History

Formed in 1923 as Upminster Wanderers, for fifteen years they played in parks football, in the Romford League finishing as champions on three occasions and twice runners-up, and winning the Romford Charity Cup three times. In 1938 they stepped up to the Spartan League, dropping the Wanderers part of the name.

After the War they dropped into the Romford League for one season due to lack of players, finishing as champions with just one defeat in 26 matches, and scoring 136 goals, and rejoining the Spartan League in 1946.

1952 was a momentous year – Upminster joined the newly formed Delphian League, moved into their current ground in Bridge Avenue, and changed their name to Hornchurch & Upminster. They finished runners-up in 1958-59, and this was enough to gain election into the Athenian League. They dropped with Upminster part of their name in 1960, becoming just Hornchurch FC. They won the Division One championship in 1967 but were relegated in 1969 and promoted back again in 1971.

In 1974-75 were elected to the Isthmian League. In 1978, they were relegated to Division 2 but three years later they were back after achieving the runners-up slot. Then came a lengthy period of struggles – apart from a tenth-place finish in 1995, it was 19 years before they again finished in the top half of the table.

The long-awaited recovery began when Mick Marsden was appointed manager in February 1998 and in his second season, he took them to fourth place. Things changed dramatically as the club was taken over and restructured. Second place in Division 3 in 2002-03 brought promotion to Division 1 North. and another runners-up spot followed in 2003 to take Urchins into the Premier Division for the first time.

The near derelict stadium was upgraded, and under manager George Borg Hornchurch gained promotion to the new Conference South after finishing fifth in 2003-04, though the season was more noticeable for reaching the second round of the FA Cup. Darlington were beaten 2-0 in the first round, before Tranmere Rovers stole a controversial 1-0 win in front of TV cameras and a capacity crowd at Bridge Avenue.

Under manager Garry Hill, the team stormed to the top of the Conference South. It seemed too good to be true and it was. In November, with Hornchurch unbeaten in their last 16 matches, the entire squad, all full time, was released. They had reached the first round of the FA Cup before the collapse and the tie at Boston United was fulfilled by six debutants and youth team players. Hornchurch took an early lead but eventually lost 5-2. The season descended into chaos. Almost 100 players wore first team shirts as new manager Tony Choules contrived to avert relegation, despite a 10 point deduction, without it the club would have finished in a remarkable ninth place.

The club reformed as AFC Hornchurch and was placed in the Essex Senior league. Former youth team manager John Lawrence took charge in May 2005. They ran away with the championship and also won the league’s two cup competitions becoming the first side to achieve the treble.

Under manager Colin McBride, Hornchurch returned to the Isthmian League, and romped to a second successive title, unbeaten in their last 35 matches, and amassing 103 points to finish 21 points clear at the top. They also won the Essex Senior Cup for the first time, beating Great Wakering 2-1 at Southend United. Success continued in the Premier Division the following season, finishing 4th to secure a play-off place but losing 3-1 in the semi-final at AFC Wimbledon in front of a crowd of 2,897.

Colin McBride took control of the club as chairman midway through the 2009-10 campaign in an effort to sort out the financial problems inherited from the previous regime. His assistant Jimmy McFarlane took over team affairs, and Urchins finished ninth in the league. It was a similar story in 2010-11, when Urchins missed out by four points, finishing tenth. But the two Macs achieved their ambition the following season as Urchins finished runners-up. Bury was beaten 3-1 in the play-off semi-final, and, in a tense final against Lowestoft, Hornchurch won 2-1 with Michael Spencer scoring the winner in the final minute of extra time.

The return to the Conference South proved difficult, and six dropped points to bottom club Truro was decisive as Urchins finished 20th, two points short of safety. A second Essex Senior Cup triumph, coming from behind to beat Grays Athletic 2-1 in the final at Dagenham, provided some consolation.

In the 2014/15 season, the local council, closed the stadium to install new floodlights, forcing the first eight league games to be played away from home. Just one point came from those matches and Urchins faced a season-long fight to avoid the drop. With six weeks to go, they finally lifted themselves out of the bottom four and looked on course for survival, only to gain just two points from the last ten games. Urchins hoped to regain their Premier status quickly but it was not to be, as they lost the 2016 Play-off final to Harlow Town and the 2017 semi-final to Thurrock. However, it was third time lucky when in season 2017-18 they won Isthmian North by 13 points, amassing 103 goals in total with a goal difference of plus 62. Midway through the following season Jim McFarlane resigned and Mark Stimson took over, guiding Hornchurch to the FA Trophy win and two unsuccessful Play-Offs, before the sensational signing of Steve Morison in 2023.

One hundred points, 95 goals, 21 points clear at the top – Hornchurch gained promotion to the National League South, with manager Steve Morison bringing Championship-style management to non-league football. After a sensational first half of the season, Steve left to join Sutton Utd in the Football League and was replaced with Daryl McMahon who helped the Urchins continue to dominate in the second half of the season, winning the championship with five matches still to play.

 

Form

Hornchurch have adjusted well to life in the National League South under Daryl McMahon. The Urchins have picked up 10 points from seven games and are placed 13th in the embryonic league table.

Their victories have come against Hampton & Richmond Borough, St Albans City and Farnborough, while they picked up a point at home to Welling United on Bank Holiday Monday.

Last Six
03/09 – Farnborough (H) – Won 1-0
31/08 – Weston-super-Mare (A) – Lost 3-2
26/08 – Welling United (H) – Drew 0-0
24/08 – Slough Town (A) – Lost 2-1
20/08 – St Albans City (H) – Won 1-0
17/08 – Eastbourne Borough (H) – Lost 0-1

 

The Gaffer

Daryl McMahon joined Hornchurch as manager back in January, taking over from Steve Morison. He helped the Urchins continue to dominate in the second half of the season, winning the Isthmian Premier Division with five matches still to play.

As a player, McMahon graduated through the West Ham Utd youth academy and played in the Football League for Torquay Utd, Port Vale, Leyton Orient, and Notts County, and for Cambridge Utd, Farnborough, Boreham Wood, Eastleigh, Dover Athletic, Ebbsfleet Utd and Boreham Wood in non-league.

His managerial career began when he took over as Caretaker Manager at Ebbsfleet United for three matches in November 2014. He was appointed as Manager at the Fleet in April 2015, signing a two-year contract. He won the Conference South Play-Offs with Ebbsfleet in the 2016/17 season to take the side back to the National League. Following his success, he signed a new five-year contract at the club. They reached the National League Play-Offs in 2018 where they were beaten by Tranmere Rovers at the Semi-Final stage. He then left the Fleet by mutual consent in November 2018.

His next managerial role came at then-League Two club Macclesfield Town in August 2019. He got off to a good start on the pitch, however, the Silkmen squad released a statement to say they had gone unpaid for the month of September. He resigned on 2 January 2020 after financial problems resulted in players striking, which left the club unable to fulfil fixtures and punished with a six-point deduction.

Within 24 hours of leaving Macclesfield, McMahon was appointed as manager of National League side Dagenham & Redbridge. The season was suspended on 26 March due to the Covid-19 pandemic in England and no further matches were played; Dagenham were 18th in the table at the time. They finished the 2020–21 season in 12th place, which McMahon saw as evidence the club was building in the right direction. After six wins in the first two months of the season, McMahon was awarded the league’s Manager of the Month award for August/September 2021. Dagenham ended the 2021–22 season in eighth place, missing out on the play-offs by a single point despite beating runners-up Wrexham on the final day. On 24 February 2023, Dagenham parted company with McMahon with the side sitting in tenth position, five points off of the play-offs.

 

The Captain

Ryan Scott joined the Urchins in the summer of 2023 and is club captain.

Centre Half – spent two seasons at Aveley, making 82 appearances for the Millers and scoring on 14 occasions, his final goal being the winner in the play-off final against Hornchurch.

Last season, Scott was ever-present in the league, club captain, and Supporters Player of the season, in which he scored ten goals with a further eight Assists.

He has the distinction of winning three successive promotions, two at Aveley, and one with Hornchurch.

Key Player

At the end of last season, prolific goalscorer Liam Nash had scored 82 goals in 141 appearances, with 35 Assists.

Forward – previously played for Billericay, Aveley, Hemel Hempstead, Dartford and Concord Rangers, Maldon & Tiptree, and also made 15 appearances in the Football League at Gillingham.

His transfer to Hornchurch in 2020 was delayed as international clearance was difficult to obtain after he played in Gibraltar, but he has maintained his scoring record at Hornchurch, including the sensational second goal at Wembley.