BROADBRIDGE HEATH FOOTBALL CLUB

Published on 1st January 2025
Broadbridge Heath Football Club has sat largely in the shadow of Horsham FC since it was founded in 1919. It has endured turbulent times, but has recently emerged as a strong independent club, offering community football from Under-7s to Under-18s, with a title-winning Under-23 squad supporting a Senior team playing at the highest level in its history.
AAH visited the club on match day and met 1st Team Manager Chris Simmons, Club Captain Andy Waddingham, Chairman Chris Higgins, Club President Keith Soane, Press Officer Andy Crisp and Junior Club Chair Cabz Howell to find out more…
Chris S: Broadbridge Heath FC is a club that is close to my heart. I enjoyed six or seven seasons at the club as a player, both with the 1st Team and the Reserves. I returned to coach the Under-23 squad before being appointed 1st Team Manager in January 2020. It was a tough start, as we had two Covid-disrupted seasons. But we’ve improved since then, culminating in us winning the County League in 2022/23 to gain promotion to the Isthmian League South East Division, only one tier below Horsham FC. Many of our players have made over 100 appearances for the club and I dare-say that several could have played at a higher level, but they’ve been very loyal.
Chris W: I started playing for Broadbridge Heath U7s when I was a pupil at Shelley Primary School. Although I now live and work in London, my parents still live in the village. My first manager was Nigel Teasdale, who is still a committee member and is often working in the ticket booth on match days! I stayed with BBH all the way through the youth leagues, when we played most of our matches at The Fort, next to the Village Centre. After a few games for the Reserves, I made my 1st Team debut when I was still at secondary school. Since then, we’ve climbed three tiers of the football pyramid. Every step is a bit tougher, but I have managed to raise my level and love the challenge of testing myself against better players. You have to be a little stronger, faster and more tactically astute, but over the years I’ve worked a few things out to help me keep pace with the youngsters!
Cabz: I look after 17 teams in the junior section. They range from U7s to U16s and in some year groups we have multiple teams. Most compete in the Horsham District Youth League, although a handful of teams enter the Mid Sussex Youth League. One of the great things about BBH is that there’s a pathway from the juniors to the U18s and every season we have players making that transition. Some of the most committed and talented players progress to the U23s, which is a very good team and helps to support the Senior squad. We want young plays to enjoy the game and continue into adult football and if they can remain part of the club, that’s fantastic.
Chris S: Our 1st Team is very youthful, but we’ve grown over the past few seasons. In our first season after Covid, we finished 7th in the Southern Combination League Premier Division, one position behind the club’s highest ever finish. The following year in 2022/23, we won the league convincingly. On the pitch, the players have been fantastic and stuck together, while off the pitch, we have an incredible committee and team of volunteers who do so much behind the scenes. This includes securing about £90,000 of improvements that allowed us to progress to the Isthmian League.

Chris H: I used to play for BBH FC and coached youth teams while my son played in the junior teams. We moved to the USA for several years, but when we returned, I was keen to be involved with the club once more. By this time, the club had secured a wonderful new home, but the committee needed help with establishing the facility and I felt I could help. Keith Soane, now Club President, had been Chairman for more than 30 years and done an amazing job. The time had come for someone else to step up and take on more responsibility.
Keith S: Broadbridge Heath is stronger now than it has ever been at any time during my 54-year association with the club. As I had previously played for Mickleham FC, my neighbour invited me to join him at training and I signed for BBH for the 1970/71 season. We trained behind The Shelley where there was a couple of workshops – one stored old cars and the other was our changing room! We played in the North Sussex Football League on a sloping pitch and it was almost tribal football against other villages. There used to be an Army Base on the site we occupy today. When the Army moved out, we converted one of the Nissen huts into a clubhouse. The players did most of the work, tiling the shower block and installing a bar, and that established us as a serious club.
Andy C: We had two adult pitches, a junior pitch and a clubhouse. After a while, we wanted to improve the facilities with a new pavilion, so we approached Horsham District Council, who told us about Tesco’s plan to redevelop the entire site. The Council said that if we agreed to the plan, we would have our own facility within the new sports centre (which has since replaced by The Bridge) with our own pitches and a clubhouse bar. We were delighted, but after we moved in, everything changed. Although our rates were discounted, we had to pay to use the pitches for our men’s, junior and ladies’ teams, while the Council took half the bar takings. We couldn’t afford to operate and struggled for many years. The juniors had to become self-sufficient, as did the U18s, ladies and Sunday team, leaving us with just the mens’ teams on Saturdays. Our relationship with HDC wasn’t good at that time.
Keith: During the course of the next decade, the fees kept rising and our takings were nibbled away. HDC eventually decided to close the sports centre, but clubs and groups who used it fought tooth and nail for a replacement facility, culminating in The Bridge. However, we were out on our ear and played at Pixies Hollow in Horsham for a season. Keeping BBH FC going was hard and committee members raised funds in various ways, from car boot sales to sponsored bike rides, to keep the club afloat.
Andy C: There were six of us involved in decision-making at that time and three of us – myself included – wanted to pack up. However, we’d just been promoted to County Division 1, which is now the Premier Division. The manager wanted to carry on and we had to give him that opportunity. If it hadn’t been for that success, we probably wouldn’t have continued. However, there were reasons to be optimistic. The Chief Executive of the Council had said that it wasn’t beyond the Council’s control to find BBH FC their own facility, separate from the new leisure centre. That dangling carrot kept us going.
Keith: By 2005, plans for a West of Horsham development were gathering momentum. Money would be availablefrom Countryside Properties under the Section 106 Agreement, in which housing developers provide funds for community projects, and we would be one of the beneficiaries. Sports England set the specification for our new facility. At that time, the 1st Team were playing in the higher tiers of the County League, which requires clubs to have an enclosed ground with floodlights. So, the Council were obliged to provide us with what we had before.

Andy C: We did everything to secure a permanent new ground, attending every Council meeting about the development! Broadbridge Heath Parish Council were very supportive, in particular the late Malcolm Curnock. Others at the Council, including Jonathan Chowen and Trevor Beadle, appreciated what had happened to us in the past and helped throughout the process. It took longer than we anticipated, as we lost the bar at the old sports centre in 1998 and moved to our new home in 2019! However, it has been the catalyst for our recent success.
Andy H: When we were presented with a new facility, we didn’t simply turn it into a typical clubhouse with framed shirts, trophies and football photos on display. We wanted it to have more general appeal and to support community activities throughout the week, generating income for the club. We met with experts from The Club Programme, run by the FA to help clubs plan for the future, and saw what others had achieved across the country. This inspired the look and feel of The Venue. It’s there for the club and has a licensed bar, but is also available for hire. Helen Kowalkowski, Community and Events Coordinator, has done an amazing job in building a business and now we have mother and toddler, yoga and slimming groups using The Venue, while it also hosts private parties and functions.
Keith S: BBH has always been a super club full of great people. However, Chris Higgins has taken it to another level and with support from Peter Thirkettle (Secretary) and Matt Wright (Treasurer) they’ve introduced professionalism. Everything is spot-on, from health and safety procedures to the match day programme to the youth structure. For a long time, we were the forgotten club of Horsham, but we’ve come on leaps and bounds.
Andy C: After promotion two seasons ago, we needed to upgrade our infrastructure to be compliant with the FA’s Step 4 ground grading. So, we built a covered 50-seat stand, a canopy over the double doors facing the pitch, outside toilets and infill fencing round the pitch. We received a grant from the Premier League Stadium Fund and an additional grant from HDC, with the remainder being self-funded. Much of the work was completed by volunteers, which has contributed to the great spirit at the club.
Chris W: When I started playing for BBH, our big derbies were against Loxwood and Alfold, but we’ve made huge strides since and the committee has done a great job of growing the club. When Chris Simmons came in as manager, I don’t think anyone would have believed we’d be promoted within two seasons. Last season, after a poor start, we turned results around and now compete comfortably at this level. I’m an exception, but one of our strengths is a commitment to youth. Young players are given a chance and are thriving.
Chris H: We’ve had great success with our 1st Team and U23s, who won the Southern Combination North League last season. Now, we’re looking at how we can develop junior players to reach a County standard at U18s. That’s the next step, to strengthen our pathway into adult football.
Cabz: The junior side of BBH is strong, with several teams challenging for titles, yet it remains a community club that is inclusive and welcoming. We also have a girls’ team in the U13s Sussex County Women and Girls League, while other girls play in mixed junior teams.
Chris S: As for the 1st Team, things are going well. We set ourselves a three-year target after gaining promotion to the Isthmian League South East Division. The aim for our first season was to avoid relegation, with a top 10 finish the following season and pushing on towards the play-offs in the third. In our first season, we finished ninth, so aiming for the top 10 this season seems conservative! However, second seasons can be difficult and if we can improve on last year’s position, that will be progress. As much as we’d love to reach the play-offs, there are clubs in our league with far bigger budgets, paying players more than we can afford.
Chris H: The club’s in a good place and it’s true to say that if we were to be promoted again, certain things would change. However, that’s a challenge every club wants. Yes, there would be changes on the pitch and we would need to expand our facilities and our team of volunteers even further. But give us that challenge; we’ll see if we can rise to it!
WORDS: Ben Morris / PHOTOS: Alan Wright