TT PREVIEW

Neil discusses his team

ABOUT THE LARDY ARMY!

Best to read this article by one of the original Lardy Army Dave Rick, https://www.horshamfc.co.uk/2021/11/01/the-history-of-lard-at-horsham-fc/ but its basically become the colloquial name for HFC fans. Its been about for nearly 30 years and basically stems from sending a joke calling card ” a bar of lard” to away chairman for ahead of HFC fans visiting (its a joke on the 70’s football hooligan calling cards – which to be clear is the antithesis of HFC fandom). Basically the Lardy Army celebrate all things HFC with a few beers and a lot of laughs.

HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS

Stay in the division and hopefully another good FA Cup run. Expectation is that we should do it with the squad we have and with a bit of luck not too many injury issues.

START TO THE SEASON

We’ve been competitive and not outclassed by either Chelmsford and Worthing. Certainly unlucky to lose at full time CCFC and some (unusual for us) poor defending cost us v WFC.

KEY PLAYERS

We’ve a really good squad to be fair to all of them, but a couple of players to highlight are 2 midfielders. James Hammond has been immense since joining from EBFC a couple of seasons ago. Strong in the tackle with a big engine, he is pivotal in our possession based play. He’s quite good at set plays too. Charlie Hester-Cook another exciting player who drive HFC up the pitch, he’s a terrier in the middle with some excellent skills who can open teams up with smart breaks, a definite fans favourite.

THE MANAGER

Dom has been excellent in his decade at the club. Working on a v small budget to start with as HFC were homeless, he got us promoted at the 1^st attempt after a couple of relegations in our nomadic period. 2 more promotions in that time as well as a number of cups including the Sussex Senior Cup (and defence) for the 1^st time in 46 years. Dom’s philosophy has remained the same with a possession based game, with a strong midfield and typically just 1 up front. He’s also very loyal to consistent performers recognised by the number of players (10) we have with over a 100 HFC appearances in the squad. It’s proved to be very successful.

FACTS ABOUT THE CLUB

Jeez where to start. We were founded in 1881 which makes us one of the older clubs in the UK. Hornets nickname came about in the 60s I believe with a local competition to create a team nickname. We’ve played at a number of place in the town moving to our long term home Queen Street (now housing) in 1904 for over 100 years to 2008. Homeless till 2018 we played at Worthing, Horsham YMCA and Lancing before moving to our new ground Hop Oast – Fusion Aviation Community Stadium in 2017. We have a nice little record in Swansea City’s history being the first team to score an FA Cup goal at their Liberty Stadium. In our famous 2007-8 FA Cup run to the 2^nd round we took the Swans to a replay and Lee Farrell scored the 1^st goal in a valiant 6-2 defeat to Roberto Martinez’s team.

BIG CROWD EXPECTED

Yes should be close to a couple of thousand. Our crowds have grown to averages of 1200+ in the last few seasons. Torquay United at home is by far the biggest league game we’ve ever had in our 114 year history.

PRE-MATCH

Food at the ground is excellent, but for visitors to Horsham before the ground (also v good for beer choice), I’d recommend the Kings Arms in town a terrific little traditional pub where HFC fans will meet before getting the bus up to the ground.