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OUR MISSION |
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.
2007/08 saw records broken both on and off the pitch. HISC finally
reached their target of over 100 members signed up in a season, indeed a
combination of a restructured membership package and a historic FA Cup
run saw membership hit 192. This was a remarkable achievement and
certainly will prove to be a tough act to follow. HISC contributed,
where possible, to make sure that the final season at Queen Street was
one to remember.
Just three months from the end of the season HISC were rocked by the
news that the current Chairman and Secretary had announced their
decisions to step down. An EGM was organised for the April to see what
direction the club would, if any, go in. An impressive meeting resulted
in new blood being drafted in on the committee and following the 2008
AGM it was announced that the Chairman was to continue, leading the new
team forward with Colin Young replacing Cathy Snow as Secretary.
2008/09 will be an exciting season. HISC has been given the role of
helping to maintain a high profile for Horsham FC within the town. Plans
are afoot to make sure the right combination of social, fund-raising and
charitable events are held to make sure both HISC and Horsham FC are
well represented within the town. Now, more than ever, HISC will be a
valuable asset to any Horsham FC fan. Its only 2 weeks since the AGM and
already membership is over 100. |
EVENTS |
