Athletics is certainly not the easiest of sports to organise, the current problems have underlined this, and even athletic facilities are expensive to provide and need constant attention.
I thought I would take a look at how Sussex have fared in this respect over the years and look at gaps.
Most villages have a playing field for general use but these are little use for athletics unless it is flat and looked after but no real use for training for technical events such as throws and jumps.
The first cinder track in Sussex was not opened until 1949 at the Hove Greyhound track but although it had cinder run ups for the jumps and concrete circles for the throws the track was squeezed inside the greyhound track and was restricted to 427 yards. Approximate lap times for the distance races were recorded by the Time keepers pacing out 13 paces each lap.
Prior to this the then Brighton &, County Harriers had spent fifty years at the Cricket Ground at Preston Park while the Sussex Walking and Athletic Club and the Brighton Ladies A.C had been there from the late 1920s.
The grass track at Preston Park was considered one of the finest in the country as it necklaced three practice cricket pitches, was 1/3 mile loop and from 1887 was itself surrounded by a cycle track which is the oldest working cycle track, now referred to as a Velodrome, in the World. It was however not until 1936 that the cycle track was tarmacked.
By that time the ground had already hosted the Southern Counties Athletic Championships and an International match between England and France, in the 1920s, where Brighton & County runner Arthur Muggeridge won the 5,000m from the much fancied French runner. They did not believe it and he was invited to Paris for a re-match where he duly repeated the victory.
For these major meetings a 440 year track was marked out in the middle of the track and I have been told that it looked lost in the middle of the cricket pitches.
After the transfer some middle distance runners continued to use Preston Park, in preference to the rather loose cinders at Hove for training and times were certainly no faster than the Preston Park grass.
Technically the first cinder track in Sussex was at Christ Hospital where again the Cricket pitch was surrounded by a 4 lane, to my memory, an irregular shaped cinder track. This however was not a public track.
The next Sussex track to be opened was at Princes’ Park at Eastbourne in 1952 and they can boast the most illustrious dignitary to open any Sussex track as it was the Duke of Edinburgh who cut the ribbon. In the fities it was twice hot to the Sussex Championships.
Prior to this the Eastbourne Rovers trained at St Cyprians at Eastbourne College and held combined athletics and cycling meetings at the Cricket Ground in Princes Park which was quite bumpy. However they only held sprint events as there were not any jumping or throwing facilities.
The Princes Park track however was open and susceptible to winds, like all exposed seaside tracks.
Withdean or Brighton Sports Arena as it was briefly called when it opened in May in 1955, was very much a vast improvement on the Hove Sports Stadium and was one of the top tracks in the South of England at the time.
Of all the tracks in Sussex it has the longest history as a pleasure ground. It was known, from Victorian/Edwardian times known as Marshall’s Field. It was an area used for perambulating and later as Brighton Technical College playing fields. It became a major Tennis Centre with a Wimbledon style Centre Court in 1936, plus a Zoo both before and after WWII, used by the Military and a Mortuary during the War and eventually an athletics track in 1955.
It was the home of the Sussex County and Sussex Women’s A.A.A Championships for many years as well as the home of the Brighton and Brighton Ladies A.C and subsequently Brighton & Hove, Arena 80 and Phoenix, Brighton Phoenix, Athletic Clubs. 
Set in a semi bowl Jimmy Green, the Editor of Athletics Weekly described the track as “A fine ground in a glorious setting” when it was opened in May 1955.
It has been the venue for several International matches, the European Masters Championships, Southern Championships, several times, A.A.A Junior championships and the International Schools match in 1965 while many British records were set at Withdean and the only Four minute mile to be run in Sussex was run by Alan Simpson in (Rotherham) in 1966 when he clocked 3:58.8.
It is still used for County Executive, Development and Annual meetings and several Olympic Champions have competed there.
It was used twice as a venue for British teams when, before venturing, usually by sea, to Major Games. The Governing body would hold a match or get together, staying at Butlins at Saltdean for a couple of nights, before Olympics or Commonwealth Games.
The track was upgraded with an Olymprene surface and opened by Steve Ovett in 1980 and has since been resurfaced and modified including removing the remaining half of the Centre Court and moving the horizontal jumps to, what was a very useful the upper plateau.
In 1999 the Brighton & Hove Albion moved in for three years but stayed until they moved to the The Amex in 2011.
“In 1965 Olympic team captain Robbie Brightwell opened the newly laid cinder track at the William Parker Grammar School at Hastings but it was not until 1974 that all summer training for the Hastings Athletics Club moved to the William Parker school site.
They had been training at South Saxons but it was proving increasingly difficult for want of field event training.
In 1999 the Club was given a lifeline when a new All-weather track was laid and an official opening took place.”
Come 1967 the Crawley track was opened by former M.P Lord Frank Byers, a couple of years before the Crawley Sports Centre was completed at Hazlett Avenue and opened by Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
Prior to this the Crawley club used to train at Hazelwick School.
It has hosted several inter-county matches as well as the International Schools match.
There was a long and painful struggle to get an athletic track at Worthing and although West Park was used from 1966 it was still only a grass track and only much fund raising by the likes of Mike Lee, father of all-rounder Suzanne and with support of many County champions and from local M.P Terrence Higgins, who ran the 400m in the “48” Olympics, the Mayor Ron Clapp who was a former Sussex one mile champion and the likes of Cliff Howard and Alan Grove a redgra track was laid in 1980.
Prior to West Park much training was at done at the Football Ground and the Rugby Ground, where several matches were held.
There was another long battle, led by Gordon Dixon and Dave Adams before this was updated to an all-weather facility in September 1995.
Horsham Blue Star Harriers, who have consistently been one of the top Clubs in Sussex from the end of 19th Century and again from the re-formation in 1925 were eventually rewarded with a track when, in conjunction with the Tesco’s Development at Broadbridge Heath an Athletics track with an All-weather surface in 1987. The track was opened by Olympic athlete and World record holder Dave Moorcroft who was, at the time the leader of British Athletics.
Most of their training since WWII had been done over 300 yard track in Horsham Park, Millais School and I can remember athletic meetings at Horsham Park and the Annual match at nearby Partridge Green where the runners almost disappeared on the back straight behind the mound in the midfield. On occasions they used the track behind the Drill Hall where Lord Burghley, the 1932 Olympic 400m hurdles champion, competed in the 1930s and the cinder track at Christ’s Hospital.
The Lewes track is very much of this century although there was limited training use at the end of 1999. Very much the efforts of Club Chairman Peter Masters, who was a County Planner and as such knew all the hints and wrinkles of what to do and was also very involved in the launch of the Lewes Athletic Club in 1984. Remarkably it took little more than an eight years gestation from the launch of a Steering committee to the official opening.
The track is managed and funded by a Management Group that includes Lewes AC. ESCC, Lewes DC, Priory School and East Sussex College with some support by Wave Leisure. The day to day maintenance role of the track is undertaken by Lewes AC.
Eastbourne Rovers, who had the second track to be built in Sussex in 1952, had to wait nearly fifty years before they got an All-Weather track as it was 2000 when they moved to Eastbourne Sports Park, like Princes Park a Council Run track.
It was 2005 when the Crawley club was able to up sticks and move to the Thomas Bennett site on the edge of town to K2 which is the new Crawley Leisure Centre and this has become the regular Sussex and Sussex Schools championships venue.
It has already staged Inter-county matches.
Haywards Heath are currently pushing, with Burgess Hill Runners for an All Weather track at the Burgess Hill Academy with support from the Burgess Hill School for Girls.
Architect’s plans have been drawn up and they will be presented to the full Haywards Heath/Burgess Hill council in July.
Mid Sussex have not made a stand as they do not see athletics as a sport for the whole year.
Chichester are still using the “J” shaped all weather run up at Chichester University which enables sprinting and hurdles plus long jump and a high jump area and throws at a separate venue.
They do have plans for a 300 metres track nearer the town centre at Chichester College which they currently use for winter training and are hopeful.
Many thanks to the many members of Sussex clubs who have supplied information to compile this list but please let me have any corrections or amendments and I will correct it.