Horsham FC boss Dominic Di Paola: This has been without doubt the best season in my career
Dominic Di Paola lauded Horsham FC’s 2024-25 campaign as ‘without a doubt’ the best in his managerial career.
The Hornets boss is the toast of the town after guiding the club to the Isthmian Premier title on the final day of the season and back-to-back Sussex Transport Senior Cup triumphs.
Horsham’s 1-0 victory against Littlehampton Town at the Amex saw them become the first non-league side to retain the county cup in 34 years, while the Hornets’ thumping final-day win over Hashtag United secured National League South football for the first time in the club’s 144-year history.
These magnificent achievements stand proudly alongside Horsham’s third FA Cup first round appearance in four years, an FA Trophy run to the third round that saw them knock out division-above Maidstone United, and a first-ever Sussex Community Shield success.
Di Paola said: “Without a doubt it has been my best season. Without a doubt.
“I don’t think you’ll ever beat that final day [against Hashtag]. I don’t really want to ever forget it. Everything was just carnage.
“It’s got to be the best season in my football career. [We got to] the first round of the FA Cup, we had an FA Trophy run, we won the Senior Cup and got promoted out of the league - pretty good!
“I’ve really enjoyed it this year. I’ve enjoyed it much more than I did last year.
“Last season felt hard, this year it felt different. It felt a lot easier.”
Horsham have now lifted four trophies in two seasons, and have played close to 120 games during this period.
And Di Paola couldn’t be prouder of his players, happily stating it had been an amazing time to be at the club.
He said: “We’ve done really well over the last couple of years. We’ve got a really good group and they’ve stuck together - and they’re winners.
“This year we didn’t plan on doing anything in the cups because we wanted to focus on the league – but in all the cups we’ve gone far and done really good things.
“It just shows that we don’t like losing games of football and they want to really compete, even if that means at the end of the season they’re out on their feet a little bit.
“It’s been an amazing time to be at Horsham Football Club.”