Horwich St Marys was formed with one team in 1978. Father Jones and Ted Cronin formed a boys team from the church attendees and played in the local catholic league.

Over the years the number of children playing for the club slowly increased and eventually places were offered to children of all religious persuasions. Until 1995 all the games played at the club were 11 a side. Small sided football was introduced around this time and the club witnessed an explosion of numbers as more and more younger players were allowed to play organised football on a scale more suited to their size and ability. As the club grew so did the need for a proper committee structure and rules and an ethos about what the club stood for.

Horwich St Marys FC will provide organised football for the youth of Horwich and surrounding districts whatever their ability.

We do not turn players away, instead, if we have too many for one team, when numbers allow we will create another team. We do not classify our players into A or B teams etc, but try and produce teams of equal ability encompassing skilled and less able players in the same team. Our age groups have different themes and their names are based on that, for example one of our age groups is named after HMS ships, Argonauts, Centurions and Tritons. In the past we have had a couple of players move on to Academies and then play in top flight football with several others playing in a semi professional capacity. More recently many of our younger players are invited to attend the Academy at Bolton for trials.

In 1995 we were granted permission by Horwich Town Council to adopt the Horwich Town Badge as our club emblem. A tremendous privilege to be the only voluntary group allowed to reproduce the badge on our letter heads and football strips.

As well as 11 a side and small sided football, two seasons ago we introduced 9 v 9 football to our under 11’s teams.

We currently field 34 teams, which means we have in excess of 400 boys, girls and adults playing organised football every week.

We are a Charter Standard Community Club and have held this status since November 2002. We conduct after school training with 11 primary schools that fall within our area. This ensures that children who, for whatever reason do not want to join a club, benefit from at least having the opportunity to have a go.

We have 69 qualified and CRB checked managers, coaches and volunteers. We actively pursue and train young referees and encourage our 14 years+ to join the Young Coaches Association.

We are the winners of the Charter Standard Community Club of the Year for the seasons 2004 / 05 and 2005 / 06.

We were awarded Club of the Year in 2005 by Bolton Sport and Physical Awards

We are a “Partnership Club” with Bolton Wanderers FC. This is as a result of our Charter Standard Status and the relationship that has developed between the committee members and the staff at Bolton Wanderers FC. Our chairman, Phil Brown used to be assistant manager there and is now the manager at Hull.

For several years we organised an extremely successful Spirit of Sport Football Festival which attracted teams from all over the country. Our teams regularly enter tournaments both at home and abroad and we regularly host clubs from around the country and arrange games with them.

As a result of all our efforts both on and off the field, Sir Geoff Hurst was asked to visit us in 2006. This request was made by the FA who wanted him to witness first hand a progressive club with qualified coaches delivering structured training sessions to all.

In 2005 the were registered as a CASC club, (Community Amateur Sports Club) with the Inland Revenue to allow us to benefit from Gift aid. In 2007 the club achieved its aim of becoming a registered charity and now has trustees working alongside a very strong committee. This transfer to charitable status involved a slight name change in that officially the club is now Horwich St Marys FC Trust

We are committed to developing our home ground at Scholes Bank to allow all our teams to be accommodated and play on one site. At the moment several teams play on school pitches and council pitches across the Borough. We are currently negotiating and developing plans which will result in the provision of 11 pitches, a clubhouse and car parking facilities.