The club cannot continue without people to run it, warns Folkestone Invicta director Mark Jenner

FOLKESTONE INVICTA director Mark Jenner has issued a statement to issue a rallying cry for people to run the club on a day-to-day basis.



The Cheriton Road club finished in fourth-place in the Ryman League Division One South table last season, but their promotion hopes were dented when they were defeated by Dulwich Hamlet.

The club have struggled financially in recent years but a lack of bodies has caused Mr Jenner some concern with key, influential figures stepping down from their duties during the close season.

Mr Jenner issued the following statement on the club’s official website www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk yesterday.

The former Ashford Town chairman said:  “Three years ago our club faced extinction due to its financial situation which had reached crisis point with demands from HMRC for unpaid tax built up over ten years.

“Thankfully that episode is largely behind us and we have achieved a degree of stability. This state of affairs has only been achieved by a great deal of effort by a number of people not to mention the personal sacrifice by some to enable the bulk of the debt to be dealt with.

“Having thought we had at last turned the corner another very serious problem has arisen over recent weeks which again threatens the future of the club in its present form.

“With Lynn Woods having stood down as chairman, Jim Pellett and I undertook to see out the season before deciding on the direction the management of the club should take.

“Jim has now indicated that he wishes to retire from the Board and relinquish all his current responsibilities. This is a real blow as Jim has done much to sort out the bookkeeping, accounts production and administration of the club to a level not seen before at Cheriton Road.

“In addition to this loss Neil Pilcher has resigned as secretary and Sally Pilcher will not continue with the boardroom and sponsors matchday hospitality as a consequence.

“Again this is a very serious setback as both have served the club well for many years and will be very difficult to replace.

“The overall result of these changes is that in effect I am the only one left prepared to carry on making some form of contribution to the future running of the club at board level.

“However, I cannot do it all alone as that would be impossible and my other commitments simply do not allow the amount of time necessary to do the job properly.

“I work long hours toiling in the West End and have a number of other interests including our main sponsors Audio Energy.

“As I see it this leaves two simple alternatives for all those interested in the future of the club whether they be shareholders or supporters:

1) Either sufficient people step forward to make a new management committee and take on specific roles, particularly that of Secretary and financial controller or,

2) the plain fact is the club cannot continue without people to run it.

“We have limited time to reorganise and prepare for next season, if you have some time and unspent energy that can be put to the use of the club please step forward now. If I do not have an adequate response by the middle of June I will have no alternative but to also, reluctantly, step aside and put the matter back to shareholders to look for a new board of directors.

“Since drafting this statement I have already received some encouraging responses which hopefully will deal with some of the tasks which is reassuring. I believe we can do it with a bit of effort and all pulling together as we have demonstrated in the past.”

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