Tributes paid by boss Di Paola as trio call time on Horsham FC careers

It was announced this week that Steve Metcalf, Will Miles and Rob O’Toole will all depart the Camping World Community Stadium in the summer.

All three played starring roles in the Hornets’ fairytale run to the first round of this season’s FA Cup, while Metcalf and O’Toole were both part of the Horsham squad that won promotion to the Isthmian Premier via the play-offs in 2018-19.

Metcalf joined the Hornets in October 2016 from Worthing. The defender has made 173 appearances in all competitions, scoring ten times for Horsham.

Fan favourite O’Toole returned to the Hornets in May 2017 after a brief stay at Saltdean United. The striker was named Horsham’s joint player of the season in 2018-19 and has netted 44 goals in 140 appearances - including a stunning overhead kick against Lewes on New Year’s Day 2020.

Miles arrived at the Hornets from Worthing in February 2019 but injury in his first season saw him restricted to just seven league appearances. The defender has gone on to play 75 times, scoring nine goals.

Metcalf and O’Toole were among the substitutes, with the former coming on in stoppage time, as Horsham beat Isthmian Premier champions Worthing 3-1 in front of a bumper Hornets crowd of 1,846 on Easter Monday.

Dayshonne Golding gave Worthing the lead before Aarran Raccine saw red for the visitors on 34 minutes.

Lee Harding, who was crowned the Hornets’ 2021-22 player of the season after the game, equalised on the stroke of half-time before Lucas Rodrigues and Charlie Harris netted in the second half.

Saturday saw Horsham win 3-0 at Corinthian-Casuals. Charlie Hester-Cook, Rodrigues and Shamir Fenelon grabbed the goals.

Di Paola said: “As with everything, it comes to the end of a cycle. There’s nothing hidden behind it.

“Mets [Metcalf] is an older player. He’s probably not played as much as he wants to and I think he’s going to reflect on whether he finishes [playing] or goes somewhere where he plays regularly.

“Rob has got a very young family. He wants to be a little bit closer [to them]. Maybe he’ll drop down a league perhaps so there’s a little less travelling. It’s a big commitment to play at this level.

“It always happens. Every season you lose players that you perhaps don’t want to. That’s non-league football unfortunately.

“You have to roll with the punches and look back on the time that you’ve had with them. We’ve had some good times and they got a really good send off at the weekend, which was great.”

Di Paola said the trio had been great servants to the club, and had forged some brilliant memories and lifelong friendships while playing in yellow and green.

He added: “They’ve been good servants. Horsham has been good for them and they’ve been good for us.

“Mets has been with me for so long. Six years is a long time for any player. It’s an unbelievable amount of time.

“Rob has been heavily involved in all the success that we’ve had, and Will has played his part too.

“They’ll always have their memories of Horsham and I’m sure, as with all things, the play-off team will meet up and have a beer in a year or so and have a reunion.

“These boys will stay friends and stay in touch and do stuff together. That’s the great thing about football.”

Horsham conclude their 2021-22 Isthmian Premier campaign with a trip to struggling East Thurrock United this Saturday.

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