Horsham have gambled £15,000 in the hope that they will be playing in the town again next season.

The club have paid for two new stands at former neighbours Horsham YMCA to bring their Gorings Mead ground up to Ryman League premier division standard.

All they need now is for YM to finish in the top two in the County League and earn promotion back to the Ryman League.

But if YM finish outside the top two then Horsham’s plans for a quick return to the town are likely to be scuppered because the County League does not allow its clubs to groundshare.

The league canvassed its 20 first division members last month when YM asked them to relax their rules but the overwhelming majority were against.

Horsham boss John Maggs admitted they are desperate for YM to go up.

He said: “It doesn’t look as if the County League are going to allow a groundshare so it’s our only hope. I’m told 19 clubs were against groundsharing so the only club who were in favour were YM!”

Horsham sold their old home at Queen Street to property developers last year and were hoping to build a new 3,000-capacity ground at Holbrook.

Their initial proposals were rejected by local planners although an appeal will be heard next month.

In the meantime, Hornets have been groundsharing with Worthing but it has been a hugely expensive arrangement with crowds and sponsorship interest dwindling.

On the pitch Maggs is suffering from a lengthening injury list ahead of tomorrow’s trip to lowly Harlow and Monday’s home date against Tooting & Mitcham.

Yinka Salaam is the latest casualty with ankle ligament damage. He joins Lee Carney, Sam Page, Gary Charman, Williams Pearoux and Mark Knee on the sidelines with only Knee, who is recovering from a dead leg, having any chance of being involved in the Easter fixtures.