Cup Wins

The club’s greatest achievement to date was in the 1963-64 season when the first team won the Sussex Junior Cup from an original entry of one hundred and sixty eight teams. The side took advantage of some favourable draws, being at home in every round bar one on the way to the final, and played with great spirit and no little skill to win the competition. The final against Longley’s of Crawley played in appalling conditions at the Saffrons in Eastbourne will long be remembered.

The third round saw a trip to Fishergate to take on Worthing League opposition in Brighton Segas where the side took a long time to settle down but in the end were comfortable 7-2 winners. The forwards were too fast and experienced for a shaky Segas defence but some wild shooting kept the half-time lead to 3-2. The first part of the second half produced good football but late in the game a number of the home players seemed to lose heart. The Icklesham scorers were Chris Ades (3), Brian Barden, David Ades, Bill Burt and an own goal from a Segas defender.

The team reached the last sixteen with a 3-1 fourth round home win against Buxted, both sides having been losing semi-finalists in the competition two years earlier. Buxted were reigning Hailsham League champions.

A cross wind and a heavy ball on a pitch that was only just playable made conditions difficult, but even allowing for all these factors there were too many inaccurate passes played.

In the first ten minutes David Ades and Chris Ades gave the Casuals a good start with well taken goals. Buxted reduced the lead mid-way through the second half before a further strike from Chris Ades made the game safe.

In the quarter-finals the team were paired with holders Drive United with the match once more at Icklesham Recreation Ground. On a gluey pitch they twice trailed in the game but two goals from Chris Ades put them on level terms, then only five minutes from the end Norman Hickman slammed in the winner from 25 yards.

The semi-final was against Eastbourne League champions, Eastbourne Working Men’s Club and for the fourth round in a row the game was at home. The tie was postponed for a week as the Icklesham pitch was unfit on the original date, but what a game it proved to be with the winning goal in a 6-5 victory coming with the last kick of the match, the only time the team were in front. Icklesham were behind three times in the first half and twice they equalised. The side got on level terms again only for the Working Men’s Club to grab two goals for a 5-3 lead. Again Icklesham fought back and narrowed the deficit but were still 4-5 behind with only two minutes remaining when Chris Ades again equalised. The players raced back for the restart and Casuals clinched the match as the closing seconds of the match arrived with another Chris Ades goal.

Eastbourne Working Men’s Club had a good forward line but were shaky in defence and on a dry pitch may well have triumphed. In all Chris Ades scored four goals with brother David notching the other two. John Parsons had a tremendous game at right-back and was well supported by George Potter and Bryan Butler, although at times the defence was badly out of position.

The cup and mementos were presented to a wet and bedraggled Casuals team by Arthur Penny, the Hastings chairman of the Sussex County Football Association and long-time friend of the club.

The Sussex Junior Cup was back in the hands of a Hastings League team for the first time in nine years and the club’s tremendous performance in winning the trophy without doubt played an important part in the Sussex County Football Association’s decision a few weeks later to grant Division One of the Hastings League intermediate status.