Ebbsfleet United boss Liam Daish continues squad rebuilding programme

Sunday 18th July 2010

THE PREMIER League has announced that it will commit £6m of financial support to the Football Conference for the next three seasons.

The Premier League have announced a solidarity package with The Football Conference worth £6m over the next three seasons.

Following the £1m payment made to the Football Conference in 2009/10, the Premier League has decided to provide funding for seasons 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 that will support all Football Conference clubs, including Bromley, Dartford, Dover Athletic, Ebbsfleet United and Welling United.

The funding will be split into general payments made to all 68 Conference clubs and a separate club development fund which any Conference club can apply to for specific projects.

The funding will be structured in the following way:

£1.2m per season provided as funds to support all Football Conference clubs;

£800,000 per season committed to a new club development fund to which all Conference clubs can apply;

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore said in a statement: “The Premier League and our member clubs recognise the importance of the continued health of football outside the Football League and it is with this in mind that we have made this commitment to the Football Conference.

“In particular, we are extremely pleased to be working with the Football Conference to establish a new club development fund that will allow Conference clubs, all extremely important within their local communities, to invest more funds into local youth development and good cause initiatives.”

Football Conference Chairman, Brian Lee, said: “This is a further wonderful gesture of friendship from the Premier League towards The Football Conference. The solidarity commitment for three years is most welcome whilst the new funding will allow our Clubs to express themselves in a tangible form for the benefit of their communities. We accept the challenge with gratitude.”

EBBSFLEET UNITED have added more players to their squad, with the signings of Clint Easton, Ram Marwa, Tom Phipp and Calum Wilock.

Easton has recovered from a compressed fracture of the cheekbone, having been injured in a clash with Michael Rankine in the Fleet's 1-0 home win over York City on February 13th.

The 32-year-old Barking-born midfield player, who can also operate in defence, has previously played for Gillingham, Watford, Norwich and Wycombe.

Meanwhile, 30-year-old attacking midfielder Marwa arrives at Stonebridge Road after being released by Hayes & Yeading.

The former Grays, St Albans City, Dagenham & Redbridge and Erith & Belvedere player appeared against the Fleet for the Ding last season and scored four goals in April, including a brace against Oxford, which helped preserve his side's Blue Square Premier status.

He played more than 100 games for Yeadng, scoring 20 goals.

And another young player has made the step up from the Fleet's youth setup to join Liam Daish's first team squad, is midfielder Phipp, about to turn 18, progresses from Paul McCarthy and Ian Docker's PASE side.

He has already tasted success having won the FA County Youth Cup with Kent in 2010 and finished runner-up in 2009.

The Fleet’s attack has been boosted by the signing of 29-year-old Willock.

The 6ft forward started his career at Fulham before moving on to Queens Park Rangers, Bristol Rovers, Brentford (for £50,000) and Port Vale.

More recently he has seen action in the Blue Square Premier with Stevenage Borough, featuring in their FA Trophy and play-off campaigns of 2008-09, Crawley Town (for whom he played in a goalless draw at Stonebridge Road last season) and Cambridge United.

Fleet fans will get their first sight of St Kitts & Nevis international Willock in the opening friendly of the new campaign at Aveley on Tuesday.

SAMMY MOORE bids a fond farewell to Dover Athletic as he completes his free transfer move to AFC Wimbledon (writes Justin Allen).

The talented central midfielder, who was out of contract this summer, admits the lure of training full-time as a professional footballer again was too much to turn down.

But he wants to thank Dover fans for their excellent support during the past two seasons.

He told www.doverathletic.com : "The support at Dover has been amazing. I was a fan of the club so it was a great honour to play for the club. I had an enjoyable time and the supporters played a big part in that.

"It's been a difficult summer but I've missed training full-time and want to get back into the Football League, as it's always been my dream to be a professional footballer.

"Obviously, I was a professional footballer with Ipswich and played a lot of games in League Two for Brentford before coming here. I am so glad that I helped my local club gain a promotion and we so nearly got another one last season.

"I hope that the club can win promotion again this season - and wish Martin Hayes and the boys the very best of luck. And I thank everyone for the past two seasons."

Visit Ebbsfleet United's website: www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk

Visit Dover Athletic's website: www.doverathletic.com