Dave Busby was a pacy, London-born striker with Barbadian heritage who was the first black player to play for Worthing, while also being the first black player to appear for Brighton & Hove Albion.
Dave was an Albion apprentice who went on to make four first-team appearances on the South Coast. Two years after being released by Brighton, Dave made his Worthing debut on 24th April 1977, in the AFA Invitation Cup semi-final at home to Old Aloysians.
Busby played in our final two Athenian League matches, scoring his first (two) Worthing goals in the game played at Ruislip Manor, and came on as a substitute in the Senior Cup final victory over Southwick, which was the first time we had taken advantage of being able to use two substitutes in a match.
Dave played regularly in our first Isthmian League campaign the following season, during which he also picked up another Senior Cup winner’s medal, scoring in the final at the Goldstone Ground.
1978/79 was the season Busby made the biggest impact for Worthing, during which we had our best-ever FA Vase run, and he finished the season as top scorer with 22 goals, including four in one match at Rye United in the Senior Cup. The forward spent several weeks on trial at Blackpool late in the season, before being given a professional contract at Barrow (for whom he was also their first black player).
His last Worthing match was a 1-0 league defeat to Feltham on 10th April 1979. In total, Busby scored 37 goals in 82 appearances.
Originally published by Worthing FC ↗