Something you need in this league is experience to progress, says Dartford boss Tony Burman

DARTFORD boss Tony Burman has explained the reasons why the club are not in a position to make the jump into full-time football, writes Stephen McCartney.


The Darts welcome four Football League club’s to Princes Park in pre-season, starting with a visit from League Two side Southend United on Monday night, and despite regularly attracting crowds of over 1,000 to each game, Burman says the Kent club cannot turn full-time, despite reports that Eastleigh, Farnborough and Truro City going down that route this season.

Burman, who owns a local courier company, said, “It’s probably too early, but to go full-time you will have to change the structure of the side and the way the club is run.

“It’s a difficult decision, it’s a tough decision that they’ve made and I hope it’s the right one for them to actually go full-time.  It’s a massive step. I just hope it’s the right decision for the club’s that have done it.”

Burman added: “If you go full-time you’re looking to do it with younger players and players who have come out of pro football and are looking for club’s and aren’t asking for much money.  That’s what some of these clubs are looking do to, whether it’s the right way or wrong way, I can’t say.

“Something you need in this league is experience to progress.  For players to give up their day time jobs, it’s not going to happen. So to go full-time, it will be players who are already full-time and haven’t been in nine-to-five jobs, so to speak.”

Dartford go into their opening pre-season friendly against Southend United with only three training sessions under their belt – but Burman is relishing the work-out that Paul Sturrock’s full-time side will provide.

The Darts will be without Elliot Bradbrook and Paul Goodacre, who are still on holiday, and Danny Harris will undergo a fitness test before the game after he returned from his holiday yesterday.

“We’ve got a couple of younger guys who are in the squad, who have been training, so we’ll have a little bit of a closer look at them,” revealed Burman.

“It’s going to be difficult to give players 90 minutes, but having said that the majority of the squad will play 45-60 minutes so there will be some substitutions to be fair to everybody.

“Obviously it’s the first game, but it will be a difficult game for us playing against a pro side.”

Burman explained what his Blue Square Bet South players get out of playing the likes of Southend, Gillingham (Friday), Millwall (19 July) and League Two new boys, Crawley Town (23 July).

“Well, for our point of view, playing against the pro sides for 45 minutes, if it’s done right, is real hard work for the guys, especially as it’s only their fourth session,” said Burman.

“We’re grateful to Southend, Gillingham, Millwall and Crawley for all coming down and play games.  They’ve all phoned us and want to come over.

“We’re pleased that they come down and it really helps us out with our workouts and getting fit for the coming season.”

And it gives the club a chance to get fans’ flocking through the turnstiles.

“Non-league club’s do need help to get some supporters through the gates,” said Burman.

“Supporters want to look at the new players and make some judgements probably.  It’s a decent time to try and get the first people through the gates and the first bit of income coming in and we’re grateful to the supporters who are paying to watch the games.”

Dartford fans’ can look forward to watching Burman’s summer signings in action for the first time; left-winger Richard Graham (Eastleigh), left-back, Adam Green, 27 (Hayes & Yeading) and midfield playmaker, Jon Wallis, 25, who has signed from Kent rivals Dover Athletic.

Burman said: “We have seventeen players at the moment in the squad and we’ll be looking to make one or two more additions.

“I’ve said I want to bring three or four players in and I’ve got three and if the right guys become available, which I’m sure they will before the start of the season, we will be looking to add another player to that squad.”

Dartford finished in the top ten in their first season at Conference South level and won the Kent Senior Cup with a whopping 4-1 win over Bromley at Princes Park in May.

Burman said: “You’ve got to try to improve on last season and we learnt a lot of lessons last year, especially the first half of the season and we were excellent in the second half of the season.  To be fair to the players we turned it around.

“We want to be challenging come April, up there fighting for the play-off’s or in them, that’s our ambition and that’s what we want to look to do.  I don’t think it’s out of the question to say that.  I think it’s something we’re more than capable of doing that, in my opinion.

“We’ve learnt from our mistakes from last year and we’ll put them right to keep challenging and keep improving from all aspects of last year.”

Admission prices at the turnstiles: £10 (adults), £5 (concessions), £1 (children)

Visit Dartford’s websites: www.dartfordfconline.com  & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk

Dartford  v  Southend United
Pre-Season Friendly
Monday 11^th July 2011
Kick Off 7:30pm
At Princes Park Stadium, Grassbanks, Darenth Road, Dartford, Kent DA1 1RT