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| Full name | Horsham Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Hornets[1] | ||
| Founded | 1871 | ||
| Ground | (Gorings Mead, Horsham (Groundshare with Horsham YMCA) (Capacity: 1,500) |
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| Chairman | Kevin Borrett | ||
| Manager | John Maggs | ||
| League | Isthmian League Premier Division | ||
| 2008–09 | Isthmian League Premier Division,13th | ||
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Horsham F.C. are a non-League football club based in Horsham, West Sussex, England, currently playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division.[2]
Contents |
History
The club was established in 1871, although the club's website mentions that it was "firmly re-established" in 1881. Horsham were founding members of the West Sussex Football League in 1896 and won the championship of that league on four occasions. In 1920 they joined the Sussex County League where, between 1930 and 1947 they won the championship seven times in ten seasons (the league having been suspended during World War II) including four wins in successive seasons.
The club had applied to join the Athenian League on a number of occasions but been turned away, so in 1951 they opted to join the Metropolitan League, where they were champions at the first attempt. In 1957, however, after finishing bottom of the table, they stepped down to the Corinthian League. In 1963 this league was disbanded, and Horsham were finally able to join the Athenian League. Then in 1973, they joined the Isthmian League when it expanded to two divisions, and remain in this league to this day. They enjoyed little success during the 1980s and early 1990s, finishing bottom of the entire league in 1993-94, but began to turn their fortunes around with a Division Three championship win in 1995-96. In 2001-02 they finished second in Division Two and were promoted to Division One South, and in 2005-06 a second-place finish in that division, finishing 2nd behind champions Ramsgate on goal difference, saw them promoted to the Premier Division for the first time. In recent years Horsham have had several rivalry matches with local club Lewes in latter rounds of the Sussex Senior Cup. In the 2005-06 season they were beaten by Lewes 3-1 after extra-time in the final.
2007 FA Cup run
Horsham's FA Cup run started with a 7-1 defeat of Arundel in the 1st qualifying round and in the 2nd they then beat Bury Town 3-2. Horsham beat AFC Wimbledon 5-4 on penalties in a 3rd qualifying round replay before they beat Chippenham Town away 3-2 to secure their place in the First round proper for only the third time in their history. Horsham drew Maidenhead United of the Conference South at home. In front of a record 3,379 Horsham won 4-1 with goals from Nigel Brake, Lee Carney (2) and Lee Farrell. Horsham then drew Swansea City in the 2nd Round. Nigel Brake's long-range goal was nominated in Match of the Day's goal of the month competition.
On 30 November 2007, Horsham held the then League One leaders Swansea City to a home 1-1 draw. An 85th-minute penalty from Lewis Taylor cancelled out Guillem Bauza's 41st-minute goal.[3]. Their replay at Swansea was played on 10 December 2007. Lee Farrell scored twice to put Horsham 2-1 ahead but they eventually lost 6-2. Both matches against Swansea were shown live on Sky Sports, the first time in the club's history that a match was televised live.[4]
Ground
The club have recently sold their ground at Queen Street, which had been their home since 1904, to property developers. A two season groundshare with Worthing, was terminated after one season and the club is currently sharing with Horsham YMCA at Gorings Mead. The club hoped to return to Horsham and build a new ground in Holbrook, North Horsham, but despite the club having bought the site, planning permission was refused at a council meeting held on 1 July 2008.[5] The club withdrew their appeal against the decision on 15 April 2009, and turned their focus instead to building a new ground at the "Hop Oast" area to the south of Horsham.[6] The area is expected to be reclassified from a strategic gap between the town of Horsham and the village of Southwater to a 'strategic recreational area',[7] which would make planning permission for the ground more likely.
Current squad
- Paul Seuke - Goalkeeper
- Rob Frankland - Goalkeeper / coach
- Eddie French - Defence + club captain
- Mark Knee - Defence / Striker
- George Magnus - Defence
- Sam Page - Defence
- Ian Payne - Defence
- Steve Sergeant - Defence / Midfield
- Scott Harris - Defence
- Anthony Acheampong - Defence / Midfield
- Lee Carney - Midfield
- Tony Nwachukwu - Midfield
- Jack Lyons - Midfield
- Mark Hawthorne - Midfield/Defence
- Gary Charman - Midfield / Winger
- Alex Haddow - Midfield
- Jack Page - Midfield
- Adam Hutchings - Midfield
- Steve Davies - Midfield
- Claude Seanla - Striker
- Pat Harding - Striker
- Ben Andrews - Striker
Notable former players
- Darren Freeman
- Jamie Ndah
- Mick Browning
- Jamie Taylor
- Russell Gunn
- Jean-Michel Sigere
Club records
- Best league performance: 8th in Isthmian Premier League, 2006-07
- Best FA Cup performance: 2nd round proper, 2007-08
- Best FA Trophy performance: 2nd round, 2002-03
- Best FA Vase performance: 4th round, 1986-87
References
External links
- Official Site
- Hidden Horsham - with pictures of the day Swansea played Horsham
- Horsham at the Football Club History Database
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
