The Green and Whites will be hoping to build on a promising 2013-14 campaign where they were crowned Bob Rogers Sussex Cup winners, having beaten Lewes in the final, and secured a fourth-place finish in the league.

But Stocker, who begins his third season in charge at Coolhurst knows that things won’t be easy for his side.

He said: “The efforts of the boys at preseason together with the palpable excitement around the club with the return of players such as Rich Tredgett from East Grinstead and Arun Thompson from university have all galvanised the players with a steely determination to progress further from last year. There will be tough games ahead, notably the two Sussex sides that were relegated last season – Lewes and Heathfield & Waldron but also we expect stern tests from Dartfordians, Gillingham Anchorians and of course old foes Folkestone.”

Former players, Richard Bell and Barry Hillicks remain as assistant coaches, and the side will again be lead by powerhouse prop Paul Talbot, while they have also retained the majority of last season’s young squad.

Previous captain and centre Matt Brown is taking a year off and Aled Price will be going to university, but the club were boosted when prop Giles Barber committed himself for at least another season and further additions to the squad are expected before the competitive action starts.

A series of testing pre-season friendlies have been arranged against higher ranked opposition starting with local rivals Haywards Heath followed by Teddington and High Wycombe.

Stocker added “We have the squad to build further on our 70% win ratio last season but as usual this will also be dependent on a degree of luck with injuries. These preseason tests ahead will give us a good sense of where we are at and identify areas that we need to work on before the season starts properly.”

Horsham’s league campaign kicks off against the three promoted teams starting with a trip to Hastings & Bexhill on 13th September followed by a local derby at home to Pulborough and then away to Bromley based side Park House.