Desbois, Pitblado and Bird – signings that show how fast Eastbourne Borough are evolving

One year older and wiser? Leslie has brought an array of qualities to Priory Lane: business acumen, commercial contacts, strategic planning, bold decision-making, imagination. Oh, and a set of personal skills which Simon does not always get credit for. Stand with him on a cold wet Tuesday night at Dover, or see him in a consoling embrace with a distraught supporter. Or watch him roaring gleefully at his players when they’ve clinched a vital win.

Could the Borough actually have survived without the new ownership? In hindsight, that seems genuinely doubtful. The stadium has been transformed, both cosmetically and structurally, and Leslie’s longer term plans for Priory Lane are awesomely ambitious: more of that another time.

But the simple running costs of a National South club were, this time last year, draining reserves and climbing well above income. Not even to mention the wage bill. Before the take-over, Borough had enjoyed the managerial skills of Danny Bloor – the shrewdest of team-builders and also nicest of men. His place in the Hall of Fame is secure, and he surely will be back in management before this close-season is out.

Leslie has re-calibrated. Together with other ambitious clubs, Borough are among the biggest spenders in senior non-League. Four-figure wages are now common at this level, and Leslie needed an open cheque-book just to ratchet the club upwards and clear of relegation. It isn’t silly money, but rather a shrewd understanding that the model has changed.

Until very recently indeed, semi-pro clubs were exactly that - part-timers. The average Isthmian Premier squad is filled with good semi-professionals training twice a week – and holding down other jobs. Now, the more ambitious clubs at Eastbourne’s level are moving towards full time squads, or at least “hybrid” squads with daytime training.

Manager Adam Murray was actually Leslie’s most important signing by a mile. Borough now have one of the dozen best managers outside the Football League. And Murray is currently moulding his squad for a different challenge: not the glorious improvisation of that breathless 23-24 Great Escape, but the 24-25 Assault on the Summit.

Murray virtually completed his new cadre this week with three interesting new signings. Young but highly-rated goalkeeper Adam Desbois joins from Hampton and Richmond, and the Sports have also raided the Beveree for Hampton’s stand-out defender, Isaac Pitblado. And on Wednesday the club announced a permanent deal for full-back Pierce Bird, who won National North with Murray and AFC Fylde in 2023 and has been rock-solid at the Lane since January.

That last signing actually reflects the new reality. No longer a team of local lads made good, but a squad gathered from all corners of the land.

And the final interesting feature is the evolution of a new support base. Until this season, a core of Borough supporters had grown up with the club. Some might even admit they have grown old with the club. From parks to County League to Doc Martens and the Blue Square Conference, they have watched Langney Sports become Eastbourne Borough, and boys become men.

The old guard still have their place, and their wisdom, and many of the old stagers put in the miles and the long hours to support Borough right through that heart-stopping survival campaign. But attendances are significantly up, and consistently in four figures – and that reflects a generational shift.

The club’s Facebook page and the social media channels are now driven by a fresh tranche of new converts to the genuine pleasures of the semi-professional game. Middle-aged blokes, younger families, and indeed the younger generation – the Borough travelling support last season frequently included a gang of four noisily passionate nine-year-olds, complete with a very large drum.