Mark Potter has secured his place in the Hassocks Fatboys history books by becoming just the third player in the club’s history to make 100 appearances.
The midfielder bought up his century in the Reserves’ 1-0 defeat to The View on Sunday, putting in a strong showing despite the fact he was described by one eye witness as being “hammered” at the Fatboys Christmas Pub Crawl the previous evening. He joins Scott McCarthy and Andy Brown in the 100 club.
Potter has been with the Fatboys since the club was founded in 2012 and instantly established himself as a capable midfielder. He played a crucial role in the side that finished runners up in Division Five in the 2013-14 season, before becoming a mainstay of the Reserves when a second side was introduced ahead of the 2014-15 season.
He still managed to rack up enough appearances for the first team in the 2014-15 Division Three title winning season to qualify for a medal, while his overall Fatboys record reads 33 games for the front side with 67 for the Reserves.
Of Potter’s 100 games, 73 have come in the starting line up with 17 appearances from the bench. He’s only managed five goals, but remarkably two of those were good enough to win Goal of the Season Awards.
The first of those came in September 2012, a 30 yard curling effort into the top corner which proved enough to give the Fatboys their first ever victory, a 2-1 success over Kingston Broadway.
Speaking about the day when Potter’s strike announced the Fatboys’ arrival on the Sussex Sunday League scene, former club captain Martyn Buxton told HassocksFatboysFC.co.uk, “On a cold September morning on a pitch next to the A23, I watched a guy who thought he was there to make up the numbers score an absolute worldie, and that was when Mark Potter carved his name into Fatboys history.”
The second award-winning goal came in the 2016-17 season against Whitehawk Supporters Reserves. Potter was actually Interim Manager of the Reserves on this occasion in the absence of former boss Jamie Stratton and in what proved to be a tactical masterstroke, he introduced himself from the substitutes bench in the closing stages, going onto score a last minute header to rescue a point in a 3-3 draw.
That was Potter’s second game in caretaker charge of the Reserves and funnily enough was the first ever point Whitehawk won. His first game in charge was an equally impressive experience, a then-record 10-1 defeat to County Oak.
Stratton certainly enjoyed his two years of working with Potter. “It has been a pleasure to manage such a warm and joyful character as Mark Potter. His flair and ability to pick a pass is unparalleled and never had a man encapsulated Hassocks Fatboys more than when he fell over the ball and winded himself before trying to play on, failing to realise he had already been subbed off.”
Current Reserve Team boss Reece Wickwar was full of praise too. “Nah, f**k Potter. He’s no Jules.” When later pressed, Wickwar added, “The amount of falling over and the now lost art of Potter Face are highlights. I’ve also never known someone call his teammates ****s so much, nor fall down down in such perfect slow motion. Having said that, he does have a thunderbastard in him.”
The teammate who seems to have borne the brunt of most of Potter’s outbursts has been 22-year-old Nick Jones. Despite this, the current Reserve Team captain was gushing in his praise for Potter.
“I’ve been at the Fatboys for four-and-a-half years now and I’ve loved every minute of it. Mark has been a huge factor in that. His funny arms, his amusing attempts at winning headers, his questionable goal scoring record and almost schizophrenic approach to playing football is something to behold.”
“Some people may be surprised at me saying that as Mark and I bicker the majority of the time we’re together and it is also a well-known fact that he is to blame for 99.9% of the goals I concede, but he’s great to have around. His wizardry last season in the Invitational Cup Final lit up Newhaven for about 20-30 seconds until he should have been red carded.”
Simon O’Brien also chose Potter’s work in that 4-0 defeat to St Mary’s Athletic as some of his finest. “I’ve never seen a man have his own fans turn against him and try to get him sent off during a cup final”, before adding, “It’s a dream to play alongside him. I love how much better he plays when someone has pissed him off, normally Jonesy.”
Jones was also keen to highlight the work that Potter does off-the-pitch his role as chairman, a thankless task that often goes unnoticed by the press. “While Mark’s football ability may be in severe decline, he does a great job as chairman thanks to his ruthless streak which he showed earlier in the season with the sacking of Jamie Stratton. It was a strong but ultimately right decision as they guy was out of his depth.”
Fatboys first team manager Scott McCarthy was asked in his weekly press conference for some highlights from Potter’s Fatboys career. He said, “A couple of moments stick in my mind. One was away at Preston Dynamos when Mark, clearly still out of his tree from the night before, was busy holding a conversation with a sheep in a field next to the pitch while we were trying to kick off.”
“Another is the look of sheer horror on his face when I threw him on from the bench against Pink Flamingos and asked him to man mark James Westlake. ‘How am I meant to man mark a bloke who finished Tilgate Park Run yesterday 13 minutes quicker than me?’ he said in a high-pitched panicked voice. I don’t think it ended well.”
“My favourite moment though came after the first teams promotion to Division One when we faced FC Twente in our first game of the season. Ali Jenkins subbed himself off with us 2-0 down after 10 minutes with the immortal line ‘Scott, get me out of here’ which meant Potter entering proceedings a lot early than planned. After 80 minutes of being given the run around, he said to me in the car home ‘Don’t ever pick me for the first team again unless you are really, really desperate’. Needless to say, he was delighted to find himself starting in central midfield against a Premier Division side in the cup the following week.”
Fatboys CEO Stuart Brown offered his congratulations from the boardroom. “Mark is part of the fabric of the club and encapsulate the holistic approach that transcends first and reserve teams. His endeavours in green and previously blue have quite rightly written themselves in Fatboys folklore and we look forward to sharing many more spins on the footballing carousel in the coming months and years.”
“I also like looking at photos of him as he looks silly.”
It goes back to Buxton though to summarise why Potter has become such a popular figure at Hassocks Fatboys over the course of his 100 games. “He always gives 100% on the pitch and is a cracking guy off it”
“I don’t know too many players who care more about the Fatboys than Mark does. I miss Potter face almost as much as I miss pulling on the green shirt itself. It’s a fantastic milestone to reach 100 games for the club and I hope he really enjoys it. Much love from Martyn ‘Captain, Leader, Legend’ Buxton.”