Harry Sargent did get his chance to play inside-left on a few occasions.

He played for the Albion as the following line-up for a Combination match at Arsenal shows: Harry Baldwin; Stan Risdon, Stan Willemse, Len Darling, Jack Dugnolle, Henry Wood, Bob Redfern, Jack Whent, Jock Sim, Harry Sargent, Charlie Coverdale.

"Sometimes I used to play pre-season games for other clubs like Newhaven, Eastbourne Town, Dover and Hastings United. When I played for Hastings in an early season game I got a new pair of boots and then I left as it had saved me a few bob. After a while, when the money came into the amateur game, it went downhill.

"A lot of Whitehawk boys moved out of the area and some joined other clubs and they wanted money. But those years with the club were wonderful and never to be forgotten. We did what no club had done before, or will ever do again. By winning the Senior Cup we gained admission to the Sussex County League and that set Whitehawk on its way."

Harry lives only a stone's throw from Withdean but never watches Albion.

"Good luck to them, but the game today isn't the game I used to play. Take the ball, for instance. It was leather and something entirely different. Today's balls are like balloons. The old case used to get covered with muck and was as heavy as lead in the wet and felt as if it weighed a ton. If you got the lace in your face you knew all about it. Besides, the game wasn't as vicious as it is today."

The class of '51 don't keep in close touch. To Harry's certain knowledge, the survivors include Micky Robins, who still lives in Whitehawk, Billy Thew, Alf Godfree, Cocker Blunt, Harry Tharme, Alex South and Albert Thorne. "We only see people at funerals and get Christmas cards," said Harry.

At least those who mourned him a few weeks ago had better restore the name of Sargent to the list. He hasn't changed much and is still bristling with indignation at being charged entry to the ground that he once helped to build.