HORNETS’ STORY HAS MORE TO BE WRITTEN
WHEN I started writing ‘Football Fables’ I wasn’t expecting my beloved hometown club to be providing the content. But Horsham FC have had our best season in 143 years, with unprecedented league and cup achievements, and a chance of a perfect ending in Brighton.
Finishing fifth in the Isthmian Premier is the highest position this West Sussex club have ever achieved. We reached new ground in the FA Trophy, the fourth round, and have a chance to win the Sussex Cup for the first time in 48 years against Hastings at the Amex Stadium this week.
Our extraordinary FA Cup run defines our special season, bringing national attention and memories to last a lifetime. Having been stitched up by the local police and forced to play on a Friday night in Barnsley, the yellow and greens turned it into a positive. We still took hundreds of fans, and the part-timers of Horsham fought back for a stunning 3-3 draw.
The replay live on ITV Sport was a better occasion than it was a match, but the drama continued when Barnsley’s 3-0 win was suddenly scrubbed out. Ineligible player!
Five rounds had somehow been negotiated, equalling Horsham’s best FA Cup run, so before we travelled to Sutton I wrote a special bonus fable, Behold Ye Famous Horsham FC, adding to my first collection as The Fable Guy on Substack.
It got a lot of love here in Horsham but was also shared and republished in Barnsley, whose hospitality to our travelling fans was reciprocated in Sussex. It remains a love-in. They are wonderful people, and what they see in HFC is what made me fall in love with the club and restored my faith in football.
After decades covering greed, corruption and mismanagement in elite football, a common subject in my fables, Horsham FC have been an oasis since my family moved here seven years ago. Everything a community football club should be. The volunteers are an inspiration. Quiet heroes. And the Lardy Army fans are amongst the best in the world.
Where else on the planet do fans travel for seventh tier matches? Here, in our precious pyramid they do. What I call a Lardcore can be found many miles from Sussex on the proverbial freezing Tuesday night away trip, often outnumbering the home fans. To close games we take hundreds. Win, lose or draw you’ll hear a lot of noise, humour and a range of disco classics.
And the bonus? The team itself. Led by the brilliant Dom Di Paola since 2015, we play slick football and have climbed two tiers in his tenure. His small squad have played over sixty games this season. They’ve been magnificent.
Horsham endured a painful night on Wednesday. Beaten in a penalty shoot out in Chatham, whose goalkeeper Mitch Beeney has played for us this season.
He took their first penalty, missed it, then saved two of ours. But it’s a fable not a fairy tale. Our story is about togetherness as much as results and over 500 Horsham fans were in Kent. We left proud, not bowed.
And on Wednesday we get our chance for a perfect end to our fable, that Sussex Cup final v Hastings. Whatever the result, and we’d love that silverware, thousands of Horsham folk will turn Brighton yellow and green.
Horsham FC and the Isthmian League scene gave me back my love of football. This season has been a story I’ll never forget. And it’s not over yet.