Pitchero Non League

Simon Colbran

.....season, admitted that he was both surprised and delighted by Ray Freeman's decision to agree terms with the club for next term.

Freeman was thought to have played his last game for the Hornets after going AWOL following the Brighton Charity Cup win at Crowborough but is one of more than a dozen of this season's squad to have pledged to play their part in the Hornets' 2012/13 campaign.

The former Metropolitan Police winger scored a dozen goals for the club last season, including Horsham's first in that semi-final win against the Crows but walked away from the club after his sending-off in the same game, having felt that he'd let his team-mates down.

"Ray's apologised to everyone for his reaction," revealed Colbran "and told me he realises how much he loves the club and that he wants to be involved again next year which is a great boost to us."

Only three players are thought to be considering their options over the summer; goalkeeper Michael Hunter, midfielder Ryan Marriott and club captain Callum Dunne.

"All three of them are quality players so I'd obviously love them to stay but we need to come up with something because of the restricted finances we have available to us," added Colbran. "I've talked to four or five players who have been released by higher clubs, and are really keen to come to us, but it's a sad fact that I'm not going to be able to bring them in on the existing budget. Having said that, I'm absolutely delighted that so many of the squad have already agreed terms for next season and it gives us a solid foundation to build on. You've got to look at the positives that so many good players want to play for us, despite our situation, so when we get our own ground can you imagine the calibre of footballer that will want to play for us then?

“I know the situation here, though, and I've got contacts from Sussex County League up to Conference level so I can work with the budget accordingly. I've been talking to eight more players who've said they want to come to us and if I can get five out of that lot I'll be happy."

One confirmed new arrival is Kaiyne Woolery, a wide player who Colbran brought to Redhill from Tony Brown's Elite Soccer Academy last season.

"Kaiyne's an exciting prospect,” said Colbran. “We brought him to Redhill last year and he played regularly in the first-team at just 16. He's had several League clubs looking at him so I don't know how long we'd be able to keep hold of him but I'm delighted to have the opportunity to play a further part in his progress.

“We'll also be holding a trial match on 26th June and I've got twenty-eight players lined up for that day but I really want to stress that just because I'm looking at all these other players, I'm still very interested in our youth players and I've invited Harry Smith to join us for pre-season training, as well as taking a look at four or five of the lads in the trial match. Ultimately I'd like to start pre-season with 24 players and then it's up to them to prove to me that they're good enough to keep their place in the squad."

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