History of Horsford CC
The Club was founded in 1947 by four very good friends who spent many evenings in local hostelries discussing the prospects of forming a Cricket Club in Horsford. The four individuals involved were Don Raynor, a sales representative for a tarpaulin company who was the first captain of the club and for many years the mainstay of the club. In support of him were Gordon Godfrey and Wilfred Wilkinson who were both small holders involved in animal husbandry. The last and fourth member of the group was Horace Bowman. Initially the club played friendlies, which in today’s world are a thing of the past. These were played near the existing club house; the land was part of The Manor Farm and the tenancy owned by Mr. Wright. The overall owner of the land was Sir Richard Barratt Leonard who levied a peppercorn rent of one shilling per year. In those early days teas were taken in the Hall itself. 
In 1977 Horsford vacated the ground to allow for improvements and played in Fifers Lane on a council ground for one year and then for two further years in the Earlham area at Colney Lane. In 1976 Horsford entered Competitive Cricket for the first time by entering the Norfolk League, winning the League Championship in 1977 and 1978. During this time seven or eight members of the Wilkinson Family were available for selection including - Marcus, Malcolm his brother, Paul and Peter his sons, Mervyn, Maxwell and Adrian. Individuals who were to have long and influential years with the club were already present including Alan Mason, Alan Smith, Robin Barnard, Rodney Bird, and Adrian Gilbert were amongst the playing members with administrative support from Bernard Smith. In 1979 Manor Park was bought by R G Carter Limited and merged with Drayton Farms. It is reported that there was a verbal agreement between the owner Sir Richard and with Bob Carter the new owner, that Horsford should be allowed to play at Manor Park for as long as they wished. For the 1980 season Horsford returned to Manor Park to form with Exiles Hockey Club the Manor Park Sports and Social Club. In the April of that year the new pavilion was opened by Dickie Jeeps, Chairman of the then Sports Council. The majority of the construction work being undertaken by R G Carter. In 1979 the club had won the Norfolk League championships three times in a row and joined the Norfolk Alliance. At that time there were only two Divisions and within four years Horsford had won the 1st Division Championship and progressed to the Premier Division. Since joining the Norfolk Alliance tremendous growth occurred in competitive cricket throughout the county and the Club had been a resident of either the Premier or 1st Division until 2005. Throughout the years a number of Cup competition trophies had been won including the Biss Trophy on two occasions, the Carter Cup on two occasions, in 1988 against Sprowston and 1998 against Vauxhall Mallards, and the Carter Plate on three occasions. It had always been the policy of the club to run a strong youth policy and in 1995 Horsford 2000 project was created by John Carter supported by Richard Taylor which eventually led to the unique success of winning National Championships at Under 13's in 1997 in the Ken Barrington Trophy. At Under 15 level, the National Championship the Sun Alliance Canadian Lord Taveners Trophy was won in 1999. Tremendous success at such high standards was a result of work of a number of individuals led by Mike Rowson. With the introduction of the East Anglian Premier League disappointingly a number of outstanding talents were lost and a rebuilding policy in youth cricket was proven to be vital. During this period the club had a number of outstanding players and though it is probably wrong to single out individuals, but names such as John Carter, Nick Adams, Carl Tuckett, William Jefferson and Parvez Mir have graced the club as outstanding individuals. In addition to the re-establishment of youth cricket the Club saw the necessity to introduce Ladies Cricket, who in season 2005 did not only win their respective League but also became holders of a number of individual regional awards. While many clubs in recent years had struggled with membership Horsford as a club have been very fortunate in attracting players and through a policy of blooding players at an early age we have been able to put out four teams on a Saturday and enter competitive cricket through the Mid Norfolk League and Friendly matches on a Sunday. The season of 1999 brought a change in the position of Chairman with David Browne taking the reins. During his tenure and with the help of his committee the club was put on a more professional footing and it was largely through his efforts that in 2000 Norfolk County Cricket Club decided to make Manor Park their home. This was a major step forward for the club. This move has proven to be a great success - whilst both parties believed that Horsford were "people Norfolk could do business with" it has only been achieved as a result of a number of very generous supporters, who have provided substantial finance and through the efforts of a number of very hard working individuals. Substantial improvements have been made to the ground and it is the intention to continue the facility improvements over the coming years, hopefully supported by ECB grants and further grant funding that exist to be gained. The Norfolk Festival annually is held over ten days, to many in Norfolk this is the highlight of the cricket season - a Festival that the club is pleased to support and assist in running. The 2004 season saw Tony Selby joining us as Director of Cricket with immediate results being seen across the club. In 2005 Paul Newman, the ex-Norfolk captain, who played first class cricket for both Derbyshire and Leicestershire joined the Club as both 1XI Captain and Director of Cricket. It had been the ultimate ambition of the Club to play recreational cricket at the highest regional level and play with the elite of the East Anglian Club’s – this meant entry into the East Anglian Premier Cricket League. The opportunity finally arose as result of the success of the Club in the 2005 season – three major honours were won – the Norfolk Alliance Premier League, the Biss Cup and the inaugural Norfolk 20/20 Cup Competition, with prize money of £1,000, by far the highest for any competition in the region. The success of winning the Norfolk Alliance Premier Cricket League provided the opportunity to play off against the bottom club in the EAPL. This was March Town CC, victory was gained by the Club in the play off and the Club was elevated to the EAPL for the 2006 season. This was a great achievement and the inspiration and professionalism of Paul Newman’s leadership was immense. Thus 2006 was the initial year the Club played in the EAPL, the investment in attracting quality young players continued, this was an investment for future years as experience had to be gained. The initial seasons were not without difficulty with bottom half of the table finishes. In later years however the investment in younger talent has proven to be a benefit for the Club finishing in third position in the 2012 season, with a record number of wins (8) and a point’s total of 356. A major asset to the playing and coaching resources in recent years has been the employment of Chris Brown in 2001 as Player/Coach and for the majority of the EAPL seasons as Captain. He has been the outstanding EAPL bowler since 2006, amassing a total of 343 wickets at an average of 13.36. His influence in the Club has been tremendous and under his leadership the Club views the opportunity of actually becoming EAPL champions in the coming years. The number of coaches has grown since the arrival of Chris Brown, in support of the Club’s belief in youth development and quality coaching. Chris himself is a member of a very elite band of level 4 coaches, some 90 only in existence worldwide. His activity is not only Club based but also internationally while working regularly for the ECB and ICC. To support the local talent annually an overseas player has been employed, not only as a player but also to contribute to the coaching and facilities support of the Club. Over the years the following have been employed – Josh Swanapoel, Andrew Pedersen, Henry Davids, Craig Thyssen, Daminda Perera, James Wild (2 years), Reece O’Connell and Chris Sabburg (2 years). Some players have performed better than others, those outstanding being Henry Davids with both bat and ball (now representing South Africa in 20/20 Internationals) and Chris Sabburg from Australia playing for the Queensland Representative Squad and was in the winning team, Brisbane Heat in the Australian Big Bash Competition in 2013. A number of Chris’s batting performances have not only been match winning but of the highest quality and vies well for his future progress in the game. The Norfolk 20/20 Competition run by the Club, competed for by the regions eight outstanding clubs in the EAPL and the Alliance Premier Division continues successfully annually. The event attracts substantial sponsorship support and is well supported. An issue within the Club has been the gap between the playing levels of the first and second team; this in recent seasons has been improved immensely by youth player’s emergence and additional players being attracted to the Club. The 2 XI for the 2013 season will be playing in the Alliance Division 1, with good prospects of promotion to the Premier Division. A slight disappointment has been the Club’s lack of success in the Carter Cup over recent years – though appearing in the Finals in 2008, 2009 and 2011 defeat resulted on each occasion. As the 2013 season approaches the Club finds itself in a stable position, the challenge of financial stability is being faced in a highly professional and structured way. The Club is one of the few now with the ability to have four teams playing competitive cricket on a Saturday, at a level for all concerned. The investment in the youth sector of the Club continues, a vital area for the future of the Club’s continued success and growth. Further investment in improvements to the Club’s facilities is fully on the Agenda, in progressing these improvements there is a commitment to maintain and strengthen the relationship with the Norfolk Cricket Board and the Norfolk County Cricket Club. Prior to the start of the 2013 season the Club was hit with the loss of a number of senior players – the Warnes brothers in addition to Matt Spenceley’s decision to extend his stay in Australia, finally Jaik Mickleburgh’s appearance opportunities would be limited. Two new professionals were signed to bolster the side, Matt Love from Australia and Stephan Marillier ex Zimbabwe. The 2013 season proved to be one of struggle, after a good start the Club fell away during the midseason period and ended the season in 8th position. The problem revolved around the inability to score sufficient runs on a regular basis. The best performance of the season was the win against Copdock, this belated victory virtually guaranteeing EAPL cricket for 2014. Good batting performances from Stephan Marillier, scoring 672 EAPL runs and Nathan Perry – Warnes were the only notable contribution from the batting line up. Better bowling performances were evident on a regular basis – Chris Brown with 45 wickets and both Luke Caswell and Ryan Findlay taking in excess of 30 wickets. The Club faced an early exit from the Carter Cup Competition but had success in the ECB National T20 Competition reaching the Regional Final before being defeated by Brentwood CC. The Club was represented at Norfolk CCC level by Chris Brown, who had also been appointed Captain and there were debuts for both Nathan Perry – Warnes and Ryan Findlay. All other Club sides maintained their positions in their respective Leagues. Improvements to facilities will be in place for the 2014 season, this is as a result of continued association with the County Club, contributions from private individuals and grants from the ECB and Sport England. This will result in new changing facilities for the bottom pitch and an extension to the main Pavilion to the benefit of both the County Club and Horsford. Considerable efforts have been made to strengthen the Club for the 2014 Season, Stephan Marillier will be returning as the Club’s Professional. Additional signings have been made, amongst them being Ben France, Caleb Footer, Robbie Bridgestock, Chris Read and an old friend Tom Vaughan is aiming to return to the Club. Prospects for 2014 are looking highly promising at this time. 
