Marfleet: Even the lows included highs for me at Horsham

The club stalwart carried out his duties for the final time last month in the Hornets final Ryman League South Division campaign of the season against Hythe Town.

But despite calling time on his role on the sidelines, Marfleet has hinted he could one day return.

He said: “So the long and short of it is I’m leaving Horsham in order to spend a bit more time with my wife. I’ve spent nine years here and three years before that at Brighton, so it’ll be quite nice to have a weekend back.

“I’d like to think, in the future if the opportunity comes up, the club will contact me for my services. I’ve spoken to Dom (Di Paola), the chairman and people at the club that if they ever do need someone on a Saturday, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

Working under eight managers and amassing more than 500 games, Marfleet has experienced all of the possible ups and downs in football.

He singled out seeing Gary Charman come back to play again after a horrific double fracture of the cheekbone back in 2009 as one of his highlights.

The injury specialist said: “It’s always going to be an emotional time leaving the club, because I’ve been here so long. There’s been some really good highs and also quite a few lows during my time. I have quite a few highs, winning the league the year before last was great for the club.

“But personally, seeing Gary play again after a horrific injury away at Hendon, helping Gary getting back to playing was a great achievement for me and it made my job worthwhile.

“Even the lows included highs for me. During the season we got relegated, we hadn’t picked up an away point all season, until we played Lewes away on Easter Monday where we picked up a point, and for such a awful season that really was a highlight.”