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In March 2003 a few Horsham Supporters met after a game to start discussing how they could form a Supporters Club that would be able to look after the interests of Horsham FC supporters as well as benefiting the football club as a whole.

From those early discussions it took less than a month to organize the first official HISC meeting. On the 15th April 2003, 19 Horsham FC supporters turned up to the Horsham FC clubhouse to hear the reasons and objectives behind the forming of the club.

Sean Bravery, Matt Haynes, Howard Walker and Neil Peskett were introduced as the temporary committee to hold the fort until the first AGM that was to be held later that year in June and officials would be voted into power. The emphasis from these early meetings was how essential it was to have a club that was representative by a broad cross-section of the football club’s supporters.

In June 2003 HISC held its inaugural AGM. A superb turn out saw 43 people attend and already the club was reaching its goal of appealing to all supporters. The appointment of officials took place and Sean Bravery was voted in as Honorary Chairman, Matt Haynes as Secretary, Neil Peskett as Treasurer. They were joined by Howard Walker, Kevin Hodder and Chris McGahan who formed the committee. Despite the Supporters Club being independent from the football club it was with some pleasure that the Chairman was able to announce at the meeting that he had received calls from Jeff Barrett (Horsham FC Director), Frank King (Horsham FC Chairman) and John Maggs (Horsham FC Manager) all expressing support for the club and also indicating an interest in attending future meetings.

At the meeting the set-up of HISC was agreed in principle. The members were to receive a monthly newsletter that would have news from the football club as well as HISC. The Chairman was able to announce that Ali Rennie, then the clubs assistant manager as well as a number of players had agreed to contribute articles to the newsletter on a monthly basis. The most important part to be agreed was the financial set-up of the club. Membership fees were to be split into 3 funds. A general fund would be used to cover the general costs that HISC encountered, for example the newsletter or putting on social events. The Player Fund was to be used at times when the club needed a new player but the football club were unable to fund it themselves. Finally the Club fund would be used to purchase things for Horsham FC that would benefit the supporters/profile of the club.

The meeting finished with the aims of HISC being outlined – to boost support and raise the profile of Horsham FC.

August 2003 saw Cathy Snow join the committee. At this meeting the first social events were announced.

In October 2003 HISC invited John Maggs (Horsham FC Manager) and Ali Rennie (Assistant Manager) to the meeting to answer questions from members. The meeting also heard that the membership had hit 60 and that the bank balance was a healthy £1500.

The final meeting of our first season took place in March 2004. By which time the club had 65 members and over £1800 in the bank. So all in all a very good first season.

It was important in 2004/05 that HISC built on the good work that had been started the season before. At the AGM in June Emma Comber joined the committee and was given the specific role of Junior Secretary with the emphasis on encouraging the clubs youngsters to join the supporters club at a reduced rate. Chris McGahan stepped down from his role on the committee and Kevin Hodder took over the role of Social Secretary. More social events were in place for the forthcoming season, giving supporters at least one event every other month.

The 2004/05 season would be remembered for the sickening illness that struck popular Horsham FC player John Kirby. As soon as the supporters club realized the full extent of John’s problems and the financial effect of him being off work they knew they had to do something. On October 23rd 2004 HISC organized a 12 hour sponsored marathon. Starting at 7pm the 25 participants played throughout the night and early morning aiming to raise £1000. In the end over £1800 was raised and it was testament to both John’s popularity as well as HISC’s superb organization.

Later in that season HISC organized a Spring Raffle to raise funds for Strawfords, a local care centre that had a lot of links to Horsham FC Supporters. Again the excellent organizational ability of the club meant that we reached our target goal and were able to donate a bench to the centre that they had requested.

The 2005 AGM saw a number of changes at the top within HISC. Cathy Snow took over the role of Secretary from Matt Haynes and Andy Broomfield was voted in as Treasurer replacing Neil Peskett. A larger number of social events (7) were announced but little did we know what the season would end up bringing us.

On the 19th November 2005, at the annual kids-for-free day the club witnessed the introduction of the Supporters Club’s Mascot – Howie the Hornet. I don’t think any of us were aware then of the impact Howie would have and still has.

The first ever EGM (Emergency General Meeting) was called in January 2006. The football club were doing well in the league and were battling for promotion. The club had fallen at the final hurdle the year before when it lost to Bromley in the play-off final, and were determined to make amends this year. In January the football club approached HISC to help finance a move for Carl Rook who was currently playing for Dover. At the EGM it was agreed to give the club around £1000 and it was a very wise bit of business. Carl Rook ended up getting over 12 goals in the final few months of the season, including a crucial winner against Ramsgate. However his brace against Molesey were enough to confirm promotion and its fair to say without HISC’s contribution maybe this would not have happened. The decision to give the funds to the club had been clearly vindicated.

After the excitement of the 2005/06 season it was inevitable that the Club had to draw in the purse strings and have a season of consolidation. We watched on proudly as the footballers briefly topped the Isthmian Premier League, before finishing a credible 8th.
HISC has a healthy membership looking into the 2007/08 season and should top 100. We have the broad cross-section of supporters we have always thrived for and are getting ready for the last season at Queen Street as well as making plans for the seasons ahead ground-sharing, where a close-knit supporters club will be essential in enabling supporters to get to games.

HISC celebrates its 5th birthday in 2008. Lets hope it one we can celebrate with some rousing performances both on and off the pitch.