We could be a force next year, says Corinthian coach Matt Longhurst

CORINTHIAN coach Matt Longhurst says his club will maintain the ethos of giving youngsters a chance to shine next season.


The Gay Dawn Farm outfit finished in seventh-place in the Kent League last season and were defeated by VCD Athletic in their first ever Kent League Cup Final appearance.

Corinthian will face Leatherhead (14 July), Margate (17 July), South Park (21 July), Maidstone United (24 July), Aveley (28 July) and Bridon Ropes (31 July) at their picturesque ground in Fawkham in pre-season.

They are, however, looking for away fixtures on 5^th and 10^th July and any club interested should contact Sue Billings at the club.

“With last season now finished and the runners-up trophy of the Cup at the back of the cupboard we are now looking firmly towards how we can improve on last season working with the ethos of the club,” said Longhurst.

Corinthian have a proud record of giving youngsters a chance to impress in the first team and the club won the Ryman Youth League last season.

Longhurst said: “This season will see us have teams from under 13’s to 18’s in the Kent Youth League’s as well as an under 18 Ryman League side plus the senior sides.

“We have some excellent young players coming through and this year we hope to see more of our Ryman Under 18 side progress into the reserve team set-up with one or two already being ear marked for first team football as early as pre-season.

“The reserve set-up is mainly an under 20 team with some great prospects in there already and a couple of new faces coming in from other Kent clubs where perhaps the chance to play senior football is limited.”

Speaking about Tony Sitford’s first team, Longhurst said: “The Kent League side this year we hope to improve on last season’s seventh place finish and obviously the disappointment of losing in the final has spurred us all on to try and gain some silverware this year.

“Cup runs are something we’ve spoken about with the squad as well as we didn’t do ourselves justice last season in both the Vase and the FA Cup, where we were dealt a severe battering by Maidstone United but our young players we hope have learnt from all this and will come back stronger.

“We finished the season in the last ten games as one of the top three form sides so we hope to carry that on.”

Longhurst declined to unveil the club’s summer signings, but said: “We welcome back a couple of long-term injuries as well with Charlie Burgess and Jamie Billings both bolstering the defensive unit and we’ve brought in another goalkeeper to give Dan Bygrave some competition.

“Our aim now is to bring in at least two forwards to give us the extra 25-30 goals needed to creep into the next group of teams with those nearly in place we could be a force next year, but we’re not title contenders as year, certainly with no budget.

“We can’t compete with some of the big players but we’ll certainly be worth watching playing attacking, attractive football.

“This time of the season is always frustrating in terms of hanging on to players as we don’t pay wages, but we just warn our young players of the money wagging managers that have 100 players to pre-season and give false promises to younger lads while the experienced players are on their holidays.

“We can’t offer money but we can offer the best facilities in non-league in the Kent area, good coaching and the opportunity to play in senior football so in 12 months they’re all better players and can go beyond the Kent League and hopefully into a higher standard.

“The key at the club is progression for all players from 12 upwards and its refreshing that the chairman’s belief is this and he sticks to it, so we’re all looking forward to a great campaign this year and I’m sure you’ll see a few new names in the line-up come 4 August.”