MATCH PREVIEW: Worthing vs Chippenham Town | National League South | Saturday 3rd January
CTFC open 2026 with a trip to top of the table Worthing.
Chippenham Town begin 2026 with an Awayday to top of the National League South Worthing FC, with the aim of extending our unbeaten run during the festive period.
The opposition
Worthing FC were formed in 1886, and played local matches across the Sussex and West Sussex area. In 1920 they became founding members of the Sussex County League in which they were the inaugural champions.
They would win seven titles in their time in the Sussex leagues, with the outbreak of WW2 halting further potential titles, before joining the Corinthian League in the late 40’s. The league would disband in 1963, and Worthing’s highest finish was 7th.
They would become members of the Athenian League in which they reached a high of 4th in the Premier Division, but were relegated to the 2nd Division in the following years.
During these formative years their FA Cup runs gave them a 1st Round defeat against Yeovil and a 2nd Round defeat against Oxford United.
In 1977, the Isthmian League beckoned for Worthing, and they became a mainstay of that league structure for some time. Starting in the 2nd Division back-to-back promotions followed in the early 1980’s, that earned Worthing a four season stay in the Premier Division.
They became a yo-yo club between the 1st and Premier Divisions until 2015, the year of their promotion from Step 4 to 3. The season previous saw the departure of Manager and former Brighton centre-half Adam Hinshelwood to become a full-time coach at Brighton & Hove Albion, then in the Championship.
At a similar time, George Dowell, a former player as a 16 year old took control of the club and marked the beginning of the new Worthing.
Promotion from Step 3 to Step 2 followed after a tricky COVID period on the pitch, as during both the afflicted 19/20 and 20/21 they were in the run in for promotion.
Elevation into Step 2 was achieved in 21/22, as they won the Isthmian League with 97 points, scoring exactly 100 league goals. During their time at Step 2, they have finished 4th twice and 3rd in 2023/24. Their Playoff campaigns have been halted by Oxford City (Eliminator) and Maidstone, in last years semi-finals, but their closest game in 2024 as they were defeated at home in the playoff final by Braintree. The Rebels led 3-1 just after the break, but would concede late in Extra-time in front of the TNT Sports cameras.
Their current manager is again Adam Hinshelwood now in his third spell, having left in 2024 to pursue a full-time job in the National League with York, but returned this season as Chris Agutter moved upwards to Sutton.
This season has been more of the same for the Rebels, despite a shaky start. At the time of our first meeting of the season in August, a 1-0 win for us, Worthing dropped to 15th in the table their lowest ebb of the year but have since returned to the summit. In the FA Cup, they were defeated by National League Forest Green Rovers 4-1 in the Fourth Qualifying Round, and in the FA Trophy they were defeated by Gloucester City on spot-kicks.
Fixture History
Our first meeting with Worthing game just before the turn of Millennium, as after two ties in the FA Cup Third Qualifying Round Worthing defeated us 3-1, as they went on to reach the First Round with defeat against Rotherham United.
Since then all of our meetings have come in this division. We have two wins in that time, a 1-0 win this season thanks to Jake Evans’ free-kick and a 3-1 win in March 2024 being the middle of three consecutive wins at the tail-end of 23/24
Dangermen
Bradย Dolaghan – Dolaghan is the league’s top scorer this year, with 22 league strikes in 21 matches, and has scored in each of Worthing’s last five league games. In fact, the last time that he failed to score or assist in a league match was on the 21st of October. Dolaghan, 21, began his career with Worthing in 2023 and re-signed last summer having gone to West Ham United. Last season he spent the second half of the season on loan with National League side Aldershot including grabbing an FA Trophy winners medal. The centre-forward has played against us twice before, coincidently in both of CTFC’s wins against the Rebels.
Teddy Jenks – Jenks was signed from Forest Green Rovers in September, and scored the opener in Worthing’s Tuesday night win against Dorking. Jenks began his career just down the road in Brighton. His Albion debut came in the EFL Cup against Aston Villa, but he would only go on to make one more appearance, also in the EFL Cup. He was loaned to Aberdeen, in which he played four times in the Europa Conference League and then Crawley Town. Following his release from Brighton he signed for Forest Green, and made 55 appearances in two campaigns. Signed by Worthing this year he has played 13 times this season in the league.
Supporter Information
We will be bringing you Live Radio Commentary on MIXLR, going live at 14.50
