Uncle Urchin

AFC Hornchurch  3  Wingate & Finchley  0

Isthmian League - Premier Division

‘Uncle Urchin’ was a regular poster on various football forums back in Noughties.

Always a defender of all things Hornchurch FC, and seemingly very much in the know when it came to the political, financial and footballing side of the club, many suspected that the great Uncle was indeed an insider.

Although never proven, it had been accepted that it was beyond any reasonable doubt that ‘Uncle Urchin’ was a pseudonym for the owner of the club, Karl Williams.

Williams was an interesting character who made his fortune in double glazing, with his companies Bryco and Carthium being involved in non-league football sponsorship, and then more latterly the much maligned Coldseal Windows.

Williams claimed to be ‘just a fan’ of Hornchurch, but he was clearly more than that. More on that later, but lets first look at how Hornchurch went from being a run of the mill Isthmian League club and then turned into the non-league version of Chelsea.

In 2001-02 the club gained promotion from the Third Division of the Isthmian League, and then the following season they were then promoted again after a further runners-up spot in the First Division North.

People were sitting up and looking as some stellar names started to arrive at the club, the following season they finished fifth in the Premier Division and with it they became founder members of the Conference South. The Premier League winning season of 2003-04 also saw them reach the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup, only to be unlucky to lose to Tranmere Rovers after beating Darlington in the First Round.  In the same season they reached the Quarter Final of the FA Trophy, beating high flying Burton Albion along the way.

Stories abounded of the astronomical wages being paid to the playing staff, they had to be to attract players to leave the Football League to play for them, in fact I recall reading an article in the Derby Telegraph after Burton had lost at Hornchurch, where the journalist in question commented on the array of expensive cars that pulled up into the car park with the home players driving them, it said it all……

All was not well though, Williams company was declared bankrupt during the 2004-05 season, and consequently the club announced that funds were no longer available to make it viable. They went into an IVA, suffered the subsequent points deduction, and at the end of the season, they went into liquidation and folded.

Out of the ashes came AFC Hornchurch, they were placed in the Essex Senior League, which they won, and a year later they had won the Isthmian League Division One North. Five years were spent in the Isthmian Premier before a play-off victory saw them back in the Conference South in 2012-13, less than ten years after exiting football at the same level.

It wasn’t simple though, in 2009 the new club went into administration, but this time they survived the financial crisis that befell them. A year after reaching Step 2 and they were back down again, and by 2015 they had dropped once more to the North Division. Last season, as Champions, they have climbed again, and now sit back in the Premier Division.

It’s been quite a journey for the fans of Hornchurch / AFC Hornchurch, and with the FA granting the club permission to revert back to the old Hornchurch Football Club name next season, I decided it was time to go and have a look for myself.

Williams may be long gone, running a bookshop in Devon by all accounts, but his legacy remains in terms of the facilities at Hornchurch Stadium. Principally a running track with very modest and somewhat basic facilities, it’s now got a number of seated areas dotted around the perimeter, along with a covered terracing area and a very smart clubhouse / hospitality area. I didn’t get to look around the changing rooms but I’m lead to believe they are impressive.

The journey to Hornchurch from my base in Milton Keynes wasn’t the best. The M25 was a bit of an arse, while the queue to exit at the Southend Arterial was an absolute pleasure! Getting through Upminster wasn’t overly straightforward so to be honest it was quite a relief to get into the car park and park alongside a now more modest array of vehicles.

Once through the turnstiles you’ve got the clubhouse up the ramp, with an elevated indoor viewing area at the front where those arriving early enough get a fine view of the proceedings. Moving around clockwise, the dressing rooms sit behind the goal, while moving towards the West side of the ground, you’ve got two seated stands sitting either side of the half way line. Walking round to the East side you find an area of covered terracing, a small Directors stand, another larger stand, and finally the burger van!

The pitch was in very good nick, and the floodlights good, so considering it was the dreaded athletics stadium, I actually thought it was a pretty good ground all things being equal!

Both sides are having tough seasons, Wingate & Finchley sat in the relegation zone whereas Hornchurch were hovering just above it. The hosts took the lead through Charlie Stimson on the half hour mark, this after the game being fairly equal up to that point.

The visitors pressed in the second period in search of an equaliser, hitting the woodwork, but a second goal came in the 81st minute when Joe Christou scored with a powerful low shot from twenty yards out.  Moments later and it was 3-0 when Ronnie Winn netted with a neat finish from a long ball, and to be fair to Wingate, the score line was a touch harsh on them.

The win does Hornchurch the power of good, and if I were a betting man I would say that they’ll start next season without the AFC, in the Premier Division.

Uncle Urchin may well be looking on from afar as the club goes the full circle, but if he is, he’s keeping very quiet about it nowadays….