Horsham have been our opponents in more matches than any other club.

The primary reason for this is geography: when permanent leagues were started, there was one for West Sussex and another for East Sussex; the draw for the Sussex Senior Cup was initially divided into western and eastern halves; and the qualifying tournament for FA competitions was originally based around local groups of clubs. Another reason is that our two clubs frequently reach the later stages of Sussex competitions, increasing the chances of our meeting each other.

Our first match with Horsham was a friendly played away on 11th April 1891, when Arthur Collins scored our goal in a 4-1 defeat. The most recent meeting was also an away friendly, when we won 3-0 on 29th July 2023, with goals from Greg Luer, Ollie Pearce and Joel Colbran.

The most times we have played each other in one season is six, which happened in 1938-39 and again the following season. The longest we have gone without playing each other is nine years, from 1984-85 to 1993-94.

Our biggest winning margin was when we defeated Horsham 12-0 in a home West Sussex Senior League fixture on 13th February 1909 and our largest margin of defeat was on 9th May 1936, when we lost 9-0 to them at the Goldstone Ground in the final of the Sussex (RUR) Charity Cup.

The highest goal aggregate in these meetings came on 16th November 1935, when we lost 10-3 in a Sussex County League match at Horsham. The highest-scoring draw between us was a Corinthian League fixture on 30th March 1959, which ended 5-5.

We were both founding-members of the West Sussex Senior League and met each season from 1896 to 1920, excluding 1904-05 (we were absent for that season) and 1914 to 1919 (World War 1).

Horsham joined the Sussex County League later than us, but we met in that competition from 1926 to 1948, excluding the war years of 1939 to 1946. We also played each other in the West Division of the Sussex County League’s War Emergency competition in both years that that took place (1939-40 and 1945-46).

Horsham also joined the Corinthian League later than us; we faced each other from 1957 to 1963, and also played each other once in that league’s cup, known as the Memorial Shield.

We then both joined the Athenian League, being opponents in Division 1 in 1963-64 and 1972-73, and in Division 2 from 1968 to 1970.

Horsham became members of the Isthmian League before us, and we first met in Division 2 in 1980-81 (and again the following season). From 2002 to 2004 we were rivals in Division 1 South, and again from 2012 to 2015. Our meetings were in the Premier Division in 2006-07, 2019-20 (declared null and void) and 2021-22. We have also played each other in the Isthmian League Cup and, after we had become champions and Horsham had won the League Cup, we contested the Isthmian League Charity Shield in 2022.

We have played each other several times in the FA Cup, and Horsham were our first opponents in the FA Amateur Cup (on 18th November 1899).

There have been numerous Sussex Senior Cup encounters, three of them in the final (of which we have won one). We have also played them in five finals of the Sussex (RUR) Charity Cup, but have lost three; the other two both finished 1-1 and the cup was shared between us.

We lost 2-1 at home to Horsham in the 1977-78 Sussex Floodlight Cup final, our first year with lights; we also played each other twice in the Southern Counties Combination League Floodlight Cup, although our 8-1 victory in 1982 was rendered meaningless when the competition’s format was changed a couple of weeks later.

Of two encounters in the Shoreham Ladies’ Charity Cup, the first (in 1906-07) was awarded to us as a walk-over. We also contested Worthing Charity Cup and Brighton Charity Cup matches, each one being the final.

We participated in Horsham’s centenary tournament in 1985, losing 2-1 to them, and they beat us 1-0 in 2015 in what was billed as the Sussex Cup, a tournament we organised to mark the opening of our artificial pitch (this match was played as two halves of 35 minutes each).

We have played them at home at Beach House Park and the Sports Ground/Woodside Road, and in 2008 we met at Culver Road in Lancing in a “home” pre-season friendly.

Away matches between us have been staged in Horsham at Hurst Park, Springfield Park, Queen Street, Gorings Mead (when they were ground-sharing with Horsham YMCA) and Hop Oast (their current ground).

All bar one of the matches played at neutral venues took place at the Goldstone Ground in Hove; the other match, the 1951-52 Sussex Senior Cup semi-final, was played at Lewes’s Dripping Pan. 

A summary of our results against today’s opponents is shown below: