PLAY-OFF HEROES: Folkestone have got to name a road in Cugley's honour - says Chairman Woods

Sunday 02nd May 2010

FOLKESTONE INVICTA chairman Lynn Woods insists the newly-promoted club will not enjoy any “flights of fancy” as they prepare for life in the Ryman Premier League next season, writes Stephen McCartney.

Neil Cugley’s battling side secured promotion with home play-off wins over Leatherhead and Godalming Town at Cheriton Road this week and can now look forward to playing Ryman Premier League football for the first time in two years.

Mr Woods, who was speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk an hour after the final whistle of their 2-1 win over Godalming Town in the play-off final, was an extremely proud man.

“I’m still in an air of disbelief, If I’m honest,” he said. “It’s been a long journey here and there’s been so many hurdles along the way but I suppose nobody believed that we’d actually do it!

“It always seemed there would be one more obstacle that we’d fall over and Godalming were very nearly that obstacle today because I felt they played very well.”

Supporters have contributed to half of the £800 per month that the club must find for it’s Company Voluntary Arrangement, something that cost the club 10 points, which cost the club the Ryman League Division One South title to Croydon Athletic.

A crowd of 599 turned out at Cheriton Road against Godalming Town yesterday - and Mr Woods knows such crowds must turn up next season to help make things easier both on and off the pitch.

“It will always be a challenge to run a club like this in the modern age especially at the moment we’re still in the tale end of a recession,” said Mr Woods.

“Folkestone has areas of depravation where there’s not a lot of money in people’s pockets. We ask people to pay £8 to come through the gate and £4 for seniors, especially as we play matches as frequently as we have in the last few weeks and that adds up to a lot of dosh for people.

“What I do hope is that these people that came here today and to the semi-final against Leatherhead and the Kent Senior Cup Final against Sittingbourne - we should get another good attendance for that - see enough in the current Folkestone side who want to come back.

“We’re going to have some interesting discussions this summer. I’d like to see youngsters to come here. We need to look at how much we charge at the gate for the kids and see if we can get more of them down here, ideally drawing their mums and dads to make it more of a family club, which takes us back to the club’s direction of travel in wanting to be truly community routed club that cares just as much about the facilities it can provide the youngsters to play football as it cares about the town’s representatives on a Saturday afternoon.

“We want to work hard to engage the business community and get them supporting again. It’s not the matter of representing the club. There’s going on 20 teams that play in Invicta colours at youth level or the disability team.

“We look around the ground and there are stands that can be sponsored, there’s pitch side advertising - it doesn’t necessarily costs businesses a huge amount of money.

“I suppose my mission is to persuade them that we give something back by publicising their businesses and opening people’s eyes to their availability and people who come along that these businesses are worth championing.”

Mr Woods warned: “There’s a lot of financial pressure ahead of us but also that the club will live within it’s means so they’ll be no flights of fancy and next season whatever we’re able to put in the playing budget next season won’t be more than we can afford.

“The message therefore is suppose for some people in the town is if they want to se good football here they come and support us and chip in at the turnstiles and that will give the club enough money to invest in talented footballers to represent the town.”

The Folkestone chairman paid tribute to it’s manager - Neil Cugley.

“Somebody told me earlier on that Neil is a great character of Kent football, not just Folkestone,” he said.

“He’s played for and managed other clubs in Kent and he’s very highly regarded in the county.

“I felt it very interesting when I’m standing alongside him and his mobile phone is forever on the go with text messages or with phone calls from others in the Kent circuit.

“One of these towns, Dartford, who have had their own great success this season, I gather from Neil’s playing days have named a street after him in Dartford and perhaps now Folkestone should do the same!”

Collecting the Kent Senior Cup with a victory over Sittingbourne at Cheriton Road on Tuesday night would be the “icing on the cake.”

“The attitude right now is to prepare for Tuesday night,” said Mr Woods. “The season hasn’t finished yet. Tuesday night is arguably the biggest game of the lot.

“Those of us who have been with the club for as long as I have can remember my dad brining me down here 50 years ago to watch Folkestone play in the Kent Senior Cup and we’d have three or four thousand people here for a tie in those days.

“It’s lovely for the club to be involved in a Kent Senior Cup Final, again to be able to give back to that competition the sense of importance that it deserves.

“The boys want to go out there and win it and crown a terrific year.”

Visit Folkestone Invicta’s website: www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk

Folkestone Invicta v Sittingbourne

Kent Senior Cup Final

Tuesday 4th May 2010

Kick Off 7:45pm

At Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 5JU