Most of them do not follow a professional club. Unlike another similarly sized county such as Lancashire, home to the likes of both Manchesters in the Premier League, as well as Preston, Bury, Burnley, Rochdale, Oldham, Stockport County, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, Sussex only features Brighton and Hove Albion of League One.

In non-League football, though, Sussex does have a variety of clubs, many of which had a surprisingly strong showing last season — a season of football across Sussex captured with aplomb by photographers Terry Buckman and David Bauckham in their new book, “A Season of Sussex Soccer”.

Attending around 140 games, the two managed to capture action from 62 clubs in the region, in what they describe as a “microcosm of The National Game”. The photos are interspersed with monthly roundups of the action on the field, from the perspiration of pre-season friendlies in August to the mud covered battles of mid-winter, through to the exciting climax for two of the largest teams aside from Brighton, promotion winning Lewes FC and Eastbourne Borough in Blue Square South.

Bognor Regis goalkeeper, groundsman, and former Chelsea apprentice Eddie Broadbent prepares for pre-season action.

Tubby midfielders, tiny stands, and greenery dominate the action. This is Havant and Waterlooville territory, not Anfield. As Mile Oak take on Storrington in front of 68 folks, we see the few travelling fans tucked under a stand barely wider than the beefy chaps themselves, perhaps relations of the players on the field.

East Preston keeper Tom Rand despairs, as his team goes down 1-0 to Crowborough Athletic in front of a crowd of 96.

The photographers lean more towards action shots than scenery, but even these — given the close quarters — can’t fail to give a sense of the intimate surroundings, and the sometimes strange disconnect between the passion on the players faces and the lush, lazy countryside rolling behind them.

The raw energy is at times captured brilliantly in the book, as in this photo of Eastbourne Town taking on Worthing, the players livid after the referee controversally disallows a goal:

As we make it to the end of the season and the celebratory team photos for trophy winning sides across the county from Bexhill to Lewes, we’ve perhaps been following too many teams across too many divisions to really feel deeply for any. But in a sense, that approach does capture the grassroots of the game in a county like Sussex scattered with small, locally embedded clubs quite perfectly.

A Season of Sussex Soccer is available for shipping worldwide. More information is available at Center Circle Publishing.

Lewes is a very, very small and rather charming town, the capital of my home county, East Sussex. With a population of around 16,000, nestled in the natural beauty of the South Down hills not far from the sea, it’s best known for its Guy Fawkes night fireworks rather than its football team. Lewes Castle gives the team its nickname, the Rooks, and its outstanding brewer Harveys provides the delicious beer served in the bar at the stadium, the delightfully named Dripping Pan.

When I went back home to Sussex last Christmas and made the trip from Brighton to Lewes to watch a match there, the locals seemed bemused by my choice. “You came all the way here and you’re going to see Lewes play footballl?”, one lady exclaimed in utter bemusement.

The match was enjoyable. For less than a third of a price to watch my hometown club Brighton and Hove Albion, I had a better supporter experience: I was not squeezed into a tiny, overpriced plastic seat miles from the action in an all-seater stadium. Instead, there was open terracing where fans could gather together and sing, chat and even drink reasonably-priced beer sold in the clubhouse overlooking the pitch.

The rolling grass banks on one side gave the place a relaxed feel, as Lewes comfortably dispatched the soon-to-be-famous Havant & Waterlooville 4-0. It turned out to be a key win on Lewes’ way to winning the Conference South, and thus promotion to Conference National. This will mean big changes off the field: within a year, the stadium will have to be upgraded further to meet minimum requirements for the Conference. This will probably mean the end of the grass banks and beer on the terraces.

But the most shocking change has already apparently happened: after guiding Lewes to promotion, rumours began to fly that Steve King, the manager, has already been told he won’t be retained next season. New investors have taken over and want to bring in their own man, as Lewes’ ambition seems to have gotten the better of them.

As Lewes collected the trophy for their title win last weekend, blogger Ian King (no relation) reports that Steve King burst into tears and was engulfed by his squad, many of whom are expected to follow him out of the door. Meanwhile, the crowd booed the club’s benefactor. Lewes is a small place, and sustaining crowds over 1,000 when your population is only 16,000 is no mean feat; pissing off half of them doesn’t seem much like progress to me.

Ian King asks and answers the key question: “Can Lewes FC afford to alienate its hardcore support? I would venture that this might turn out the make next season even longer than it was going to be before.”

It’s a shame that promotion has already brought tears to the Dripping Pan.