New Rocks manager Sami El-Abd has discovered just what he is up against when he takes charge of the Nyewood Lane outfit for the forthcoming season.
Bognor Regis Town will host Bath City on August 5 in the opening match of the season, before the next home game is against Whitehawk on Tuesday, August 15. Other notable fixtures are home to Eastbourne Borough on August 28 and Havant away on Boxing Day before hosting the Hawks on New Year’s Day.
The Rocks will face a crop of new faces in the 2017/18 campaign after gaining promotion to the Vanarama National League South in a thrilling Ryman Premier League play-off final victory over Dulwich Hamlet on the last day of the season.
But the drama didn’t stop with the nail-biting 2-1 win which guaranteed promotion. Just two days later boss Jamie Howell quit the Nye Camp and switched to Eastbourne Borough.
Now the fixtures are out, and the eager Rocks fans are keen to see the action unfold. Martin Burford, who sponsored the team shirts last season through his company Concise Surfacing Ltd, said: “It’s a new era with Jamie gone and Sami coming in as player-manager.
“And overall it’s an exciting prospect to see new faces in the squad and we look forward to seeing just how we get on playing in a higher league. It’ll be a challenge but one which I think the club can rise to.
“It’ll be great to come up against Eastbourne because Jamie is there and obviously Havant as well. And we have Whitehawk to consider too, so it’ll be a lively season.” The fixture list:
