By Jamie Ireland
Hopefully everyone had a lovely Christmas and is looking forward to the second half of the season.
Following two wins and a dramatic draw in their last three, Miles Rutherford’s men have climbed up to 12th position in a turnaround of form. The hosts for our final fixture of 2025 on Saturday 27th December are lingering outside the play-off places in 7th – although a 5-2 loss at home to Aveley in their most recent outing means they will have a point to prove to their supporters.
The Lillywhites fought off relegation threatened Hashtag United last time out as Miles Obodo scored his first goal for Chi extending our unbeaten run to three games. The loanee from Reading pounced on a parried strike from Emmett Dunn with 15 minutes remaining, shortly after the Essex-based side were reduced to ten men. This was City’s first win at Oaklands Park since the 2-1 victory over Whitehawk more than a month ago and they seem to have got their rhythm back in recent performances and will hope to continue to creep up the table.
As our final game of the year looms, we look back at an historic 2025 for the Boys in White. Playing at Step 3 for the first time following promotion, Chi achieved their highest ever finish in 6th place in the Isthmian Premier Division – only missing out on the play-offs on the final day of the season. As Saturday marks the halfway point of the campaign, Rutherford’s side will want to end the year with a positive result and kick on in 2026.
Recent Results
20/12 Hashtag United (H) 1-0 (W)
16/12 Cheshunt (H) 2-2 (D)
13/12 St Albans City (A) 1-2 (W)
06/12 Cray Valley PM (H) 0-3 (L)
02/12 Chatham Town (H) 2-2 (D)
Our Opponents
The Hillians sit two just off the play-off spots on 33 points after their promotion from the Isthmian South East Division and they will look to build on an impressive first half of the season. In their last five league games, they have won three and lost two –with both defeats being routs of 4-0 and 5-2 to Chatham and Aveley respectively. Despite these losses, Hill have only lost one other fixture since October making them a tough team to beat.
The only other West Sussex-based team in the division, they have scored a respectable tally of 40 goals this campaign however they have also have a leaky defence conceding 46 goals which makes them the second worst defensive side in the Isthmian Premier Division, only one less than Potters Bar Town. Jay Lovett’s men will hope to tighten up their defence going into Saturday where Chi’s frontline of Obodo, Prichard and a returning-from-injury Jimmy Wild will have reason for encouragement.
Ones to watch
Glen Rea – Having joined the club in October following his departure from Worthing, the experienced defensive midfielder has had a good start to life at his new team. Rea has started every game since joining the Hillians and has been a consistent performer, even chipping in with a couple of goals. Having started out at Brighton, the Irishman featured over 200 times for Luton Town from 2016-2022 across the three divisions in the EFL as well as turning out for Wigan Athletic and Cheltenham Town.
Max Fiddes – A new loan-signing for the club from National League South side Dover Athletic, the 20-year-old forward has already bagged two goals in four games since putting pen to paper last month for a 30-day loan. Fiddes had previously spent the earlier parts of the season at fellow Isthmian Premier Division side Canvey Island, where he scored 8 goals in 11 games for the relegation-threatened team. The striker looks to have continued his fine form in this division, and is certainly a player that Chi’s defence will have to be wary of.
Previous meetings
This fixture will be the first time the two teams from the same county face off in the 2025-26 season. Chichester are unbeaten in their last six games against Burgess Hill, winning five of them and drawing one – most recently a 3-0 win at Oaklands Park on 9th March 2024 in the Isthmian South East division.
Head-to-head
09/03/24 – Chichester 3-0 Burgess Hill
11/11/23 – Burgess Hill 3-5 Chichester
07/02/23 – Burgess Hill 2-2 Chichester
27/09/22 – Chichester 4-1 Burgess Hill (Velocity Trophy)
16/08/22 – Chichester 1-0 Burgess Hill
Matchday Information
Supporters wishing to attend the game can see Burgess Hill’s ticket prices here: Admission Prices 2025/26 – Burgess Hill Town FC.
The match kicks off at 3pm at the Medical Travel Compared Stadium, also known as Leylands Park, and we wish a safe journey to any supporters making the journey across our county.
Up The Chi!
