Stadium guide

Lewes FC stadium guide for visitors

A club bought for one pound by six supporters, the first anywhere to pay its women what it pays its men, and a ground dug out of the chalk called the Dripping Pan.

8 min read Facts last checked 29 Aug 2026

The short version. Lewes FC play at the Dripping Pan, capacity 3,000, in a Sussex market town. The club was bought for £1 by six supporters in 2010 and has been community-owned since. In July 2017 it became the first professional or semi-professional club anywhere to pay its women's team the same as its men's. The ground has one of the best names in football and is exactly what the name suggests.

A women's match in progress at the Dripping Pan seen from behind the goal: players in red and blue on a frosty pitch, a small covered stand and white clubhouse along the far side, a grassy bank rising behind them with a few spectators on the mound, and mist over the hills — Lewes FC Women at the Dripping Pan. The banked sides of the chalk hollow are visible behind the far touchline — and this is the same pitch, the same ground and the same budget as the men's team. Photo by James Boyes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Equal pay, 2017

In July 2017 Lewes announced that its women's team would receive the same playing budget as its men's team. No professional or semi-professional club had done it before.

It is worth being precise about what that means, because it is often reported loosely. Lewes committed to equal budgets for the two teams — the same money for players, the same facilities, the same treatment. The men play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier; the women play in the FA Women's National League South. A club several divisions below the professional game did something none of the clubs above it had done.

You will see it on the ground: the women's team is not a side project here, and the crowd treats both fixtures as the club's football.

Bought for a pound

In 2010 Lewes was in trouble, as small English clubs often are. Six supporters bought it for £1 and converted it into a community-owned organisation. Anyone can buy a share; every owner gets one vote, regardless of how many shares they hold.

This series has now collected four versions of the same idea — Union Berlin's members, AFC Wimbledon's Dons Trust, FC United's two thousand voting owners, and this. Lewes is the smallest and, at a pound, comfortably the cheapest rescue of the four.

The Dripping Pan

The club has played here since it was founded, and the ground is named after what it is: a natural hollow in the chalk, with banked sides, said to have been dug by the monks of the neighbouring priory. The pitch sits below the level of the surrounding ground and you look down into it.

Capacity is 3,000, mostly terrace, with the South Downs rising behind. It is one of the most distinctive small grounds in England and the walk to it, through a town of narrow lanes and a Norman castle, is part of the appeal.

Standing, drinking, and wandering about

As at Dulwich Hamlet and FC United, three things apply here that do not apply higher up:

Mostly terrace. You will be standing on a grass and concrete bank in a chalk pit.
You can drink in sight of the pitch. The 1985 Act covers designated matches — the top five tiers, internationals and the FA Cup proper. The seventh tier is not designated.
No segregation of the Football League kind. Change ends at half time if you want to.

Lewes also brews. The town's Harvey's Brewery has been on the same site since 1790 and its beer is sold at the ground, which makes this one of the more agreeable afternoons available in English football.

Two teams, one ground — and why that matters to a visitor

Most clubs in this series have a women's team somewhere. At Lewes both teams play at the Dripping Pan, on the same pitch, with the same budget and the same billing.

The practical consequence is one this series has not been able to offer before: check both fixture lists. A weekend here can take in a men's Isthmian League match and a women's National League South match at the same ground, for a few pounds each, standing on the same chalk bank. If you keep a record of grounds rather than of fixtures, that is two entries and one train ticket.

It is also worth going to the women's match on its own terms. Crowds at this level are usually counted in the dozens elsewhere; at Lewes the equal-billing policy has produced something closer to a proper matchday, and the difference between this and a token women's fixture at a big club is obvious within ten minutes.

Getting there

By train: Lewes station is a few minutes' walk from the ground. London Victoria is around an hour and ten minutes; Brighton is fifteen minutes.
Pairing: Brighton's Amex Stadium is twenty minutes away in the Premier League. A Saturday at one and a Sunday at the other is a strong contrast and an easy weekend.
Match ticket and transport: not included.

Tickets

Cheap and available at the gate. Walk up, pay, go in. Big fixtures fill it, but this is not a ground that needs planning.

Lewes before the match

Lewes Castle: a Norman gatehouse of grey flint with two tall round towers flanking an arched entrance, a ruined section of curtain wall to the left, a wooden walkway and shrubs in front, and red-brick town buildings immediately beyond — Lewes Castle, Norman and flint-built, standing in the middle of the town rather than apart from it. The keep is climbable and the view runs out over the Downs. Photo by Arild Vågen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What to see

Lewes Castle — Norman, in the middle of the town, with a keep you climb for a view over the Downs and the river.
Anne of Cleves House — a timber-framed Tudor house given to Henry VIII's fourth wife in the divorce settlement, now a museum.
Harvey's Brewery — a Victorian brewery on the river in the middle of the town, brewing since 1790. The shop sells what the ground pours.
The South Downs — the national park is on the doorstep, and the walk up to Mount Caburn from the town takes about an hour.
Bonfire Night — if your fixture falls near 5 November, be warned and be prepared: Lewes holds the largest and most elaborate bonfire celebrations in Britain, with burning crosses, costumed societies and thousands of visitors. Trains are restricted and the town is closed to cars.

What to eat and drink

Harvey's Best Bitter — brewed three hundred metres away, drunk on the terrace. This is as local as beer gets.
Sussex Pond Pudding — a suet pudding with a whole lemon inside it and a pool of buttery caramel when you cut it open. Old, regional and slightly mad.
Local cheese and South Downs lamb — the Sussex hills are good country for both.
English sparkling wine — the chalk here is the same as Champagne's and the vineyards around Lewes have become genuinely good.

Common questions

Was Lewes really first on equal pay?

Yes — in July 2017, the first professional or semi-professional club to commit to equal playing budgets for its women's and men's teams.

What is a Dripping Pan?

A hollow in the chalk with banked sides, traditionally said to have been dug by the monks of the priory next door. The club has played in it since it was founded.

Can I drink watching the game?

Yes, at this level. And the beer is brewed in the town.

Can I combine it with Brighton?

Easily — fifteen minutes by train. Premier League on one day and a chalk pit on the other is the sharpest contrast available in English football.

A club bought for a pound, the first to pay its women what it pays its men, and a ground dug out of the chalk. Add the Dripping Pan to your bucket list and drink the local bitter on the bank.