At Home With The Hornets - A Horsham Town Story

Just started reading and you're doing well :) surprised to see jamie griffiths in your team, he didn't look out of place in league 2 when i saw him in real life :eek:
 
Just started reading and you're doing well :) surprised to see jamie griffiths in your team, he didn't look out of place in league 2 when i saw him in real life :eek:
My Jamie Griffiths is a regen I got from my youth intake mate :)
 
Youth Intake 2015

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So its that time of the year. Our previous intakes haven't been too great with only Jamie Griffiths managing to force his way into the first team. But this year we got 2 great little gems!!!

Intake

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So two players with high potential ability, but everyone knows some players get that rating but the base stats aren't too great but having a closer look Ed Stamp looks like he can slide straight into my strike force which boasts some great players. Also we have Emini Wilson who is a right back, a position we seem to be a tad weak in with Kyron Farrell subject to injury problems, also he's not too consistent.


Ed Stamp

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Some great base stats, needs some training on his finishing but will slot straight into my first team.


Emini Wilson

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Again some pretty solid base stats, I'm most likely going to let Farrell go at the end of the season so this guy will have a chance to nail down that right back spot if he wants!!
 
February 2015 - May 2015

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So I've finished the regular season, when I last updated we were close behind Dartford but could we wrestle the league title from them?? Here's the results...


Results

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A good set of results but we have dropped points in games we should have won. Losing at home to Dover was a killer blow as at that point if we had won we would of been level points with Dartford. Ed Stamp had a run in the team towards the end of the season and done great scoring 3 in 3 games and getting an assist. Think I'll have him leading the line next season, he's made a real impact.

Let me tell you know though on the last day of the season there was 3 points separating us and Dartford... but in who's favor?? Here's the table!!


Table and Player Stats

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**** it. Didn't quite do it. The Play-Offs it is and our first game will be against Oxford who we don't have a great record against to be fair. The play-offs is a gamble, a huge lottery one I have never been involved in since I've been playing Football Manager.

I'll update later tonight with the play offs and an end of season post =]
 
by the year 2050 you should be able to advance to Barclays PL :) good luck :))
 
Play Offs and End Of Season

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Lets get straight into the Semi Final against Oxford!!


Semi Final 1st Leg


Oxford 3 - 2 Horsham

Nwachukwu, Stamp

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So not the result I wanted really, Oxford are a good side but I really wanted a draw. Away goals count for nothing so we HAVE to win at home in the second leg....


Semi Final 2nd Leg

Horsham 3 - 0 Oxford

Chappell, Scott(2)

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YES!!! It wasn't as easy as it looked but my subs Jamie Griffiths and Aaron Scott won this game for us. It was Griffiths corner which Chappell scored from then Aaron Scott fittingly won us the tie to send us to the final against Dover Athletic.


Play Off Final


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Horsham 2 - 1 Dover Athletic
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Stamp, Scott

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YES!!!!!!!!!! Promotion secured in a real thriller. Ed Stamp continued his great run of form scoring the opener but Dover struck back, the rest of the game was pretty poor with both teams having a couple of chances until in the depths of extra time Ijaha chipped a lovely ball through to Ethan Moore who's shot was saved but fell back to Moore who cut it back to that man Aaron Scott to bury the ball into the an open net!! I went nuts even though there was a few minutes left, we saw out the rest of the game with ease and won promotion to the Blue Square Bet Premier!!!!



Squad

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Chappell and Bowles were the solid partnership I needed at the back BUT both will most likely leave... my heart says sign them up but my head says they must leave for younger, better players to come in. I have to be ruthless and a number of my loyal players will be off along with them.


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Manager Of The Year

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Disappointed to not finish first but promotion was the main thing, I don't care for individual awards right now.


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Finances

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Great to see us out of debt but we're still making losses every month. We've outgrown our currant stadium and as soon as this season is over we do move into our new stadium which will increase our income a lot. But still we made a profit last year thanks to that FA Cup run!!




Thats all for this season!! I'm really keen to get cracking on next season and have already made a couple of signings already!! Comments always welcome =]
 
2015/2016 Pre Season and August

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So last season we got promoted once again, this time via the nerve racking play-offs!! So now we're in the Blue Square Bet Premier, and I gotta say its a huge jump in quality. I'm going to say this now... we will not get promoted this year. Only one team get automatic promotion, the other 4 get into the play-offs. We most likely will not be one of those 5 teams.

In my transfers you will see that I have invested in youth this time, this year will be a transition year learning and improving. No pressure, I've told the board we can get a mid-table finish and I'm sure we're capable of it.

Anyway onto the transfers:


Transfers

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So some big names leaving, the main ones being Aaron Scott who last season became our top scorer in our history!! Also Frankie Chappell and Gary Bowles left, they were on big wages(for us) and I bought in better younger players. Tony Nwachukwu also left, he was a bit out of his depth last year and wouldn't cut it at this level sadly but they were a huge part of this clubs history. A number of other players left who under-performed last year, lets face it if they couldn't cut it last year they certainly wouldn't in a higher division.

In comes a number of great players, a number of players from Hayes and Yeading who were promoted the year before us and survived so I figured that they had decent enough players for us!! Here's screenie's of the new boys:

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Some really good players in there. Bangura is ex Chelsea and very versatile. Jordan Ivey-Ward looks like a great little capture for us too!! Perfect replacement for Aaron Scott!!



Odds

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So not horrific odds but as you can see some of these teams in this league are just miles ahead of us in every aspect.


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Results

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So not a bad start in the league at all!! Our one loss came against probably one of the worst teams we've faced!! But some really good wins over Gateshead, Salisbury and Hereford. Ed Stamp has continued his great form with 3 goals and I'm hoping he can strike up a solid partnership with Jordan Ivey-Ward!!

I'm in abundance of quality young centre backs and centre midfielders, we're a tad weak on the wings when our wide men get injured like new signing Lee Angol has been but that boy Gary Charman who is still with us has been brilliant so far.


Squad

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Just to show you how young our squad is and the great potential that some of these lads have. Hopefully after a year in this league these players will develop a bit and we can challenge next year!!



Table and Player Stats

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So we're doing okay!! Sitting nicely in mid table so far. Hopefully we can pull away from the depths of relegation a bit more so I can feel a tad more comfy but I can't see relegation as a threat for us really.


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Finances and Club News!!

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So we're still clear of the red but we're making losses of around £18k a month!! Not good. But hopefully the following news might help us a tad...


Potential New Owners!!

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Now this could swing either way or maybe not make a slight difference at all!! My current chairman is a *****, never improved anything apart from the new stadium which we pretty much had to do. Three times he's agreed we need a parent club, three times he's come back saying he can't find a suitable club!!

Hopefully I wont get sacked which can happen sometimes but nothing has been mentioned about any replacements for me.


Thats it for this update guys, I'll probably do another when I hit November =]
 
People like monthly updates or keep it as it is???
 
Busines Tycoon Targets Hornets Takeover

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A consortium led by business man Scott Prince are said to be close to taking ownership of Sussex side Horsham FC.

Horsham have shot up the English leagues all the way to the Blue Square Bet Premier in recent years led by Horsham boy Sam Birch, who's position is hot topic with this impending takeover. A transfer embargo has been instated at the club, here's what manager Mr Birch has to say on the matter:


''We've done really well in recent years to get to this league, I'm really grateful to chairman Kevin Borrett giving me the chance to lead this Horsham side but we need to move forward, we need to improve the facilities, youth recruitment and the club just don't have the money at the minute. Hopefully if this takeover does happen the new chairman will invest into the club to help us progress. With moving into the new stadium next season the future looks bright and I obviously want to be a part of that.''


There has been no comment regarding Mr Birch's future but its believed he will remain in charge of Horsham.


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Takeover Complete

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The takeover at Sussex club Horsham FC has been complete as a consortium led by business man Scott Prince has seized control of the club. Mr Prince has already invested some money into the club vowing to improve the training facilities and put £28k in the bank for manager Sam Birch to work with.

Its been a tough time for Mr Birch with takeovers sometimes leading to a change in management but Mr Prince had this to say:


''Mr Birch has done a superb job leading this club from the bottom of the English league structure to near the nPower League 2. We are keen to invest in the club and see it rise all the way to the top which we feel Mr Birch is key in making this happen.''


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Just read it straight from the beginning! 3 consecutive promotions is incredible, hopefully the new owners will invest. Keep it up!
 
Well done so far. Good news regarding the takeover.
 
Well done so far. Good news regarding the takeover.
Cheers Klippy, great news with the takeover :D

Just read it straight from the beginning! 3 consecutive promotions is incredible, hopefully the new owners will invest. Keep it up!
Thank you mate, new owner seems a bit more committed than the previous one!!



UPDATE TONIGHT ALL THE WAY TO JANUARY!!
 
September 2015 - January 2016

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So I've decided to go all the way to January, I kinda got a tad carried away and didn't wanna stop. So lets kick on!!!


Results


League

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A very decent set of results I'd say there!! A couple of losses but nothing I didn't expect from some of the teams we were coming up against. Surprisingly a couple of the teams I thought would be challenges like Accrington Stanley and Bristol Rovers weren't as good as I thought they'd be.


FA Cup

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Not as much of a fairytale run this time, we did well to beat League 1 side Port Vale but Pompey dumped us out even after Ed Stamp gave us an early lead. Never mind always next year!!


FA Trophy

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Paid a bit more attention this year to this tournament. We've had some easy games with both being against teams in the league below us, we could go far!!


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Squad

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Two players have really stood out for me and thats Ed Stamp who's on 20 goals this season already and big centre back Jordan Anderson who's filled the gap left by Frankie Chappell nicely. A few of the players signed in the summer have been a huge let down, mainly Lee Angol who's been awful!! If he's not getting injured he's being more of a burden than help. Bobson Bawling has also not been pulling his weight. Other than that people have been pretty average.


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Finances

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Not bad at all. I'm very happy that our projection is now in the black, things are looking up!! Also our training facilities have been improved, the building will be completed at the end of January :)


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Table and Player Stats

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WOW. We're second on level points with Wrexham who are top and have a much better goal difference than us. We've pulled clear of the teams chasing a play-off spot so we should at least get that far. Ed Stamp has been tearing up this league, and Jordan Anderson has been bossing it too without them we'd be mid table at best.


Thanks guys for reading, comments always welcome =]
 
Youth Intake 2016

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Quite a poor youth intake this year, didn't expect anything amazing considering our facilities are pretty awful. Got one okay player though.


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Pretty awful. Even the one player we did get isn't great, here he is anyway:

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Next update will probably be end of season, or maybe before the last few games as everything become very very tight in the race for those play-off places!!
 
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