The promotion came after an FA Trophy victory at Wembley in 2021, followed by two seasons of success and disappointment, success throughout the season, and ultimate disappointment at losing in the Play-Off finals on both occasions. But no mistakes last season, as Hornchurch remained unbeaten until December, and continued to dominate in the second half of the season, winning the championship with five matches still to play.

Formed in 1923 as Upminster Wanderers, for fifteen years they played in parks football, in the Romford League finishing as champions on three occasions and twice runners-up, and winning the Romford Charity Cup three times. In 1938 they stepped up to the Spartan League, dropping the Wanderers part of the name.

After the War they dropped into the Romford League for one season due to lack of players, finishing as champions with just one defeat in 26 matches, and scoring 136 goals, and rejoining the Spartan League in 1946.

1952 was a momentous year – Upminster joined the newly formed Delphian League, moved into their current ground in Bridge Avenue, and changed their name to Hornchurch & Upminster. They finished runners-up in 1958-59, and this was enough to gain election into the Athenian League. They dropped with Upminster part of their name in 1960, becoming just Hornchurch FC. They won the Division One championship in 1967 but were relegated in 1969 and promoted back again in 1971.

In 1974-75 they were elected to the Isthmian League. In 1978, they were relegated to Division 2 but three years later they were back after achieving the runners-up slot. Then came a lengthy period of struggles – apart from a tenth-place finish in 1995, it was 19 years before they again finished in the top half of the table. They survived several brushes with relegation before losing their Division One place in 1986 and continued to struggle in Division Two North. Matters became even worse in 1989 when a fire destroyed the clubhouse and it took many years to recover. Hornchurch found themselves in Division Three when the regionalised divisions were scrapped in 1991.

The long-awaited recovery began when Mick Marsden was appointed manager in February 1998 and in his second season he took them to fourth place. Things changed dramatically as the club was taken over and restructured. Second place in Division 3 in 2002-03 brought promotion to Division 1 North. and another runners-up spot followed in 2003 to take Urchins into the Premier Division for the first time.

The near derelict stadium was upgraded, and under manager George Borg Hornchurch gained promotion to the new Conference South after finishing fifth in 2003-04, though the season was more noticeable for reaching the second round of the FA Cup. Darlington were beaten 2-0 in the first round, before Tranmere Rovers stole a controversial 1-0 win in front of TV cameras and a capacity crowd at Bridge Avenue.

Under manager Garry Hill, the team stormed to the top of the Conference South. It seemed too good to be true and it was. In November, with Hornchurch unbeaten in their last 16 matches, the entire squad, all full time, was released. They had reached the first round of the FA Cup before the collapse and the tie at Boston United was fulfilled by six debutants and youth team players. Hornchurch took an early lead but eventually lost 5-2. The season descended into chaos. Almost 100 players wore first team shirts as new manager Tony Choules contrived to avert relegation, despite a 10 point deduction, without it the club would have finished in a remarkable ninth place.

The club reformed as AFC Hornchurch and was placed in the Essex Senior league. Former youth team manager John Lawrence took charge in May 2005. They ran away with the championship and also won the league’s two cup competitions becoming the first side to achieve the treble.

Under manager Colin McBride, Hornchurch returned to the Isthmian League, and romped to a second successive title, unbeaten in their last 35 matches, and amassing 103 points to finish 21 points clear at the top. They also won the Essex Senior Cup for the first time, beating Great Wakering 2-1 at Southend United. Success continued in the Premier Division the following season, finishing 4th to secure a play-off place but losing 3-1 in the semi-final at AFC Wimbledon in front of a crowd of 2,897.

The following season Hornchurch again entertained a Football League club, losing 1-0 to Peterborough United at a packed-to-capacity Bridge Avenue in the First Round of the FA Cup, the only goal coming in stoppage time. The league campaign ended in disappointment when they lost 2-1 at Sutton on the final day of the season, to finish outside the play-offs.

Colin McBride took control of the club as chairman midway through the 2009-10 campaign in an effort to sort out the financial problems inherited from the previous regime. His assistant Jimmy McFarlane took over team affairs, and Urchins finished ninth in the league. It was a similar story in 2010-11, when Urchins missed out by four points, finishing tenth. But the two Macs achieved their ambition the following season as Urchins finished runners-up. Bury was beaten 3-1 in the play-off semi-final, and, in a tense final against Lowestoft, Hornchurch won 2-1 with Michael Spencer scoring the winner in the final minute of extra time.

The return to the Conference Couth proved difficult, and six dropped points to bottom club Truro was decisive as Urchins finished 20th, two points short of safety. A second Essex Senior Cup triumph, coming from behind to beat Grays Athletic 2-1 in the final at Dagenham, provided some consolation. Back in the Isthmian League, Urchins enjoyed a 15-match unbeaten run early in the 2013-14 season, eventually finishing fifth, They won 1-0 at Kingstonian in the Play Off semi-final, but lost 3-0 at Lowestoft in the final, with four key players missing through injury or suspension.

The following season, the local council, closed the stadium to install new floodlights, forcing the first eight league games to be played away from home. Just one point came from those matches and Urchins faced a season-long fight to avoid the drop. With six weeks to go they finally lifted themselves out of the bottom four and looked on course for survival, only to gain just two points from the last ten games. Urchins hoped to regain their Premier status quickly but it was not to be, as they lost the 2016 Play-off final to Harlow Town and the 2017 semi-final to Thurrock. However it was third time lucky when in season 2017-18 they won Isthmian North by 13 points, amassing 103 goals in total with a goal difference of plus 62. Midway through the following season Jim McFarlane resigned and Mark Stimson took over, guiding Hornchurch to the FA Trophy win and two unsuccessful Play-Offs, before the sensational signing of Steve Morison in 2023.