Hassocks Fatboys Reserves get their campaign underway with their first game of pre-season this coming Sunday against last year’s Sussex Sunday League Division Four runners up The Long Man.
This will be the second ever meeting between the two sides, with The Long Man triumphing 4-2 in the cup last season. The sides won’t meet again in 2018-19 bar another pairing in a knockout competition as The Long Man have been promoted straight from Division Four into Division Two. The Fatboys meanwhile remain in Division Three.
That’s good news for boss Jamie Stratton, who had feared having to add “relegation” to the achievements section on his CV, alongside “only has one hair cut a year” and “lives for 364 days in the same ski jacket”.
Stratton has a near-full strength side to choose from with only Mark Potter, Tommy Tyler and Ross Joannides away from those who have turned up so far in pre-season.
New signings Stevie Stockwell and Ando Knott – or Smithy as Kevin Ticehurst likes to call him for reasons that are still unknown – are in line for their first appearances in a Fatboys shirt. Josh Evetts is also back in contention having spent the past year working as a human llama look-a-like in the Andes.
The reserves are also set to give a run out to Gary Whittington who needs to build up his fitness after having to be treated with oxygen after 30 seconds of coming on in the first teams 2-1 win over Burgess Hill Rhinos on Wednesday night.
Much like the first team, the reserves have a pretty terrible record in their opening games of the season. They’ve only ever won one, the first ever game in Fatboys Reserves history back in 2014. That was a 2-0 victory over Ansty Sports and Social Reserves through a Simon O’Brien header (that really did happen) and a trademark distance strike from Simon Aburrow.
Last season, there was a 7-3 defeat to eventual Division Two champions Hangover 96. The two previous years saw the Fatboys go down to 7-3 and 10-1 defeats to Point to Point.
A third game against Point to Point would be highly undesirable then, which has led the Fatboys to seek assurances that The Long Man are not a “new club” that is actually just Point to Point re-branded in order for them to bottle going into the Premier Division.
The reserves will be wearing the new Fatboys 2018-20 home kit complete with it’s go faster stripe, with Chris Clayton said to be “excited” at the possibility of clocking up a sprint speed somewhere in the region of 1.7mph.
Kick off is 11am at Nine Acre Field, Ardingly and there is a BBQ back at Keymer & Hassocks Sports & Social Clib afterwards to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Squad: Nick Jones, Nick Davie, Sam Harding, Sam Wilson, Gary Whittington, Kevin Ticehurst, Jules Clay, Russell Jebbitt, Stevie Stockwell, Rob Lloyd, Reece Wickwar, Kane Wright, Stuart Young, Justin Parker, Ando Knott, Simon O’Brien, Josh Evetts, Kenny Tinnion, Chris Clayton