[5] He made his first appearance in the Football League against South Shields on 10 October,[6] and in his second game, two days later against Nottingham Forest, scored his first goal as well as setting up another for William Cowan in a 5–0 win.
He played the first 32 matches of the season, scoring 10 goals,[12] and then joined Second Division promotion-chasers Manchester City as one of five forwards signed in the two weeks before the 17 March transfer deadline.
[16] Horne was injured early in the 6–3 win against Grimsby Town in October 1932, "completed the game in a very dazed condition, and his first question on reaching the dressing room at the end of the match was 'Have we won?'"
[25] Lincoln had lost top scorer Allan Hall to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer,[26] and early in the new season, the forward line was regularly shuffled in the hope of finding a goalscoring combination.
The team was much more settled in general,[31] and Lincoln finished in fourth place; Horne and left-half George Whyte were both ever-present in 42 League and 5 FA Cup matches.
[33] When he resumed his right-half duties, the Lincolnshire Echo wrote that "on the team captain's recent displays one can well imagine that the management wish they could play him in two or three positions at once, but he can be relied upon to continue a dominating figure at right half.
[36] He missed a month with ankle ligament damage,[37] but came back to score 14 goals, of which 7 were from the penalty spot, and to enjoy what the Echo's review called his best season with the club so far.
[38]He played regularly until the end of December 1936, and then joined fellow Northern Section team Mansfield Town, where he linked up again with former Lincoln manager Harry Parkes.