Former Portsmouth and Crawley Town goalkeeper with 'enormous potential' joins Horsham FC

Former Portsmouth and Crawley Town stopper Taylor Seymour has arrived at the Camping World Community Stadium after it was confirmed the Ivorian keeper had left the club.

After spells with Worthing, Lewes and Lancing as a teenager, Seymour made the move to Portsmouth in September 2020.

Seymour stayed with Pompey for the duration of the 2020-21 season but was released in the summer before joining Burgess Hill Town.

The stopper made 26 appearances in all competitions for the Hillians, keeping eight clean sheets in the process.

He moved to Crawley Town in January 2022 but failed to make a league appearance for the Reds.

Seymour then signed for Eastbourne Borough in August, playing two National League South games before signing dual-registration forms with Horsham’s Isthmian Premier rivals Corinthian-Casuals last month.

Hornets manager Dominic Di Paola said: “Taylor’s a local lad. He’s trained with us quite a lot over the years. He’s well-known by our goalkeeper coach Stu Owens, who’s coached him for years.

“We just took the view that he’s available, and I’ve seen him a lot since he was a youth player. It was a no-brainer to bring him in. He lives locally, so it's easy for him to travel to train with us.”

Seymour made his Horsham debut in last [Tuesday] night’s thumping 5-1 home win over Newhaven in the Sussex Senior Cup, and Di Paola was impressed by what he saw from the 21-year-old.

He added: “I thought Taylor did well last night. I thought his distribution was pretty good. He’s only had one training session with the boys, but we’ll do a little bit more on Thursday.

“He just needs a year of playing somewhere, but he’s got enormous potential. He’s still quite young and he’s got a good pedigree. He was well-thought at both pro clubs he was at. Hopefully we can try and help him kick on and get back on track.”

The Hornets boss was also quick to pay tribute to the departing Tangara. The ex-Bognor and Margate keeper, who joined the Hornets at the end of October, made seven appearances in all competitions.

Di Paola said: “He’s a lovely lad. He’s a good person and a good goalkeeper. He was well-liked, but sometimes these are just football decisions. It made sense to do that.”