Tonight, I am off to Oakwell, yes the home of The Tykes, Barnsley FC, who receive Horsham FC, the Isthmian League, Premier club, from the market town in West Sussex and my old club! In the 1947–48 season, Horsham reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time on November 29th, taking a first-minute lead against Tommy Lawton's Notts County, before losing 9–1. It was my local club! and one that I played for when "younger"!
In 1966, I saw Horsham reach the First Round proper of the FA Cup for a second time, after defeating Hastings Utd (the South coast club including Bobby Smith, in semi-retirement after his "spell" at Spurs) 2–1 in the 4th Qualifying Round. I then saw Horsham played Swindon Town (including Don Rogers-remember him?) in front of a crowd of 7,134 at Queen Street. Although they lost 0–3, the day was a 'red letter day' for the club. A special temporary stand was erected at the Queen Street end of the ground for the match.
In 2006–07, the Hornets beat Maidenhead United 4–1, to reach the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time where two matches were played against eventual League One champions, Swansea City.
2007–08 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 came from 2–0 down to beat Bury Town 3–2. After a goalless draw at Kingsmeadow, Horsham then saw off AFC Wimbledon 5–4 on penalties in a 3rd qualifying round replay before booking their place in the First Round Proper for only the third time in their history with a 3–2 win at Chippenham Town. Horsham drew Maidenhead Utd of the Conference South, at home, in front of a crowd of 3,379, Horsham won 4–1 with goals from Nigel Brake, Lee Carney (2) and Lee Farrell, with Brake's long-range goal nominated in Match of the Day's goal of the month competition.
Horsham then drew Swansea City in the 2nd Round, holding the then League One leaders to a 1–1 draw at Queen Street on 30 November 2007 when an 85th-minute penalty from Lewis Taylor cancelled out Gulliem Bauza's 41st-minute opener. Their replay at Swansea was played on 10 December 2007, the first ever FA Cup tie to be held at the Liberty Stadium, and a shock result was on the cards when Lee Farrell scored twice to put Horsham 2–1 ahead but Swansea recovered to win the tie 6–2. Both matches against Swansea were shown live on Sky Sports, the first time in the club's history that a match had been televised live. Record attendance: @ Queen Street: 7,134 v Swindon Town 26 November 1966 and @ the latest stadium, The Hop Oast 1,980 v Dorking Wanderers (FA Cup) 14 October 2023
I went to school in Horsham, to Collyer's School, now Richard Collier's Sixth Form College! It was a good football school, which in those days ran a full fixture card form U12 upwards at football and cricket (as well as other sports), playing on Saturdays (originally in afternoons and later morning kick offs) and Wednesday afternoons (our games' period on the timetable), later kick offs went to Saturday mornings. We travelled with four teams to Brighton, Chichester, and various towns within decent reach and four teams would travel to Horsham.
So I have fond memories of learning my football with plenty of enthusiasm, from well intentioned and talented teachers. Ray Smith was most influential, who when I was in the Sixth Form and playing in his 1st XI. Ray was a Loughborough College graduate (wore the famous purple tracksuit!) and he played at Horsham FC and later at Lewes FC. I followed him through those two clubs and learnt a lot about playing at the adult level, originally in the Athenian League and later the Isthmian.
The Hornets, presently 7th in the league (P10 W6 D1 L3) have played Leatherhead in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round Sept 2nd (0-0 away) and winning 2-1 at home on September 5th. Then, they met Marlow at home 2-2 on Sept 16th, in the Second Q. Round and drew 2-2 at home, winning 1-3 away on Sept 19th.
The Third Qualfying Rd saw Horsham, at home, beat Hanworth Villa 3-1 on Sept 30th and in the Fourth Qual Rd 2-0 at home, beating Dorking Wanderers 2-0 on Oct 14th. Since then The Hornets have won 3 matches, two in the Non-League Premier and a 1-2 win away at Larkhall Athletic last Saturday (28th).
The Hornets next fixture will be on November 7th away at Chichester City in the Sussex Senior Cup and then at home to Hashtag United, back to normal in the Non-League Premier on the 11th.
Today, the morning after the night before; seventh tier Horsham FC, from Sussex, earned a 3-3 draw at Oakwell in front of a 4,480 crowd, on a beautiful evening yesterday. The Tykes took an early lead through Watters after 14 minutes and fireworks lit up around Oakwell by neighbouring celebrations. Not a great start for the visitors.
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