Southwick Football Club was a football club based in Southwick, West Sussex, England. The club was founded in 1882 and was among the founding members of the Sussex County League, which they won six times. Their home ground was Old Barn Way and they were nicknamed 'The Wickers'.
The club was formally wound up in March 2020, having lost the lease to its stadium and due to severe financial difficulties. In July 2020 a phoenix club, Southwick 1882 F.C., was formed by staff and supporters of the defunct team to continue the name and history of the club. They are currently members of the and play at Southwick Recreation Ground. A further phoenix club, AFC Southwick was formed in July 2021 by Southwick 1882's first team playing staff and team management, following a disagreement with club directors over subscription payments required from players, and they currently play one level above Southwick 1882, at Whitehawk F.C.'s ground. Both phoenix clubs state they ultimately aim to return to Old Barn Way.
Southwick played in red and black striped shirts with black shorts and socks. The club's traditional rivals were near neighbours Shoreham. Southwick also enjoyed a rivalry with nearby Mile Oak.
History
Founded in 1882, the club became founding members of the West Sussex Football League in 1896. They became the first winners of the league, and successfully defended the title the following season. In 1920 they joined the Sussex County League as one of its founder members. They went on to win the championship four times between 1923 and 1948, and finished runners-up on a further four occasions.
In 1952 the club left the league for two seasons to compete in the Metropolitan & District League but, after finishing bottom in 1954, rejoined the County League. The following season saw Southwick relegated to Division Two. John Shepherd took over as player manager in 1964–65 and the club were promoted to Division One after finishing as runners-up (on goal average) to Sidley United. In 1968, Shepherd led the club to victory in the Sussex Senior Cup, beating Athenian League Horsham 5–3 in front of a crowd of 4,261 at the Goldstone Ground, and the following season they finished as Division One Champions.
In the 1974–75 season, they reached the FA Cup first round for the first and, to date, only time in its history but lost 5–0 away to AFC Bournemouth. Under Ray McCarthy in 1982–83 they were Division One runners-up and runners-up in the County Challenge Cup.
In 1984 Southwick left the County League to join the Combined Counties League. The following year the Wickers were promoted to Division Two (South) of the Isthmian League after finishing as runners-up. At the end of the 1985–86 season, Southwick were promoted to Isthmian League Division One as champions of Division Two South. In January 1990 the club was incorporated into a company registered as Southwick football club Limited Two successive relegations from 1990 to 1991 and they opted to rejoin the County League for a third time in 1992–93, taking their place in Division Two.
Charismatic chairman Roy Pollard arrived promising "A brave new world" in 1993. He installed Barry Noonan as his right-hand man, but a succession of managers came and went including Russell Bromage and Paul Hubbard. Pollard left in 1997 moving to Southern Spain leaving Noonan at the helm. Southwick finished bottom of Sussex County Football League Division One in 2005–06 and was relegated to Division Two.
New managers Lloyd Saunders and Roger Feest took charge for the 2010–11 season.
John Kilgarriff took over as manager midway through the 2013–14 season and guided the club to safety. The Company registered as Southwick Football Club Limited was dissolved on 11 May 2014, the last day of the season – Assets were transferred to Southwick F.C. Limited The 2014–15 season was a success as he guided them to the Sussex County Football League Division 3 title and a cup win in the Sussex Intermediate Cup. The good form continued into the 2015–16 season and a 5th-place finish was secured. With the recent success the club entered the FA Cup for the first time in some years in the 2016–17 season however fell at the first hurdle against Cray Valley PM. Silverware was nearly gained as the team made it through to the Southern Combination Division One Cup Final however Langney Wanderers came out 3–0 winners. The club finished in a safe mid table finish however John Kilgarriff left the club with 1 game remaining.
For the 2017/18 season the club appointed Tony Gratwicke and Jeff Piner as joint managers. In September 2017 the club appointed former Brighton & Hove Albion Ladies coach Curtis Foster as manager of the first team.