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Horley RFC itself may be a brand new club, but the town of Horley has a long and fascinating history. The club crest (a Griffin holding a war hammer above five acorns and oak leaves) is a modernised version of the Dorking & Horley Rural District Council crest (shown right). The shield is an heraldic map of the district, with the green background symbolizing the countryside of Surrey and twelve gold acorns, from the arms and badge of the County Council. The grassy mound within the coronet alludes to the local hills, and on this stands the griffin crest of one of the principal local families, Evelyn of Wotton. The Griffin holds a hammer for the ancient wealden ironstone industry.
The motto 'E Glande Quercus' lends itself perfectly to our ethos as a club - 'From the acorn, the oak'. At Horley RFC, from small beginnings, we can build something great and strong. For more information on the history of Horley, please visit the Horley Local History Society.
Club History
Basically, the history starts here... and you can be a part of it!
The idea of setting up a rugby club in Horley was concieved in 2006 by Gary, Jon & Paul, three friends who have played at our sister club Reigate for many years but, being residents of Horley, have always wished that Horley had it's own rugby club. After some market research (mainly around the pubs of Horley) it became obvious that there was a huge interest from local players, people who would like to play and supporters, and so the formation of Horley RFC began.
It took a couple of years to develop, but at the beginning of 2008, Horley Rugby Club was officially formed and registered with the Rugby Football Union. The biggest problem to overcome was the lack of a home ground to play matches from. Fortunately, the head of PE at Horley's Oakwood school, Ken Webber, is not only a huge advocate of all sporting activities, but is also a massive rugby fan - in fact, it was due to Ken's teaching some 22 years ago that two of the founding members of Horley RFC started playing rugby in the first place. Ken agreed to let the rugby club use the school's rugby pitches and changing facilities (with the support of Oakwood Sports Centre), and Horley RFC had a home ground.
The next step was finding some sponsors to help fund the expenses of setting up the club. Fortunately, one of the players (Tribs) who had already expressed an interest in playing for Horley, had canvassed several work colleagues, who were also keen to play for the new Horley club. They suggested that the Gatwick-based company they worked for were keen to support the local community and, soon after, Horley RFC had signed a three year sponsorship deal with G4S for the 1st team kit. Manor Royal Motors in the Manor Royal estate signed shortly after as equipment sponsor and All About Horley, the online news and information website for Horley, signed up as club sponsor.
The club are now embarking on a massive recruitment drive and beginning training prior to the start of the new season in September. After our first season playing friendlies, finding our feet and recruiting new players, Horley RFC will join the Sussex leagues and begin the rise up through the ranks.
The rest is history in the making...
Horley RFC is the sister club of Reigate Rugby club and we enjoy a very close relationship with Reigate rugby club, it's players and committee. Whilst maintaining our own identity, Horley rugby club work closely with Reigate rugby club to promote the game of rugby to players of all ages and standards. Horley rugby club want to attract players of all standards from Horley, Redhill, Smallfield, Crawley, Gatwick and the surrounding areas. Reigate rugby club offer rugby for all ages from their mini's section right up to seniors and vets rugby.