The club was formed in 1888 as Haywards Heath Juniors. They were renamed Haywards Heath Excelsior in 1894, before becoming simply Haywards Heath in 1895. They were founder members of the
Mid-Sussex League in 1900, and were runners-up in the Senior Division in 1901–02, 1902–03, 1903–04 and 1905–06. The club dropped out of the Senior Division in 1908, In 1919–20 Haywards Heath were Mid-Sussex League champions without losing a game. After winning the Brighton, Hove & District League, Haywards Heath moved up to the
Sussex County League. After top four finishes in four of their first five seasons in league, they finished bottom of the league in 1932–33. After
World War II they were placed in the Eastern Division of the league for the 1945–46 season, going on to win the division. The following season saw the league revert to a single division, with the club winning back-to-back titles in 1949–50 and 1950–51. and were runners-up in 1974–75, but were relegated to Division Two at the end of the 1979–80 season, which had seen them finish second-from-bottom in Division One. They won the Division Two Cup in 1983–84, beating
Wigmore Athletic 4–2 in a replay. The club were Division Two runners-up in 1985–86, earning promotion back to Division One. They finished bottom of Division One in 1991–92 and were relegated to Division Two. A second successive relegation followed as they finished bottom of Division Two in 1992–93. They won the Division Three Cup in 2000–01 with a 1–0 win over
Steyning Town in the final. The following season saw them finish as Division Three runners-up, earning promotion to Division Two. However, they finished bottom of Division Two in 2003–04 and were relegated back to Division Three after only one season. The club went on to win the Premier Division in
2017–18, earning promotion to the newly formed South East Division of the Isthmian League. They were relegated back to the Premier Division of the Southern Combination at the end of the
2022–23 season after being defeated by
Redbridge in an inter-step play-off. The
2024–25 season saw Haywards Heath finish fourth in the Premier Division, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost 2–1 to
Eastbourne United in the semi-finals. The
2025-26 season saw Haywards Heath finish second in the Premier Division, once again qualifying for the promotion play-offs, in which they lost in the semi-finals for a second year running as they were beaten 1-0 at home by
Peacehaven & Telscombe. However the season wasn't without silverware as the club won the
Sussex RUR Cup for the first time in 50 years after they beat
Worthing United 3-0 in the final. ==Ground==