Swaffham Town boss Paul Hunt has paid tribute to Scott Voutt after the 'inspirational' midfielder confirmed he was retiring from football.

The Pedlars boss talked the 32-year-old out of quitting the game when he took over at Swaffham two seasons ago and reaped the rewards as the central midfielder continued to shine for the Shoemakers Lane outfit.

However, this time Voutt – who missed almost four months of last season with a knee ligament injury – won't be talked around and has vowed to stand by his decision to hang up his boots due to weekend family commitments.

Hunt said: 'Voutty's so humble and quiet, but he leads by example, shown by the fact he injured himself going into a massive tackle.

'In the first season, while I was rebuilding, he was immense. He was absolutely massive. Then last season when we were struggling with injuries and teams began bullying our young side he would smash into tackles and just keep running. He was inspirational.'

Hunt will also be without goalkeeper Dean 'Rocky' Mayes next season after he decided he couldn't play senior football next season due to family duties.

The Pedlars boss said: 'Rocky's been outstanding and a massive figure in the dressing room. He was a leader and the young players looked up to him.

'He'll sign on in case we need him and he's gutted in one sense, but in a few years he might be able to play again so it's not definitely the end.'

Bob Guy has replaced Aaron Jasper as the club's A-team manager while Andy Eves has taken over from Micky Titmarsh as under-18s boss.

Hunt said: 'Aaron and Micky have done good jobs and they're staying on to help us. They're top clubmen. I'm really excited about the new season. It's took two years of hard work to get the foundations in place.

'We've got some of the best young footballers in the area at this club from the first team to the under-18s. Those that played for me are really motivated to kick on this campaign so we can't wait to start pre-season on Monday.'