Lancing host Surrey based Leatherhead FC this Saturday – at the changed time of 1pm to accommodate England’s Euro24 quarter-final – in an eagerly anticipated warm up match. Leatherhead finished third in the Isthmian League South Central division last season and reached the play off final where they lost 3-1 to Marlow, so this will be a stern test for Jamie’s new look Lancers. Formed in 1907, the ‘Tanners’ have a rich non-league history and reached the final of the FA Trophy in 1977-78. They are probably best remembered though for their run to the fourth round of the FA Cup in 1974-75 when wins against Bishop Stortford, Colchester and Peter Taylor’s Brighton and Hove Albion saw them take a 2-0 lead before finally succumbing 3-2 to First Division Leicester City at Filbert Street. Their most famous player at the time was striker Chris Kelly who earned the nickname ‘The Leatherhead Lip’ for his willingness to talk up the team.

The current team is managed by former Arsenal player Ian Selley who was appointed at the end of last season and this will be his first game in charge of Leatherhead. Ian had a very successful playing career, the highlights being his time at Arsenal where he won the European Cup Winners Cup, FA Cup and League Cup. He went on to play for Fulham and Wimbledon amongst others

Lancing will be looking to build on their 2-1 win over Hassocks on Tuesday. As expected Hassocks gave us a really good workout and judging by their play and signings I would expect to see them emulate their SCFL Play-off position of last season at least. It was also good to welcome former Lancers Liam Hendy and Will Berry back to Culver Road. There was much to excite the crowd on Tuesday, not least our exciting attacking play down the wings and our resolute defending as Hassocks pushed for an equaliser. I have no doubt that the team will continue to find more cohesion once they get more minutes under their belt but it was a promising start. The crowd of 153 was amazing for a Tuesday pre-season friendly. To put it into context it was larger than 10 of our matches in our inaugural Isthmian League campaign in 21/22 and 8 league games in the 22/23 season! We cannot thank you enough for your continued support.

Also a big thanks to treasurer Dave Phillips who did so much to get this game arranged. As a former Leatherhead supporter before moving to Lancing we will forgive him if he comes in a half and half scarf this once!