LITTLE DESIRES A BIG CHANCE
RECORD scorer Toby Little admits it was a wrench to leave Hayes & Yeading United, but his eagerness to play as much as possible ultimately proved too strong.
The 31-year-old wing-back was on Hayes’ books before the merged club formed in 2007. He helped United to promotion to Non-League’s top-flight in 2009 and went on to play for a number of clubs, including Woking, Basingstoke and Chesham, before returning for a second spell in 2017.
In the last three years, he has played a major role as Hayes & Yeading have attempted to start climbing again after a plunge down the divisions.
He netted an impressive 23 goals in the 2018-19 campaign as the west London club stormed to the Isthmian South Central title.
United were third in Southern League Premier South when last season was curtailed, though Little wasn’t able to have quite the same impact. And he didn’t want to potentially become a bit-part player at the club this term.
“It was a really, really difficult decision,” he told The NLP. “I’ve spent a lot of time there and know everyone around the club. I’ve also had my best years there as a player.
Honest
“However, the main driver is game-time. I’m at a stage where I want to play every game and I still feel I have a lot to offer.
“I don’t want to go to games and not necessarily be first choice. I had a really honest chat with Paul (Hughes – manager) and he said he couldn’t guarantee that at the moment.
“My heart is there, but being 31, I’m thinking I have three or four years left as a player and need to play.”
In total, Little netted 47 goals in 187 appearances for United, making him the top goalscorer in the club’s short history.
“It’s a real honour,” he said. “It’s something that probably hasn’t sunk in yet, but in the future I’ll think that I’ve been a major part of the club’s history.
“It was a really special moment to get the record and hopefully I’ll hold on to it for a while.”
Little will always have fond memories of his two spells at the club.
“Going up into the Conference Premier and playing all around the country was special,” he explained. “We were as close to being professional as you can be, we were training in the mornings.
“That’s where Hayes belong really, though it was probably a bit early then. They have got the infrastructure now and it’s where they want to be in the next couple of years.”
The versatile Little believes that United have got exactly the right man to take them there in former Chelsea midfielder Hughes, 44.
“Paul was my reserve-team manager at Hayes when I was 18 or 19,” he said, “and we always kept in contact. He’d already tried to sign me a couple of times and then he said ‘we want to win the league, come and prove you can do it for Hayes’.
“I’ve had the best two or three years of my career and Paul has got the best out of me. He’s a very intelligent guy and we get on well.
“He’s very clear on what he wants – and he wants high standards. He will keep pushing and pushing every single training session and game. The year I got 23 goals, he challenged me to get more.”
Now, though, Little, who is a deputy headteacher at a junior school in his day job, is looking to the future. He has lined up a new club, though is reluctant to reveal their identity just yet.
He added: “I’ve agreed something and since then I must have had about ten managers asking me what I’m doing, which is flattering.
“But I’m going to honour that agreement. It’s a club that want to challenge and try to get promotion. That’s a big thing for me – I don’t want to go to a club that’s happy to finish 10th, 11th or 12th.”