Eastbourne Town FC - Non-League Day 2024

This feature is part of a series of articles about seven of Athletic Club's past English opponents that are currently playing Non-League football. These clubs not only played a pivotal role in Athletic's early years, but also in helping football become a global sport.

Based in the small south coast English town of the same name, Eastbourne Town are the oldest senior football club in the county of Sussex, whose main city is Brighton.

Formed in 1880, Eastbourne have changed their name a few times throughout their existence but when they came to Bilbao in May 1912, they were called Eastbourne FC.

A “Gentlemen Amateur” team, Eastbourne regularly toured Europe, where they would take part in international tournaments and face other amateur sides. They played Athletic in two matches in consecutive days at Jolaseta.

There was a lot of excitement about Eastbourne’s visit, with local newspapers writing about the arrival of “famed English club”. The English players were equally enthused about visiting Bilbao. The Eastbourne Chronicle described how the “eager” footballers had bought Spanish dictionaries to prepare for the trip.

Accoring to Bilbao-based papers, the Eastbourne XI was as follows: W:G Osbourne, H.S. Barber, F. Tarrant, W. Grevett, H.E. Grevett, S. Weakford, G. French, G.S. Selmes, E.H Hyde, H.C. Wood, D. Wood.

A packed out Jolaseta witnessed two “fascinating” high-scoring matches. Athletic, reinforced by some players from Sporting Club de Irun and Racing Club de Irun, won the first fixture 3-2 on May 26th.

The Lions took the lead via Ramon Belauste before the visitors equalised. Eastbourne went ahead after half-time but Athletic scored twice more to secure the win. The reporter singled out the Blue and Yellows’ centre-half and forwards as “excellent players”.

The following day brought another thriller, with the Zurigorri winning 5-3. Eastbourne were 1-3 up at half-time, but Athletic rallied in the second half with Pinillos and Pichichi scoring braces to secure victory.

Modern Day

Eastbourne Town FC play at The Saffrons, a historic and picturesque ground just a stone’s throw away from the seaside town’s famous Eastbourne Pier.

The side competes in the Southern Combination League Premier Division, England’s ninth tier, where they are fifth after 20 wins, three draws and 8 losses after 31 fixtures.

On Non-League Day, the Saffrons hosts Shoreham at 15:00 GMT with tickets costing £7 for adults, £4 for concessions/students and free for under-16s.

Flag exchange and retro jersey raffle

As part of Athletic Club’s collaborations with our historical opponents, we have sent each of the seven clubs in this series an Athletic flag to hang at their ground and a retro jersey to raffle off among their fans.

In return, each club has donated a flag to Los Leones. These colours will be on show at different grounds throughout Euskal Non-League Day and then given to the AC Museum.

Euskal Non-League Day

Drawing inspiration from the UK version, Athletic has organised Euskal Non-League Day with the aim of celebrating grassroots football in the Basque Country and recognising the important role our affiliated clubs play in their respective communities in addition to producing players for Athletic.

Coinciding with the Non-League day in the UK, on the weekend on March 23-24, 86 of our partner clubs will be participating in this second edition of Euskal Non-League Day.

Historical English opponents

Our features on the seven English teams are being published in chronological order based on the date of their first match against Athletic.

(Click to read)
Monday 18th: Civil Service FC, United Hospitals
Tuesday 19th: Eastbourne Town FC
Wednesday 20th: Merton FC
Thursday 21st: Bromley FC
Friday 22nd: Dulwich Hamlet, Corinthian-Casuals FC

These are the details of the sides’ Non-League Day fixtures. If you’re an Athleticzale in England over the weekend of March 23-24, we encourage you to attend one of these matches.

Civil Service FC vs Old Carthusians. March 23, 13:00 GMT. King’s House Sports Ground
Eastbourne Town vs Shoreham. March 23, 15:00 GMT. The Saffrons
Merton FC vs Winchmore Hill. March 23, 14:00 GMT. Joseph Hood Recreation Ground
Bromley FC vs York City. March 23, 15:00 GMT. Hayes Lane
Bognor Regis Town vs Dulwich Hamlet. March 23, 15:00 GMT. Nyewood Lane
Corinthian-Casuals vs Badshot Lea. March 23, 15:00 GMT. King George’s Field