Burgess Hill Town

Burgess Hill Town traces its line back to 1882.

The strongest run in the club's history came in the seven years after 1996, when five Sussex County League Division One titles arrived in the space of a decade, carrying the Hillians up to Step 4 of the non-league pyramid by 2003 and into the Southern League, then the Isthmian League, the following seasons. A second promotion, via the Isthmian League Division One South title in 2015, put them back among the Premier Division sides they had briefly left behind after relegation in 2018/19 — a drop reversed through the play-offs in 2023 under Jay Lovett, who had already managed the club once before returning for a second spell in 2024.

The club's best-remembered cup run needs no qualification: in December 2014, Burgess Hill Town beat Conference South side Aldershot Town 1-0 in the FA Trophy, a result that still stands as the club's clearest giant-killing. Further back, three Sussex Senior Challenge Cups in the 1880s were won so consistently that the trophy was retained outright.

None of that carries the weight, locally, of the fixture with Haywards Heath Town. The Mid-Sussex Derby is the game the town measures itself by, the one where league form counts for less than it should and bragging rights last until the return leg.