The club was established in 1941, initially as a multi-sport club under the name Lancing Athletic. They joined the
Brighton, Hove & District League in 1946 and went on to win the Division One and League Cup double in their first season. The club applied to join the
Sussex County League, but were rejected. However, after retaining the Brighton, Hove & District League title in 1947–48, the club were then admitted to the Sussex County League, at which point they became a separate organisation to the remainder of the sports club. The club won the League Cup in 1964–65, beating
Chichester City 2–0 in the final, and went on to win the
Sussex RUR Cup the following season with a 3–0 win over
Rye United. However, they were relegated again at the end of the
1967–68. Although the club won the Division Two title in
1969–70 and were promoted back to Division One,
two seasons later they were relegated back to Division Two after finishing bottom of Division One. Lancing remained in Division Two until a second-place finish in
1982–83 saw them promoted to Division One. They were relegated again at the end of the
1989–90 season and spent the next ten seasons in Division Two, winning the Division Two Cup again in 1992–93, ==Ground==