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Horsham preview

sam surbey18 Jan 2018 - 23:25
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https://www.hernebayfootballcl

Away Days Steve Barton writes ...

The first Horsham Football Club was founded in 1871. The club eventually became members of the Sussex County League after winning the West Sussex Senior League for the fourth time in 1925/26. After a six-year spell in the Corinthian League they entered the Athenian League Division One in 1963/64. Herne Bay joined the Athenian League Division Two in 1964/65 and two seasons later were joined by Horsham who had been relegated from Division One. They met for four campaigns, Bay winning once and drawing once, with the Hornets victorious on six occasions and in 1969/70 Horsham were champions and gained promotion to Division One. In 1970/71, it was Herne Bay’s turn to win the League and there were four encounters in Division One, ending in one Bay win, one a draw and two defeats. 1972/73 saw Horsham top the table and move to the Isthmian League, whilst Bay’s last season in the Athenian was a year later, when they finished bottom, and joined the Kent League for 1974/75.

After various league re-organisations Horsham found themselves in the top tier of the Isthmian League after finishing second in Division One, to Ramsgate in 2005/06. Horsham moved out of Queen Street, their home of more than 100 years, in 2008 and after playing home matches down at Worthing for a year they began groundsharing with neighbours Horsham YMCA at the start of the 2009/10 season.

They were relegated from the Isthmian Premier in 2011/12 and three years later there was a further drop after ending rock bottom and 12 points from safety in the Isthmian Division One South. There was an immediate return as they were crowned champions of the Southern Combination First Division for 2015/16. They ended 16th in their first season back.

Bay have come out on top in the nine Isthmian League encounters, winning five, drawing two and losing two. The home tie was back in November when Steve Metcalf opened the scoring for the Hornets just after the hour with Brad Schafer levelling six minutes later with his first league goal. And then, of course, there was the 5-2 FA Cup Second Qualifying Round win in September with goals from Nassim Dukali, Bradley Schafer, Jake Embery, Kingsley Aikhionbare and Tom Carlton.

The Hornets have spent the majority of the season in the lower reaches of the league but have recently moved up after winning four out of their last five games. They sit in 11th place, four positions and six points below Herne Bay who have two games in hand.

This season Horsham play their home matches at Culver Road, Lancing, Sussex, BN15 9AX. 99.2 miles from Winch’s Field. Estimated journey time 1 hour 41 minutes, whilst they await the building of their own ground at Hop Oast. Horsham are 11th in the Isthmian League South attendance table with an average of 169 (high 331, low 127).

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