Horsham FC's 'Lardy Boys' will be on tour again on Friday night when the club travels to Barnsley looking to cause a FA Cup First Round upset.

A staple of the West Sussex club's history over the past quarter decade, the 'Lardy Boys' was borne from a group of supporters that made the commitment to watch The Hornets home and away across the 1996/97 season.

What followed has since become folklore.

The troupe would send a bar of lard to the chairmen of upcoming away trips, the nickname coming after a complaint from Hungerford Town about the parcel led to Horsham's then-chairman Frank King to ask, "Who are these Lardy Boys?".

Over time the lard delivery would be scaled back and saved for only the biggest occasions.

When Horsham achieved a FA Cup Second Round replay against then-League One side Swansea City in 2007, the Welsh side were recipients of a Tupperware containing the cooking fat.

And while lard may not be in the post on its way to Oakwell, club commercial director Sam Borrett is confident Hornets fans will make their presence known in Yorkshire on Friday.

"You will be able to hear our supporters," said Borrett. "They will be cheering and chanting and singing and you will hear them throughout the stadium.

"It is just a few hundred of us, but we will make one hell of a noise because we will be there behind our players.

"You never know, they may underestimate us on the day. We have drawn against League One opposition in the past.

"I don't see a reason that we can't do that again and welcome them back to Horsham."

Borrett's own association with Horsham has seen the 29-year-old take on a number of different roles over 17 years, from selling programmes, to working in the club shop and on the turnstiles.

It is a period which has seen the side lead a somewhat nomadic existence.

Ground-sharing with numerous clubs before eventually moving to The Camping World Community Stadium in 2019.

There the club has continually grown, with average attendances above initial expectations and there has been an addition of almost 30 more volunteers to the side who rely heavily on people giving up their free time.

There is hope that this weekend's visit to South Yorkshire could be the gateway for local fans to more regularly come down to support The Hornets long-term and even end up giving up their spare time to keep the club going.

“It really is an experience that unites the fans,” Borrett added. “That is experienced and new, as well as bringing in new fans.

“There will be fans that we have got now that started supporting off the back of the Carlisle FA Cup run and from Swansea in the 07/08 season.

“They catch the bug, and they stay involved with Horsham FC.

"It is the magic of the cup, not just from the game and the experience, which is huge, but it is the new fanbase that it brings in and at the same time it is monumental for the club because it brings longevity and the future of the club.”

Find volunteering opportunities at your local club by visiting https://pitchinginvolunteers.co.uk/