Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in West Sussex. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields. Located approximately 7 miles north of Brighton, the area now occupied by Hassocks was just a collection of small houses and a coaching house until the 19th century, when work started on the London to Brighton railway. The area first became a centre of population around 20,000 years ago during the Stone Age. These people were mostly nomadic until approximately 5,000 years ago. Around this time, the first farmers settled on and around the South Downs, a mile to the south of the village. They travelled from the continent, bringing with them various types of farming livestock. Evidence of their existence has been found in the form of tools and dwellings around Stonepound Crossroads and in the Parklands area.
Hassocks FC was founded in 1902, spending the first 80 years competing in the Mid-Sussex Football League and the Brighton, Hove & District Football League, mainly at Adastra Park. Ambitions for senior football were realised for the 1981–82 season when the club became members of Division 2 of the Sussex County League, finishing in 12th in their first season. Consolidation followed with regular placings in the top half of the division until the end of the 1986–87 season, when a change in the County League rules regarding ground grading saw the club demoted to Division 3 and a return to intermediate football. 1991 saw a change in chairman and management with Jim Goodrum elected Chairman, Dave John coming in as General Manager and the introduction of a new management team of Nick Grenwood and Pete Liddell in charge of First Team affairs. Results were immediate, the Division 3 title being won by 10 points in 1991–92.Critically, the return to senior football was matched by the progress off the pitch, with the club realising its ambitions to move to its own ground, The Beacon Ground.
This Pieman visited the Beacon Ground for a Sussex County League match versus Stamco. The visitors took the points courtesy of a 2-1 win. The journey by train from London Victoria to Hassocks was supplemented by a 20 minute stroll to the ground.
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