Lewes FC president and Supporters Club vice-chair, Terry Parris, looks back on a memorable season for the Rooks
It’s the 19th April 1980 and we’ve got Billericay at home, with only one more game to finish the season. We were both celebrating promotion with us runners-up, and a large crowd helped us to celebrate.
Billericay were a top side – they had won the FA Vase at the old Wembley three out of the past four seasons, that’s how good they were. Then went on to get two more promotions after this season.
We went to their place a couple of games before this match and the stadium was completely full with blue banners, and I remember the pitch being hard and awful. But we were a resilient side and had only lost four league games all season. Somehow, we drew 0-0, having had our goal bombarded from the first minute.
After that game I knew just how good we were. In the Senior Cup semi-final we beat a very strong Brighton side at the Pan, in front of a big crowd. We had the promotion, a Senior Cup Final at the Goldstone and were Sussex six-a-side champions. It was a damn good season.
In addition, that season Steve Ford, Pip Parris and I scored 65 goals between us. Steve Ford turned professional, joining Stoke City, who we then played in a friendly against their first team as a result of the transfer.
