Think of modern-day football, and you think of the glitz and glamour. Record-breaking fees, prize money beyond the realms of imagination 10 years ago and sponsorship deals worth the value of a lower-league club.
That’s the Premier League and Champions League in a nutshell, but go down the pyramid, and you’ll find what football is all about.
The National League South, the sixth tier of English football, is made up of part-time plumbers and carpenters, yet – on a warm March Saturday – thousands came to watch them on the south coast.
Worthing sit at the top of the National League South, the gateway into non-regional football, but their battle is far from over.
Going into Saturday, just three points separated Worthing in first and Torquay in fifth — perhaps symbolising the craziness and unpredictable nature of the National League South.
Yet after beating Hampton and Richmond Borough 2-0, that gap between them in first and fifth is now five points, with The Reds also holding a three-point buffer over Dorking, Truro and Torquay below.
Unpredictable nature of National League South is brilliant entertainment
The National League South isn’t the Premier League, far from it, but the beauty of football centres around England’s vast and seemingly never-ending pyramid. The ‘beautiful game’ has never been about money or record-breaking fees — it’s about moments of madness, sudden joy and dreams.
Worthing have been thriving under owner George Dowell for some time. He brought the club in 2015 aged 22 with compensation money he received after he was left paralysed from the chest down in a car crash aged 17.
Since then, The Reds have secured two promotions, improved the stadium — the sleek and now modern Woodside Road with a capacity of 4,200 — and become football’s true Hollywood story. Forget Wrexham and Birmingham, think about Worthing.
They’ve suffered heartbreak over the past two campaigns, losing 2-0 away to Oxford City in the play-off semi-finals in 2023 before losing 4-3 at home to Braintree in the play-off final in 2024. They lost their star player, Ollie Pearce, and their manager, Adam Hinshelwood, to York, but – still – they thrive. They operate on a ‘mid-table budget’ in the words of their owner, but that’s not stopped them from going for promotion again.
In truth, Worthing hosted Hampton and Richmond Borough with pressure on their backs. They had lost their past two and blown the opportunity to create breathing room; they couldn’t afford to do that again.
The case in any promotion race, let alone one involving five teams, is that fans are always checking their phones during matches. “Are Truro winning,” one fan shouted midway through the match at Woodside Road, happy to hear it was goalless at the time against Chelmsford.
The Reds dominated proceedings in the first half, like men against boys, but they squandered every chance. Liam Nash missed a sitter, Temi Babalola fired a header over the bar and Danny Cashman also missed an effort most thought he would rifle home.
At half-time, it was clear fans were growing nervy. Everything suggested the deadlock would eventually be broken, especially with the visitors' manager Alan Julian sent off in the opening period, but football isn’t played on paper. Goals can always come against the run of play — and, when their rivals were also looking for goals elsewhere, those nerves were clear.
An electric atmosphere changed to a quiet one, and “at a pressurised part of the season, there’s always going to be an element of nervousness,” manager Chris Agutter said post-match.
But, in truth, Agutter was never truly concerned that it was going to be ‘one of those days’. “We’ve scored so many goals late on,” he told the site.
“Over a quarter of our goals this season have come in the last 15 minutes of games. With the quality in attack and players on the bench that can change the game, and we’ve got the best conditioning coach around; he’s got them in great shape. We’ll always finish games strong.”
Worthing’s strength and endurance were clear against Hampton and Richmond Borough. Combined with fresh players off the bench, eventually the deadlock was broken in the 66th minute through Cashman from the sport, scoring his 15th league goal of the season.
PICK THAT OUT!! https://t.co/j9PXlcmylB pic.twitter.com/jEQcmeadNh
— Worthing FC (@WorthingFC) March 29, 2025
There were a few scary moments for the final 25 minutes; the visitors nearly scoring an ‘Olimpico’ epitomised that, but the palpable sense of nervousness in the air quickly evaporated in the second minute of stoppage time. Captain Joel Colbran tapped the ball home after latching onto Joe Cook’s cross — and a weight was lifted off their shoulders.
Worthing secured victory, a deserved one, to move three points clear ahead of a title-deciding match next weekend at home to Truro, who are just three points behind. Manager Agutter hasn’t shied away from the main goal all season – it’s been in sight for a while – and that hasn’t changed now.
“Truro have got to come to us. That’s the way I view it. They’re a decent side, have been on a great run and are up there for a reason. Equally, we’re the ones in pole position, and there’s a reason we are where we are,” he told the site.
“We’ll go into that game incredibly confident. Our record against the top teams is very good. That’s what got us into this position. We’ve won a lot of six-pointers against our direct rivals. We’ll go into the game looking forward to the challenge.”
Whilst Liverpool are cruising to the Premier League title, and the same few teams compete for the sport’s greatest prizes, don’t look away from the roots of the game. The National League South is what football’s all about.