Horley Town - The New Defence

Horley Town FC

The New Defence
Court Lodge Road
Horley
Surrey
RH6 8SP

07545 697234
Official Website
Twitter

Ground Number: 521
Tuesday 22nd September 2015
Horley Town 3-0 Sutton Common Rovers
CCL Premier







HORLEY TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

HORLEY TOWN FC was founded in 1896, known back then as Horley FC. They also merged with Gatwick Rovers in 1903, but continued under the same name. In 1975, they changed their name to the present one. Horley joined the Surrey Intermediate League in 1924 and won the title in 1927. They won the Eastern Section in 1951, moving up to the Surrey Premier League for four seasons and finishing as high as 9th before relegation. They moved back up in 1971, winning the Surrey Senior League title in 1977. Between 1978 & 1981, they played in the London Spartan League. They then spent three seasons in the Athenian League.

In 1984, the club joined the league where they have spent most of their modern history, the Combined Counties League. Whilst it was a single-tier league, they finished a best-ever 5th in 1995 but finished bottom the following season and were relegated. Horley played in the Crawley & District League for six seasons. In 2002, they rejoined the Surrey County Premier League. After a 3rd place finish behind Hersham Royal British Legion and Colliers Wood United, they were promoted back to the Combined Counties League. Jumping straight up to the Premier Division, they spent three seasons here and, despite finishing 5th in 2006, were relegated due to ground grading issues. The problems were remedied, and Horley were promoted back the following years as runners-up to Farnham Town. They continued as long-time members of the Premier Division, aside from the pandemic seasons when they played in the Southern Combination League. In 2026, they finished 5th in the Premier Division South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Tadley Calleva 3–0 in the semi-finals, they defeated Fleet Town 4–2 in the final, earning promotion to the Isthmian South East.

The club originally played at the King's Head Ground. In 1947, they moved to The Defence, named after people who had died in defence of the UK. They stayed until 2003 when they moved to their current home. Their best progress in the FA Cup had been the 1st Qualifying Round, which they have reached on five occasions.  Horley Town's record FA Vase run came in 2017 when they beat Worthing United, AC London, Erith & Belvedere, Meridian VP and Baffins Milton Rovers before a 2-1 loss to Chichester City in the 4th Round. Local cup wins include the Surrey Junior Cup in 1925. Their most famous former player was Nicky Forster, who starred for the club as a youngster before going on to have an excellent career in the Football League. The club's record attendance of 1,570 came against AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday 16th December 2003. The Dons won 4-2, their nineteenth league win in a row.

Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey. The county border with West Sussex is to the south, with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own economy that comprises business parks and a shopping centre with a long high street. Because of its position, it has good commuter links to London and other surrounding towns. The population is around 22,000. Horley has been twinned with the town of Vimy, France since 1991. At one time, the airline Dan-Air had its head office in the now demolished Newman House in Horley. The former airline sponsored the Combined Counties League before being merged into British Airways in 1992. Horley railway station is served by Southern and Thameslink on the Brighton Main Line. Robert Smith, the founding member of The Cure, lived in Horley as a child. The local Wetherspoons is named after former Formula 1 driver Jack Fairman, who came from the town.

MY FIRST VISIT

For a change, on a Tuesday I'd be on my own. My usual hopping companion Anwar was on a tight budget as he was going to Arsenal on Wednesday and he also had to look after his kids on Tuesday. With the nearest potential groundhop being Lutterworth Athletic, he decided against it and so I was left to search for something on my own. I looked through the Non-League Paper for the shortest journeys, and I plumped for Horley Town as I was getting close to completing the Combined Counties League. Croydon Athletic v Beckenham Town was the shortest trip, but I didn't fancy tackling rush hour London. Lingfield and Loxwood were also in the reckoning, and I kept them in mind should my original choice be weather-affected. On the day of the game, I was off work as per usual for a Tuesday. Usually, I'd walk down Wyvombe for a bit of exercise, but sadly due to the rain I had to get a lift down with my Dad. I picked up some Irn Bru before coming back home. At least the extra time gained allowed me to catch up on the TV I had missed by going to sleep early last night and also do a few other jobs that I'd been needing to do. I had dinner and left at 5.15 as I needed to fill my car up with diesel if I wanted to get there and back. It wasn't a bad journey over for the time of night, with only 15 minutes delay around the usual problem area on the M25 at Heathrow. By 6.50 I was at Horley's ground, paying £6 to get in. I went for a walk around the ground, going to the toilet before doing a circuit of the pitch and taking pictures. By the time I'd gone round, the programmes had arrived, and with 35 minutes until kick-off I went and sat in the bar and flicked through the programme as well as catching up on Facebook.

The visitors dominated the opening 10 minutes without really threatening but it was Horley who had the first real chance on the break when Liam Cox's cross from the right flashed across the goal-line before going just wide of the left-hand post. Though Sutton continued to press, it was another cross from the right that opened the scoring. The ball hit the post only for the visiting defender Kieran Wright to deflect the ball into his own net, despite being under no pressure. The game quietened down a bit after that with the hosts looking comfortable in possession, but Sutton did spurn a great opportunity to make it all square just before the break. Horley had the better of the game at the start of the second half, and they doubled their lead on 54 minutes when Ryan Brackpool netted from close range. An error in the Sutton defence was taken advantage of by Leyton Regards on 70 minutes to give Horley Town a 3-0 lead and seemingly settle the game. After the game, I made good progress on the journey home. Initially, I tried to listen to BBC Radio Surrey, knowing that the area's Conference teams had been in action. But there was no sports programme, so I stuck my Two Mikes podcast on instead, and that kept me entertained until I arrived home an hour later. I caught up on Facebook and watched a bit of TV before going to sleep just before midnight.

MY SECOND VISIT

2-1 v Reigate Priory, Friendly 28/07/26 

This game was only decided upon on Monday afternoon when I found out that my planned New Milton Town v Laverstock & Ford game had been reversed to a ground that I had already been to. Colin suggested Horley Town, and with no local revisits, I was happy to go along with it. This revisit had been on the cards for a while as I needed the Wetherspoons in the town. The day of the game came, and it was my day off work. It was the standard ten-mile walk to Wycombe & back. The afternoon was spent fairly unproductively at home before I left at 4.30. Despite doing Colin a favour by doing a revisit and picking him up, I still had to wait five minutes for him.

The journey to Horley was not great. I thought I might have had a bit of a break with it being the school holidays. But no, the usual delay around Heathrow, which is expected and then additional delay around junction 8 for no conceivable reason. It meant we got into Horley at 6.45. Parking in Waitrose for free, it was only a couple of minutes' walk to the Jack Fairman, Wetherspoons 544 for me. It was an excellent Spoons for a small town, with a huge selection of boxed cider, though I was there for the Buffalo Burger meal for £8.66 with a cranberry juice. All was excellent and delivered to the table in a timely fashion. It was then over to Waitrose where I picked up a couple of new ciders before it was less than ten minutes to the ground. Entry was a bargain £2, but the ground had not changed much aside from a cosmetic facelift.

The game got going a few minutes late and was played at a leisurely pace. Horley Town were the better side, and they took the lead on 20 minutes with a header from a corner. Reigate Priory had a chance on the break, but it was mainly the hosts coming close on several occasions. The second half started at 20:51. Horley made it 2-0 on 76 minutes. On 84 minutes, Reigate Priory reduced the arrears; a good ball forward, quick feet and a low shot from the edge of the area made it 2-1. That was how it stayed, fair result on balance. We left at 9.45 and hit issues as the M23 was closed, so we had to go cross country. It was the season for messing about with roads, with lane closures on the M25 and a closure on the M40 meaning another diversion. The worst road pests of them all, Cadent, meant a minor delay once we got off the M25, and I dropped Colin off at 10.50. I was home myself 15 minutes later and trying to get to sleep by midnight.

THE GROUND

THE NEW DEFENCE is a smart and modern ground. The main stand, built into the main building, is well-designed and seats just over 100 people. There is further cover behind both goals, probably adding around another 200 covered standing. The rest of the ground is open standing. There is a bar and a tea bar, but I didn't make any purchases from either on the night, though they looked like your usual football fare.

2026 PICTURES

Arnold Town - Eagle Valley

Arnold Town FC

Eagle Valley

Oxton Road

Arnold

Nottingham

Nottinghamshire

NG5 8PS

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1569

Saturday 25th July 2026

Arnold Town - Notts County

Friendly

ARNOLD TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Arnold Town was formed in 1989 by a merger of Arnold and Arnold, adopting the yellow of Arnold and the blue of Kingswell as club colours. The more successful of these, Arnold can trace their history back to 1928 and can claim two FA Cup 1st Round appearances and the 1986 Northern Counties East League title to their name. This was the club they took over from, starting in the Central Midlands League Supreme Division, which they won in 1993, followed by the NCEL D1 title the following year. Eighteen seasons were spent in the NCEL Premier, the highlight being a runner-up spot to Lincoln United in their debut season. Financial issues led to a ten-point deduction and relegation to the East Midlands Counties League in 2013, and then a bottom-placed finish here in 2019 after years of struggle led to relegation to the Central Midlands League. It has been all lower-half finishes in the Premier South division until they switched to the Notts Senior League.

Since the merger, the new club's best progress has been to the 4th Qualifying Round in 2002. They beat RC Warwick, Biddulph Victoria and Nantwich Town before a 1-0 defeat at Redditch United. They can also count two FA Vase 5th Round appearances to their name. Local honours include five Notts Senior Cups and the Wakefield Cup in 1990. The most famous players to turn out for Arnold Town are Jason Lee and Nigel Jemson, although there are several more Nottingham Forest links. The market town of Arnold has a population of around 40,000. Arnold was referred to as "Ernehale" in the Domesday Book of 1086. This name meant 'place frequented by eagles' or 'the valley of eagles'. It has a history of brewing and knitting.

MY VISIT

On this Saturday, I was really struggling to find a game. Anything within a reasonable distance was being played at a school or a neutral ground; the trains were their usual rip-off self and even the coaches, well, National Express, had hiked their prices due to the school holidays. But then I spotted that Arnold Town were playing Notts County, a decent new ground and not far from Nottingham. I checked out the Flixbus prices, and although times were not perfect, they were reasonable. The fare was a bargain at £11, and getting to Finchley Road and around Nottingham were reasonable too. There was also the opportunity to get in a few Spoons with the £6.90 ticket for unlimited travel in Nottingham on trams and buses. All in all, it seemed like a great option, and I was pleased to get such a decent deal when I booked on Tuesday evening.

After getting home on Sunday, I only had a couple of hours to relax before bed, and I really needed a good night's sleep. I finished off my bottle of cider whilst catching up and watching the first half of the World Cup Final. There was a daft half-time show, with Wayne Rooney having a rare moment of insight by calling it 'crap' whilst the other pundits tried to find positives. It meant that the second half kicked off at 9.25 and within ten minutes I fancied sleep. I was pleased when I woke up at 3.50 to find out that Spain had won. When I got to work, I found out that I'd left my clocking-in card at home as I'd taken it out of my wallet for last week's trip to Ireland. Luckily, my manager was super-helpful in clocking me in manually, and although I was feeling a bit rusty, it was not all bad to be back into a routine. I had a nice walk in the afternoon, and in the evening, I started looking ahead. Colin was desperate for me to take him to Farnham Town v Wycombe Wanderers Academy, but it looked a right pain to park, and it was a ten-mile detour after to drop him off. After his self-centred antics lately, I decided I couldn't be bothered and instead stayed local at Amersham Town v Everett Rovers, a late reversal that kicked off at 7.30, which was great for work. There was sad news that Kevin Keegan had died of stomach cancer; whilst a disappointment as England manager, his Newcastle teams were brilliant. The evil of cancer picking off another victim, and sadly there are too many losses against this nasty disease.

It was a great 9.5-hour sleep on my day off. I did my usual walk to Wycombe and back in the morning, getting ten miles in my legs and doing some shopping. The afternoon was spent updating the Step 7 leagues on my blog, a bigger undertaking than I expected. In the evening, I went up to Amersham Town; the free entry was good for balancing the books after some expensive trips lately. It was a decent game too; Amersham, who had only avoided relegation by reprieve last season, won 5-1 against Everett Rovers. The only downside was the five-mile, twenty-minute diversion after giving Colin a lift home, mainly due to road closures. Nothing but headaches with that lad!. It took me ages to get to sleep as I'd woken up so late, but I was OK the next morning. It was an easy day at work in any case, and in the afternoon, I did more work on my blog, plus planning upcoming trips. I finished the Scottish Leagues on Thursday, as well as looking at FA Cup options for two weeks. Beset by rip-off train fares, there was not much choice in the value department. Carlisle & Penrith were not so bad, but were long days out. Eventually I plumped for Kirkley & Pakefield v Little Oakley as it ticked most boxes. Ordering the tickets on Friday morning due to discounts, I took the chance to go home early due to it being quiet. The afternoon was spent walking to Spoons and back, a couple of pints with fish and chips and a cheeky bottle of vintage cider on the way home. When I arrived home, I found my Mum had outdone me thanks to the bad influence of my Uncle Alan, who is great company for a boozing session. Not as young as he used to be, I heard he went to bed when he got back home after a lift from my Aunt.

It had been a boozier-than-intended night; originally, I was gonna stay sober as I had drinks last Sunday and I try to stick to two days a week drinking. But I decided that Sunday was part of my holiday and that the walk to town and back did me good. I was in bed at 9 and, as a consequence, woke up at my normal work time. I had two hours of trying to nap with limited luck before my alarm went off at 5.50. I freshened up, got dressed, and had breakfast before leaving at 6.25, getting my routine done far more quickly than I would for work. I drove to Amersham and parked up, arriving in good time for my 06:52 Metropolitan Line train to Finchley Road. I was at the stop 25 minutes in advance; sadly the local Aldi didn't open until 8, so I just waited on the pavement along with a load of people with suitcases. It was full to the brim, not surprising seeing that it was £11 return. The cheapest train I could find for two weeks' time came in at £63. The person next to me had broad shoulders, so it was tight for space. Something I'm used to with Colin but not as bad as a very uncomfortable trip to Scotland with PuffPuff in 2019 where I got half a seat.

 

It arrived ten minutes early, then it was ten minutes walk to the Lloyd's Number 1 bar, the only remaining Spoons I needed in Nottingham. It was busy due to some kind of Pride march going on, so service wasn't the quickest. It was then to the Canalhouse, where I met Paul, AKA Non League Rover. Sadly, my choice of Three Cats cider was sold out, so I made do with a pint of Cold River to be sociable and catch up. I then left and went to the Vat and Fiddle; here I struck gold with a pint of Seventh Cider. Both beverage and drink were sublime. Finally, it was a 20-minute walk to the bus stop I needed, past Pride folk having a great time. Nottingham had been a fantastic city, but I was off to the outskirts, namely Sherwood. The Samuel Hall was an excellent Spoons for a swift pint of Black Dragon. The Sherwood Arrow hourly schedule limited my chances of a quick dash to the ground and I had to be on the ball. I was, but the Sherwood Arrow drove straight past as they were behind schedule. Instead, it was the Pronto towards Chesterfield which dropped me off 25 minutes from the ground. After a fair walk, I was there at 2.25. Chips were £3, entry £3 and a programme was £1-50. All fairly priced, I met up with Paul in the ground who has travel problems of his own.

 

There were team photos and a minutes silence for a former assistant manager before the game kicked off a couple of minutes late. It was a fairly tepid first half with me struggling to stay awake. The very dry pitch didn't help. Notts County took the lead with a neat finish from a well-worked move on 43, Joe Bryan the scorer. The second half started in the same manner. Bryan got his second on 48 minutes with a lob to make it 2-0. Some poor communication in defence allowed Notts County to grab a scrappy third on 66 minutes. There was a sending-off apiece for a fairly tame scuffle four minutes from time. In injury time, the Arnold #18 scored with a neat finish to make it 3-1 just as I was leaving to get my bus. It was a fair result, and I was well on time for my connection back south. It had been a good day; the only negative was the ropey transport connections to the ground. I noted that Nottingham offered a huge range of destinations for the capped bus fare and bore this in mind for the future. Taco Bell and Tesco were utilised for food and drink on the way back, and I was at Broadmarsh bus station half an hour before my coach.

THE GROUND 

EAGLE VALLEY is a smart and functional stadium that could probably cope with step 4 football. Two small metal stands give 100 seats and 100 standing places, both under cover. The bar and food facilities offer a reasonable range at a fair price. The only bad thing is the location; with the nearest bus stop only offering an hourly service, the nearest regular bus stop is a half-hour walk away.