 | |||
| Full name | Horsham YMCA Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The YM | ||
| Founded | 1898 | ||
| Ground | Gorings Mead, Horsham | ||
| Capacity | 1,575 (150 seated) [1] | ||
| Chairman | Mike Whiteford | ||
| Manager | Liam Giles | ||
| League | Southern Combination Premier Division | ||
| 2023–24 | Southern Combination Premier Division, 14th of 20 | ||
| Website | https://www.horshamymcafc.co.uk/ | ||
Horsham YMCA is a football club based in Horsham, West Sussex, England. They are currently members of the Southern Combination Premier Division and play at Gorings Mead.
The club was established in 1898. [1] They played in Horsham & District League before joining the Crawley and District Football League. They subsequently moved up to the Mid-Sussex League, where they played until joining Division Two of the Sussex County League in 1959. [2] The club won the Division Two Cup in 1959–60 and 1961–62 before winning the Division Two title in 1965–66, [3] earning promotion to Division One. They went on to win the league's John O'Hara Cup in 1966–67, 1967–68 and 1981–82. [3]
Horsham were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1981–82 season. However, they won the Division Two title at the first attempt, earning an immediate promotion back to Division One. [2] They were relegated again after finishing bottom of Division One in 1987–88. [2] They won the Division Two Cup in 1994–95, [3] also finishing third in the division to earn promotion back to Division One. [2] The club won Sussex RUR Cup in 2000–01, and the John O'Hara Cup the following season. [4] [5] They won the Division One title in 2004–05, but were denied promotion due to ground grading regulations. [6] However, after winning Division One again the following season and making improvements to their Gorings Mead ground, the club were promoted to Division One South of the Isthmian League. [2]
The 2007–08 season saw Horsham finish in the relegation zone, resulting in relegation back to Division One of the Sussex County League. However, after finishing third in division the following season, they were promoted back to Division One South of the Isthmian League. [2] In 2010–11 the club finished bottom of Division One South and were relegated to the Sussex County League again. In 2015 the league was renamed the Southern Combination, with Division One becoming the Premier Division. [2]
Having won the RUR Cup at the end of the 2023-24 season YM looked like they might be turning a corner and returning to their former glory after several seasons languishing around the lower mid-table. YM then started the 2024-25 season in fine form winning 3 of their first 5 games and sitting in 5th place. However YM the hit a tough run of form winning only 2 of their next 12 games dropping down to 15th place. YM then sparked controversy as their all time record appearance holder Dean Carden who had been at the club for 25 years resigned from his position as manager citing issues behind the scenes. It later surfaced that the club had been interviewing other managers in secret. YM appointed former player and Broadbridge Heath F.C. 1st team coach Mark Hawthorne as Interim manager however he never stepped foot in the dug out for YM before the club announced the appointment of former Loxwood boss Liam Giles as their new permanent manager.
The club initially played at Lyons Field, named after the Lyons family who owned much land around the town. In 1929 they moved to Gorings Mead, which backed onto Horsham's Queen Street ground. [7] YMCA later purchased the freehold to the site. [6] The ground has a brick-built seated stand with a cantilever roof on one side of the pitch, with its seats taken from the Goldstone Ground, with a covered standing area on the other. [7]
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