Eastbourne Borough make two landmark announcements

Manager Danny Bloor is here for the long ride. has been offered, and accepted, the post of first-team manager for season 2020-21. His appointment, which some saw as a stop-gap response to the club’s crisis last autumn, now takes on a permanent dimension. From the short-term emergency measures of keeping a leaky ship afloat, Danny can take the helm and head for sunnier waters. And Borough have secured a new main sponsor for the next two seasons. The club this week agreed a far-reaching partnership with Bexhill College, who also become shirt sponsors. The agreement covers not only the College’s current oversight of the club’s Academy team, but a much closer integration of sporting and academic education, and a sharing of resources and expertise. Football chairman John Bonar explains the thinking. “The College is huge, expertly run and beautifully resourced. We are tapping into the very best educational expertise. "Their well-established sports tuition and Sports Science courses, together with the full range of academic subjects, will be available to 16s to 19s – girls as well as boys - who will be, to use football parlance, dual registered with Bexhill and Borough. "The College also operates in association with Chelsea Football Club Foundation – so the sky’s the limit! “Already, from this season, the College has taught and administered Borough’s Academy team, taking advantage of Priory Lane’s facilities for their home games. "One of our next and most exciting steps will to establish Priory Lane as a teaching base, a satellite of Bexhill College. "We already have classroom facilities, as well as superb and ample dressing room capacity, and 3G and grass pitches. "Groups and classes will be able to rotate and make fullest use of them. “Conversely, we have access to the magnificent facilities of the Bexhill campus, including for our own first team as well as for our younger age groups. "To sign up the College as the football club’s principal sponsor is a real declaration of intent, on both sides. These are exciting times!” Principal, Karen Hucker, gives her full endorsement. “The College is really pleased to be developing its relationship with Eastbourne Borough. "The partnership will ensure students have access to the best post-16 Sixth Form College education in the area, with the ability to access all types of courses to suit their needs, whilst giving them the chance to play high quality football.” Academy Coach, Sean Noble, is equally enthusiastic. “This agreement displays the commitment of both parties in providing the highest level of education and footballing opportunities for college students in the local area. "Already within our first year of working together, we have seen several students being given opportunities within the Eastbourne Borough first team. "And meanwhile the College’s Men’s first team has qualified for the final of the Sussex Cup, to be contested in March. "This agreement will ensure the partnership goes from strength to strength”. The club is holding an Open Evening next Friday, February 28, at Priory Lane for current Year 11 students, when staff from both sides, including College Academy director Sean Noble, will be present to explain options and answer questions. Further details will be posted on the club website www.ebfc.co.uk . And that man Bloor? Borough’s manager is fully on board. “I am really excited by the new partnership. We are not just a first team, we are a community club from top to bottom.” Danny this week pledged himself to the Sports by agreeing a deal with the club which keeps him at the Lane next season – and of course, possibly well beyond. “I felt the club needed to move in a different direction and we are doing that already. "The club needs to go back to the fans and the community – all the stuff I have been speaking about over these months It’s a club that’s really close to my heart and I believe we can keep progressing, both on and off the pitch. “For me, it’s technically a part-time post but that’s in name only! Managers at this level have to work incredibly hard. "The other night I took training and then raced to the Saffrons to catch Town against Peacehaven, and today I’ve spent half a day on the phone. "Then the end of the week is focused totally on the Dartford trip. Long hours and hard miles. But we love it, and I love this club. You need to be part of it to fully understand what makes it special.”