Wormull backs part-time Borough

11:10am Thursday 24th July 2008

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Simon Wormull has rejected the theory that Eastbourne Borough will struggle to survive in their debut season in the Blue Square premier.

Borough will be one of only six part-time clubs competing in non-league’s top flight next season and recent history suggests they face a battle to beat the drop.

The bottom four in both of the past two seasons have all been part-time but Wormull is confident they can emulate the success of Histon and buck the trend.

Histon finished seventh in their first campaign in the premier division last season and the former Crawley midfielder believes Borough can copy their blueprint for upsetting the odds.

Wormull, 31, said: “Everybody is saying it is going to be an uphill battle but I don’t necessarily agree.

“Of course it is going to be difficult because it is a big step up but I don’t think the fact that we are part-time will be a problem and it might actually work in our favour because the pressure will be on our opponents to beat us.

“If you look at our first two games of the season against Rushden and Diamonds and Stevenage they are very tough and people will be expecting us not to get anything out of them. That means we can relax a little because anything we do get will be a bonus.

“If we finish fifth from bottom that will be considered a successful season for us but I think we have get better players than that. We’ve got a lot of players who have played at this level before which bodes well.

“I’ve not played in the premier division for a few years but I’ve kept an eye on it and I don’t think anyone is better than us in terms of the quality of the individual players.

“The only differences are fitness and organisation but we are a fairly young side with a lot of fit kids and one of the main reasons I joined Borough was because they are so well organised.

“Whatever happens it is still 11 players versus 11 players and we will be something of an unknown quantity so I’m confident we can surprise a few people.”

Wormull helped Lewes pip Borough to the Blue Square south title last season but quit the Rooks in the summer following the shock sacking of boss Steven King.

The former Tottenham trainee had offers to return to the professional ranks but was impressed with what was happening at Priory Lane and jumped at the chance to join Borough.

He added: “Lewes offered me a better deal than I was already on to stay but everyone else had left and the ambitions of the people in charge didn’t really match mine.

“I spoke to a few other clubs but I didn’t really want to go back into full-time football. I was at Hornchurch and Crawley when they went into administration and I didn’t want to rely solely on football for my income again.

“I also had the opportunity to go to America and play in the division below the MLS but that was not really an option I wanted to explore and when Borough approached me I didn’t need to think about it too long.

“I wanted to go to a club I thought could progress and I already knew quite a few of the players at Borough who told me what a great set-up it is. I’m 31 now and want to play at the highest standard I can for as long as possible and I think I can do that best with Borough.”