Eastbourne Town Women F.C. is an English football club based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, England. They currently play in the .
They are founding members of the Sussex County Women and Girls Football League in 2004.
Eastbourne Town Women play their home games at The Saffrons, and are affiliated to Eastbourne Town.
History 2002–2011: The early years Originally known as Eastbourne Town Ladies, they were formed on 6 May 2002, being transferred from Polegate Grasshoppers Under 15s to make the jump into senior football. The team entered Division Three of the South East Counties Women's League for the 2002–03 season, finishing in third place below Woking Reserves and Lindfield and being promoted to Division Two along with Crawley Wasps. The following season wasn’t successful, with players leaving for education reasons; they finished 8th in the table, but with the creation of the Sussex County Women and Girls Football League in 2004, the team took the drop.
The ladies spent one season in the league, came runners-up and won their first piece of silverware, the Sussex County Women’s Challenge Trophy, against Burgess Hill Town. They then transferred back to the South East Counties League Division 1. Barely being able to stay in the division for the first two seasons, the 2007-08 season proved to be the start of success. Although losing the first game of the season to Meadow Sports, they completed the rest of the season unbeaten, finishing the season as runners-up. The Ladies won a double in the 2008-09 season, winning the South East Counties Chairman's Cup and the Division 1 title and earning promotion to the Premier Division. They were crowned league champions in the 2010-11 season and were runners-up in the S.E.C. League Cup, but they earned promotion into the London and South East Women's Regional Football League Premier Division for the first time; at the time, there was only one division.
2011–2021: London & South East league
The first season in the London and South East League was most successful at the time; they reached 2nd place in the table, losing out on promotion into the FA Women's National League by 4 points. After that, the form slipped over the next few seasons, hovering just outside the relegation zone.
In 2014, Garry Pearce, the manager, had stepped down after 12 seasons in charge, and the 2014–15 season saw player Emma Parslow becoming player-manager with Theo Parfitt as joint manager. Although finishing 11th in the league, the women made their record Women's FA Cup run during the 2014–15 season by reaching the third round, starting their run winning 7–0 against Burgess Hill Town Women, 3–1 against Parkwood Rangers and 5–0 against Gosport Borough Ladies in the first, second and third qualifying rounds. The first round proper saw a 1–1 draw after extra time with Chichester City Ladies but winning the penalty shootout 5–4, taking them to the second round with Queens Park Rangers Girls, winning 1–0 before losing in the third round to Derby County Women 2–4 after extra time. All of Eastbourne Town's games were played at home.
In 2016 both Emma and Theo stepped down from their joint role, which was taken over by Stuart Tibble for just one season. Theo Parfitt took over again with the team goalkeeper, Sarah Walshaw, for the 2017–18 season before university graduate Charlie Woodham took the reins for the 2018–19 season. For nine seasons since finishing runners-up, the Ladies continued to hover around the relegation zone; several management changes and a poor form of results saw no improvement. On 10 June 2019, the team renamed themselves to Eastbourne Town Women and were joined by Zak Dove, replacing Charlie Woodham as manager, but after a few months came the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted the 2019–20 season along with the following season. In June 2021 Zak Dove stepped down from his role as manager.
2021–present: Sussex county league
In July 2021, the club released a statement announcing that the club was withdrawing from the London and South East regional football league and taking voluntary relegation in to the Sussex County Women and Girls Football League After 16 years since leaving, the women rejoined the league's Premier Division with a new manager, Martin Keightley, and a new team. With some women staying from the previous season and some who were in the early ladies' team rejoining. Martin Keightley resigned after a few months, and Theo Parfitt took over as caretaker manager until Rick Tate took over the role permanently in February 2022. The women were relegated into Division One for the 2022–23 season. After a successful start to the season, the team was sitting at the top of the table. With two games left to play in the season, Denne Park forfeited their game, giving Eastbourne Town an automatic three points, which made them Division One champions and earning them an automatic promotion back into the Premier Division.
In June 2023, it was announced by the club that a development team would be created, led by former player Stef Shambrook taking on the manager role, assisted by Tasha Pearson, also a former player. The team entered Division One of the Sussex County Women's League, but only lasted for the season before disbanding. The first team reached the final of the 2023–24 Sussex Women's Challenge Trophy, and the first final of any competition since 2012. Losing to Saltdean's development squad 9-2. In February 2024, it was announced that Rick Tate would step down as women's team manager. Long-term players Sarah Da Silva and Dani Parfitt were announced as joint player-managers and Richard Dyson, former Eastbourne Borough Women's manager stepped in until the end of the season. The season ended with Town finishing in 6th place. For the 2024–25 season, former player Sarah Walshaw took over the reins for a season struggling for players she became player-manager later in the season with Ed Copping assisting. Town finishing the season just second from bottom; she stepped down at the end of the season with Steve Hadfield taking over. Town finished the 2025–26 season, finishing second from bottom again.
Kits Football kits Like the men's team, the club's colours have mainly been yellow and dark blue, the colours of William Cavendish, the Duke of Devonshire, which were also adopted around Eastbourne including the fleet of the former Eastbourne Buses.
Away kits have changed over the seasons from white and blue to pink and light blue.
In 2023 a special kit was made for the 2023 Kitlocker Summer Series in Brighton.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (chest) Shirt sponsor (back) Shirt sponsor (arm) 2002–2009 Unknown ASDA None None 2009–2011 Adidas Drusillas Zoo Park 2011–2014 MKK Sports Sussex Business Times 2014–2018 Macron Macron Store Hastings 2018–2019 Errea Brand Installations 2019–2021 Macron UK Packaging Willow Tree 2021–2023 Lincolns Bakery The Bell, Ticehurst 2023 Nike Kitlocker 2023–2025 Umbro Coleman Plant Hire None The Beacon 2025–2026 Kappa Graham Plumbers Merchants None None 2026-Present East Sussex College
Ground
Eastbourne Town Women currently play their home games at The Saffrons, Compton Place Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1EA. Located in Eastbourne town centre, a 5-minute walk from Eastbourne Railway Station.
Players
Management and staff Current staff
Position Name Manager Steve Hadfield Assistant manager Alan Dale Head coach Cory Charles Goalkeeping coach Anthony Dale Assistant coaches Ed Copping Max Dale Physiotherapist Olivia Hardwick Director of Women's Football Richard Dyson
Managerial history Key League matches only. M = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; Win % = percentage of total matches won Managers with this background and symbol in the "Name" column are italicised to denote caretaker appointments. Managers with this background and symbol in the "Name" column are italicised to denote caretaker appointments promoted to full-time manager.
Stats as of 8 September 2024. DatesNameMWDLWin %HonorsNotes 2002–2014 Gary PearceSouth East Counties Women's League Premier Division Champions: 2010–11South East Counties Women's League Division One West Champions: 2008–09South East Counties Women's Chairman's Cup Winners: 2008–09Sussex County Challenge Trophy Winners: 2004–05 2014–2016 Emma Parslow & Theo Parfitt 2016–2017 Stuart Tibble 2017–2018 Theo Parfitt & Sarah Walshaw 2018–2019 Charlie Woodham 2019–2021 Zak Dove 2021-2021 Martin Keightley 2021–2022 Theo Parfitt 2022–2024 Rick Tate Sussex County Women's League Division One Champions: 2022–23 2024 Sarah Da Silva & Dani Parfitt 2024 Richard Dyson 2024–2025 Sarah Walshaw2025 – Present Steve Hadfield
Season summary
WinnersRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegatedTransferred
+ Results of league and cup competitions by seasonSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupNotesTierDivision2002–037 1812247146383rd —1R2003–046 2270153886218th —1R2004–056 2nd1Q—2005–0662052132866148th1Q—2006–0761633101834128th2Q—2007–0861813417018432ndPR—2008–096 1410134911311st1Q1R2009–1061912253821383rd3QQF2010–116 1611325811361st 3Q Runners up2011–1252012534624412nd2Q—2012–1352072112548217th3Q—2013–1452034131750139th2Q—2014–15522241625551011thR3QF2015–16520331414621110th2Q—2016–1751832131248119th —GS2017–1851632111542118th3QGS2018–195167182323226thPRGS2019–20513238123198th 1QGS2020–215 32017466th 3Q—2021–227 16211368178th 1Q2R2022–238 1613125225401st —2R2023–247 145274231176th — QF2024–257 14201256867th 2Q 2R2025–267 143292547117th – 2R2026–277 PR
Honors
League honours London and South East Women's Regional Football League Premier Division Runners-up (1): 2011–12 South East Counties Women's League Premier Division Champions (1): 2010–11 Division 1 West Champions (1): 2008–09 Division 1 West Runners-up (1): 2007–08 Sussex County Women's League Division 1 Champions (1): 2022–23 Division 1 Runners-up (1): 2004–05
Cup honours Isthmian Ladies Cup Runners up (3):2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 South East Counties Women's League Cup Runners up (1): 2010–11 South East Counties Women's Chairman's Cup Winners (1): 2008–09 Sussex County Challenge Trophy Winners (1): 2004–05 Runners up (1):2023–23
Doubles 2008–09: SECWL Division One Champions and Chairmans Cup
Club records Best League Performance: London & South East Premier Division 2011–12, 2nd Best Women's FA Cup performance: Third Round, 2014–15 Biggest League Win: 17 - 0 v Meadow Sports, South East Counties Women's League, 19 April 2009 Biggest Cup Win: 10 - 1 v Sheerness East, SECW League Cup, 2 November 2008 Most points in a season: 43 in 18 games, South East Counties Division 1 West 2007–08
Notes
References
External links Official site