Burgess Hill Town chairman Newell: '˜I take all the responsibility'

Burgess Hill Town chairman Kevin Newell says he takes '˜all the responsibility' for where his side are in the league.
Kevin NewellKevin Newell
Kevin Newell

Ian Chapman’s side suffered a sixth straight league defeat on Tuesday night when they lost 3-1 to Dorking Wanderers.

That followed the 2-1 defeat to Brightlingsea Regent on Saturday and the two results leave them six points adrift at the bottom of the Bostik Premier table. The only bright spot is they still have up to three games in hand on the teams above them.

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Newell is confident a win is on the way but said the survival of the club is his main concern and believes he has the best management team he could expect in Chapman and Stuart Tuck.

He said: “I take all the responsibility because I am asking him [Ian Chapman] to manage a team at a high level of football on a very, very limited budget.

“I am very interested in the football and the results because I am a passionate supporter but I am also the guardian of the club itself and where we are and what our future is. I have to look after the football club to make sure we are here next season, not whether we are playing in Bostik Premier or Bostik, South or the National League. That I leave to people who know a lot more about football than I do.

“I am more concerned to see the football club is still there, providing the community with a focal point and our fans have been tremendous.

“It’s for them that the football club has to survive.”

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Newell knows some other clubs in the same league have thrown money at their on-field problems but it is not a route he wants to go down. He said: “I don’t want to put myself in a situation like Lowestoft Town and Dulwich Hamlet, who both have problems at the moment.

“There are other clubs in our division who are close to the edge because we had a bad winter and it’s a very demanding league and it’s hard to keep it going.

“I am looking at the football and I am concerned about the football. But this is not a case where I can give the manager £3,000 extra a week for players. It’s not feasible and it would only bring the club to its knees and that is the last thing I want.”

The chairman believes it’s only a matter of time before the next win comes.

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He said: “In performance terms, the team is not performing so badly, it’s just a lack of confidence. Our players are starting to make mistakes and at this level you get punished, and that’s what is happening.

“The clubs around us aren’t really doing any better than us. We have to pick up some points and we have had such a long run of defeats. But I genuinely believe that has to come an end at some point by us getting the rub of the green or a bit of luck that will just turn a game.”