted that more optimistic times could be on the horizon in East Sussex.

“Part of our three-year strategy was to use this season to contract slightly before scaling up,” said Peel. “The next manager will have a competitive budget as we move to phase two of that approach. With the right appointment, I think we can have ambitions of a strong league performance.”