One of Horsham's youngest debutants, Wilkins was a member of the successful post-war side that would establish the club's all-time record victory, go on to reach the First Round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, as well as capturing the Sussex County and Metropolitan League titles, not to mention an RUR Cup Final triumph to boot. Although National Service denied him the chance of revelling in the club's full glory, Wilkins looked back with great fondness of his time at Horsham when Hornets Review caught up with him at his Eastbourne home back in August.

"They were some of the happiest times of my life," recalled the 80 year old who now lives in the shadows of Eastbourne Borough's Priory Lane with his second wife Ann. "I made some wonderful friends in my time at Horsham, both for the Football Club and the Leatherhunters Cricket Club, and had some marvellous adventures. I played with some terrific players like Den Daubney, Jack Broadley and George Cox and there was a real close-knit feel about the team.

Looking back, I was only 16 years of age when I made my debut and probably didn't appreciate it all as much as I should have. I was never as streetwise as some of today's teenagers, that's for sure, but it was a special feeling to walk through the town and be recognised by so many people just because I played for the football team."

Born in Southwater, the youngest of 8 children, Wilkins and his family moved to Horsham in 1935 where he was educated at Oxford Road School until, at the age of 14, he was offered work as a carpet layer at Lane's furniture store in the town. "Ralph Tarratt, a referee who owned the sweet shop in Park Street, first took me to Queen Street before the war and I got hooked. Mick Cope, Jack Broadley, Lance Norwood and 'Bumper' Burrage were among my favourite players so you can imagine how I felt a few years later when I was actually playing alongside some of them. I was a good footballer at school but I had no idea that Horsham were watching me so it was a bit of a surprise when I was invited along for a trial !"

Wilkins' debut came in a drawn FA Cup Preliminary Round match at East Grinstead on September 8th 1945, the replay providing Queen Street with its first match after the war, and a four figure crowd would have been delighted at the hosts' 1-0 victory while the team selectors must have been impressed with the teenage debutant as the young Wilkins went on to become a regular in the side throughout that season.

"Queen Street had been used by the army during the war, so off-limits to the public, and wasn't really ready for us when the season started so we had to get changed at the Queens Head opposite the ground. I remember that we had a very good playing surface, though, and things got a lot better for us when they reopened the stand in the January."

The 1945-6 season was a free-scoring one for Horsham but they missed out on the title, ending up 2 points adrift of champions Worthing. However, history was made when Southwick were trounced 16-2 in a County League match at Queen Street, a result that still stands as the highest in the club's 128 year history. "A couple of their players were called up by Brighton & Hove Albion on the morning of the game," recalled Wilkins, "including their goalkeeper, so they were a bit unfortunate, but every time we shot we seemed to score !". Ten more goals were put past Hove, a side against whom Wilkins claimed the only goals of his Horsham career, as the Hornets claimed an average of over 5 goals per match on their way to taking the runners-up spot. They may have missed out on the title but the club was rewarded for their efforts by claiming the RUR Trophy with a 4-1 win over Eastbourne and Wilkins' own impressive form was to earn the youngster an appearance for Sussex U18s against Kent, an occasion Wilkins describes a "marvellous".

After a summer spent playing cricket with the local Leatherhunters club, alongside several of his Horsham FC colleagues, Wilkins struggled to hold down a place in the first team as the line-up underwent regular changes due to players being demobbed after the war. The County League title was won at the end of the season but Wilkins had little chance to enjoy the occasion, leaving home at 18 to train with the Royal Army Pay Corps before a posting to Aldershot with the Royal Army Medical Corps.

It was his new found career that was to deny Wilkins a place in arguably the side's finest hour when they travelled to Notts County for a first ever appearance in the First Round of the FA Cup in 1947. "Believe it or not but I was headed out of Southampton docks on a hospital ship the day we played at Notts County," Wilkins revealed. "When they found out that we had lost 9-1, the lads didn't half take the Mickey out of me !" After  four and a half months touring the world, he returned to the UK where he spent the majority of the next 2 years stationed at a military hospital in Oxford, a unit that specialised in dealing with head injuries. "Oxford wanted to sign me but I said no and, when I eventually came back home, I picked up where I'd left off and started playing for Horsham again."

In 1951 the club successfully applied to join the Metropolitan League, a decision that Wilkins claimed didn't go down well with everyone. "It was a step into the unknown. Some people were concerned about the costs of sustaining a team in this league, what with all the extra travelling, and they thought that we'd struggle to bring in the crowds as we weren't playing against the local sides any more. But the players were really excited about the prospect. Who wouldn't be when we were suddenly playing against teams like Spurs, West Ham and Luton ? I remember bumping in to the great Welsh full-back Mel Hopkins at Horsham Leisure Centre a few years ago and I asked him "Do you remember what you were doing on 13th October 1951 ?" He looked puzzled so I told him, "You were playing against Horsham, for Tottenham, over at Queen Street !"

It was a fantastic adventure and we had some great trips. I remember us stopping off on the way up to Headington (later to become Oxford United) and I pinched the sign off the gents' lavatory but I felt so guilty about it that I took it back the next time we played there. There were no motorways in those days so we had some long journeys but the standard of football in this league was so much better it was untrue. It was really something to play against these pro sides but we fared pretty well against them, and actually won the league in our first season".

Oxfordshire was to feature heavily in Wilkins' recollections, in particular another trip up to Headington at the end of that 1951-2 campaign. "I remember that Tonbridge had to beat Headington away at the end of that first season to stop us from winning the title and me, John Elphick and Jim Baker got hold of a car and went up to watch the game. Jim had a nice girlfriend at the time but I think he upset her a bit when he told her he was going out to watch the football but didn't mention that he was going all the way to Headington, a 2.5 hour journey ! But it turned out alright for us because we got the result we wanted and we all celebrated with a big dinner at the Black Horse Hotel. Of course, we weren't paid a penny in those days so things like that were a nice reward for us. Some of the players got expenses but, living in Horsham, I never needed any."

A bad start to the following season saw player/coach Jack Dugnolle sacked after just 3 matches but, for Wilkins, the appeal of playing for his home town club was starting to wane. "The club started bringing in players from outside, mainly from London, and I didn't agree with that. I wanted local lads but they weren't getting a look in. It was a bad time that year." Wilkins' Horsham career lasted until January 1954 when he followed Dugnolle and team-mate Dennis Stillwell to Worthing where he played against the famous Pegasus side before a knee injury forced him to retire at the age of 26.

But Wilkins didn't stay out of the game for long and he became a respected County League referee, officiating at all of the Sussex Cup Finals and even running the line in Football Combination matches at such grounds as Southampton, Brighton, Millwall, Spurs and Arsenal. He is a life member of the West Sussex County League and celebrated 50 years in the game in 2002 and, were it not for having had both hips replaced this year, you wouldn't bet against the amiable Octogenarian from picking up his whistle and stepping out in to the middle again ! 

Peter Wilkins made 51 appearances for Horsham FC between 1945 and 1954, scoring 2 goals