Hinshelwood thanks Worthing's fab fundraisers - even if they've left him in pain

The Rebels manager had to do a ‘43k for £43k’ run from his home in Selsey to Worthing’s Woodside Road ground on Saturday after pledging to do so if a fundraising total by the club reached £20,000 within nine days.

In fact the whole amount of £43,000 – to go towards a £150,000 scheme to carry out major improvements to the ground this summer – was secured in two weeks, leaving Hinshelwood happy, if a little pained, to keep his part of the deal.

He was joined by coach Cam Morrison, kitman Stu Evans, his 15-year-old son Jack and fellow ex-Brighton player Dean Hammond in completing the run, around a marathon distance of 26 miles, in the intense heat of last Saturday, helped along the way by well-wishers with drinks and snacks and greeted at Woodside Road by a good number of socially distanced Worthing fans.

And he was left to reflect that the crowdfunding scheme that had seen so many people join forces to show their support for the club had put everyone at the club in the right frame of mind for their eventual return to action and another Isthmian premier division promotion bid.

Hinshelwood said: “The run was hard work but we’re so glad we did it. For the first bit, to Littlehampton, I was fine, but after a while my knee was playing up. I couldn’t bend it!

“I’ve had eight operations on that knee so it might not have been the best idea to run that far. I said I’d do that distance as an incentive to get the money coming in but I didn’t really think I’d actually have to do it.”

Hinshelwood and his fellow runners ran from Selsey through Pagham, Littlehampton and Rustington and to Worthing, where they were cheered across the line by Rebels supporters.

“A lot of people came out along the way and gave us water and sweets and Jaffa Cakes. I didn’t like to turn any of the offers down but did feel a bit sick by the end!

“After my knee slowed me down Cam hung back with me and the other three carried on in front. My brother Paul came out and ran with us for a section too.”

It was a fittingly upbeat end to a fortnight of fundraising that saw the club net the whole £43k they had given themselves eight weeks to raise.

That will be added to £107,000 already in place to pay for new floodlights, a food/drink and toilet block in the north-east corner of the Crucial Environmental Stadium and improvements to the home dressing room.

The club are keeping open the crowdfunder page and any additional money donated will be kept for use on other stadium improvements they plan longer-term.

Hinshelwood said the fundraising – and the team’s Selsey-Worthing run – had shown what a positive feel there was about the club following the disappointment of the unfinished season when they had looked like achieving their dream of promotion to the National League South.

“To get to the end of the run and see fans there by the ground on a Saturday afternoon reminded you of what it’s all about,” he said. “We just all want to get back there playing and watching football.

“When the club said they were launching the crowdfunding page I wasn’t sure, with everything going on the world, it was the right time. But the response has been fantastic. It’s brought everyone together - players, ex-players, staff, management, fans and sponsors.

“It’s shown what a tight-knit group we are and had given everyone a hunger to get back to playing their part in taking the club to a higher level.

“There’s a real positive energy around the place and we can’t wait to get going.”

Hinshelwood, who is confident most of last season’s squad will stay with Worthing, said it was frustrating the Isthmian League had been unable to give any hint about when next season may start.

But with the FA Cup final now planned for August 1, the manager said he could not see the 2020-21 campaign at any level starting as normal in mid-August.