Hastings United F.C.

Hastings United

Hastings United Club badge
Full name	Hastings United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Arrows The U's
Founded	1894 as Rock-a-Nore
Ground	The Pilot Field
Ground Capacity	4,050 (800 seated)
Chairman	David Ormerod
Manager	Darren Hare
League	Isthmian League Division One South
2015–16	Isthmian League Division One South, 7th
Website	Club home page

Hastings United Football Club is a semi-professional English football club that currently plays in the Isthmian League Division One South and is affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association and the Hastings Football Association.

The club is based in the borough of Hastings and is based at The Pilot Field. Originally known as Hastings Town and Hastings & St. Leonards before that, the club changed to its current name in 2002, partly taking on the identity of the old Hastings United football club, which ceased to exist in 1985.

The present-day team known as Hastings United Football Club was founded in 1894 as Rock-a-Nore. The team played in local leagues until 1921, when they merged with All Saints (becoming Hastings & St. Leonards Amateurs) and joined the Sussex County League, where they played until 1927. In 1952, the club rejoined the Sussex County League, remaining there until the 1984/85 season.

In 1921, Hastings & St. Leonards Amateurs moved to the Sussex County League and finished runners-up to Worthing. The club again finished second in the 1926–27 season, this time behind Southwick, but then moved back to the Hastings Football League due to ground problems. The club joined the Sussex County League again in 1952, but had to wait until the 1959–60 for success, finishing second in Division Two of the Sussex County League. In 1979, the club changed its name to Hastings Town and, in the 1979/80 season, won the Division Two championship and the Divisional Cup. The 1980–81 season saw the club win the County League Cup.

When, in 1985, the old Hastings United ceased trading, Hastings Town applied for membership of the Southern League Premier Division, though, following objections from another club, were admitted into the league's Southern Division. The club also negotiated a long term lease with Hastings Borough Council for use of United's Pilot Field ground, moving from their former home at The Firs.