Eldridge hails Common success

The Commoners are set to line up in Sussex County Football League Division One next season for the first time ever having clinched the third and final promotion place in Division Two. It’s a remarkable achievement from a Common side which finished third-bottom last term.

Eldridge said: “I’m absolutely over the moon for everyone associated with the club. It’s been a hard-working season and we’ve got our rewards.

“Our experiences from last year have held us in good stead. We didn’t want another season like that, we knew how we wanted to play, worked hard in pre-season and we’ve added players at the right times.

“We wanted to finish better than we did last year and I was always confident of that. Realistically we would probably have looked to push into the top six so to come third is a massive achievement.

“We said at the beginning of the season if we can average two points a game, we will have a pretty good season and we’re probably not far off that. It’s been a good journey and we’ve turned a good season into a great season.”

As well as ending the campaign as the division’s second highest scorers, Common also boasted the second best defensive record.

“I think that’s been key to our success,” continued Eldridge. “It’s alright scoring goals, but you need to keep the goals out at the other end and we’ve done that well.”

Eldridge doesn’t anticipate Common’s promotion to be scuppered by ground grading issues. He added: “I don’t see there being any problem. We’ve worked hard to get floodlights and we’ve done what we can.”