Hornchurch v Yeovil Town

National League

Together these two clubs share a history totalling 280 years. Remarkably this was the first ever game between The Urchins and The Glovers. And these two in-form sides put on a totally enthralling contest. It was one of those games that could have gone either way.Hornchurch FC have never been this high in the footballing pyramid but have impressed with their early form.

Their defence is solid and they are always likely to nick a goal or two. Yeovil Town FC of course have been as high as The Championship and are the non-league team that has reached the first round of the FA Cup more than any other.After a decade of pretty dire football, they have been revitalised under the management of Billy Rowley and his team.They play a lovely passing game.

Hornchurch are more direct, but just as effective. The first half was a bit cagey. Only a stunning save from the Hornchurch keeper and some last minute blocks from both sets of defenders kept it goalless at half-time.After the break Yeovil were patient, maybe too patient, and it was the home side that perhaps should have taken the lead on more than one occasion.

Eventually one of the teams had to take one of their chances, and to the delight of the 267 travelling Glovers faithful it was a great finish by Zain Westbrooke that settled the nerves and bagged his first goal for the club. Another confident strike from the impressive substitute James Daly followed shortly after.

He could have made it three a few minutes later but again the home keeper made a great stop.Hornchurch finally found the net in the final minute but it was too little too late, and the Glovers comfortably rode out the four minutes of stoppage time. They go fourth. Hornchurch slip to eleventh.

Final score 1-2. It was hard to make out the attendance from the crackly Tannoy but it sounded and looked like just over a thousand. Admission £20. Programmes available.

Ground report below.

During the Ice Age, 450,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached The Dell, just south of St Andrew’s Church in Hornchurch. It was the furthest south that any ice sheet has ever reached in Britain. No co-incidence then that my first two footballing visits to this town on the very edge of Greater London have been on evenings of near-glacial temperatures.

In the 2025-26 season Hornchurch FC surprised many with their top of the table antics in the National South. A play-off victory against Torquay United won the club promotion to the National League for the first time in their long and colourful history. However, followers of The Urchins will have seen a consistent improvement at this club in recent years; both on and off the pitch.

After rising as champions from the Isthmian league, Hornchurch finished ninth in the National South in the 2024/25 season. Their pitch was renovated over the summer, and 88% majority owner Alex Sharp has set the target of moving to a new ground in the next couple of years (they have tried to buy their current stadium off the council but can not agree a price).

The result of the on-the-pitch success has seen a big increase in attendances, with The Urchins drawing new fans from this well-to-do edge of the capital.

Those with a longer allegiance, will know that Hornchurch is a club with a lengthy family tree. The first side with the name emerged in 1882, and entered one of the initial FA Cups. Their tale was short-lived. By the start of the 1885–86 season, the club was bankrupt, with a debt of £22.

Reforming as Upminster Wanderers in the 1920s, they initially played parks football. In 1952 they changed their name to Hornchurch & Upminster, and by the early part of this century (as plain Hornchurch) they had reached both the Conference South and the first round of the FA Cup – only to go bust again.

Quickly reformed, initially as AFC Hornchurch, they have worked themselves back up through the divisions, defeating Hereford 3–1 to win the FA Trophy in 2021 and winning promotion to National South in 2023/24 as champions.

Bridge Avenue (A.K.A. The Hornchurch Stadium) has been the home of The Urchins since 1956. Yes, it is shared with the Havering Athletics Club, and yes it has six running lanes with the usual pits and nettings around its edges.

However the club has made respectable efforts to bring the fans as close to the action as possible. A heterogeneous assemblage of seated and terraced stands vie for the fans’ favour. The stadium has a capacity of 3,000, of which 580-800 is seated and 1,400 is covered.

It does at least feel like a football ground; as opposed to an athletics stadium that just happens to have a pitch in the middle.

It was my final match of 2025 that brought a second visit to Bridge Avenue. The previous season I endured a game of hoofball on fireworks night against Hemel Hempstead. The second time it was a localish derby. The temperature was again in the minuses.

Hornchurch were top. Maidstone were seventh. Ten points between them. This time there were more fireworks on the pitch than off it.

I also retured to see Hornchurch deliver a comfortable victory against Weston-Super-Mud in the play-off semi-final.

Onto the National League and this time I was in the away end to watch a 1-2 victory for the visiting Yeovil Town. The attendance for that game was 1,143. For my first game, on a similar winter midweek night, it was 468. That’s a considerable increase in just two years. A club definitely on the rise.

There are significant changes in the pipeline to take the ground up to National League standards. These are due to be completed by the end of the 2026/27 season. They will change, in some way, most parts of the ground.

There have been quite a few changes already.

Having reached the top level of non-league football, full segregation is now in place. The main home seating and terrace is on one side with a directors box and TV gantry in the middle. The most noise comes from home fans on the terrace. A second seated stand for home supporters is on the other side. Away supporters now get half of this plus the open terrace next to it. Up to 600 away tickets are available.

Away fans now have new-look, separate entrance off Abraham Court, with a twin turnstile and a toilet block. Away tickets have to be bought in advance. A converted school bus was dishing out some decent-looking burgers and hot drinks. No alcohol is available in this section.

Each stand has been built as close to the touchline as possible. I have now tried them all. My favourite spot was on the elevated outdoor terrace next to the club-house. It’s a fair bit back from the goal but the height and shelter gave a good viewpoint, aided by some amusing fan-commentaries.

The club-house is modern, warm and a good size. It leads to a sort of guest/sponsors box with big glass windows, allowing the luxury of watching the match in the warm with drinks served to your table! A food truck in the home section was serving the usual burgers and chips (no veggie options). There was a club shop and a programme stand too.

The ground car park is now for players and officials only. There are match-day restrictions on local streets, but you are amidst a huge residential sprawl, so park a little way away from the ground and you’ll be okay. The nearest rail station is Upminster Bridge on the district line with an easy ten-minute walk to the ground.

The Windmill pub is decent and just around the corner. (There is a real windmill just up the road in Upminster). More adventurous drinkers should take the extra stops to sample two of London’s best micro-pubs. At Upminster station you have a short walk to the Upminster Tap Room. You can alight at either Hornchurch or Emerson Park for The Hop Inn.

And whilst supping your pint in one of these beer emporiums you may for a moment ponder the source of this club’s nickname. As is often the case, several theories abound. I always think it best to go with the oldest one, even though I have no evidence for it’s accuracy.

I do know that Urchin was the Middle English term for hedgehog (leading to ‘sea urchin’ for the similarly spiky marine animal). The story goes that when the club first moved onto this ground, it was over-run with urchins. The cost of removing them was enormous until someone came up with the idea of importing a Russian Eagle Owl, whose favourite food is urchins. This also accounts for the bronze statue of the eagle owl which apparently still gazes across the pitch.