Winning the Kent League title will be a miracle for us, admits Faversham boss Luchford - EXCLUSIVE

JUSTIN LUCHFORD has played down Faversham Town’s title hopes next season - despite being the best supported club in the Kent League, writes Stephen McCartney.

The 31-year-old, Chilham based Luchford, who manages the side alongside Jimmy Strouts, believes Faversham will be competitive but are a long way off winning the Kent League title.

“We’ve got a modest budget for expenses,” Luchford said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk  today.

“It’s not certainly going to happen over night. It might take two or three seasons but we want the kind of players to come down and play football and enjoy themselves. We’ll give them some expenses for travel.

“The most important thing is to compete. Since Christmas we’ve shown a few teams we can mix it with them. It also showed there is a gap between the top four (Kent League) teams and everyone else.

“We want to be able to compete, we’re trying to bring in a few players to strengthen some weakened areas.

“We want to improve our league position. It’s not been enough for a club of our calibre. If you look at a club like what we’ve got, we’ve got the highest attendances so we should be doing more and they’re right.

“We’ve got an ethic at the club to remember where the club has come in the last few years.

“People on the committee have brought the club from the dead. As managers we’ve brought into that and we want to try to take the club forward.

“If you look at the league positions over the last couple of years, there’s room for improvement.

“I don’t think we’ll be challenging (for the title) for a while but if we can make strides to get further up the league then that will be great.

“If we win the title it will be some kind of miracle. The Kent League, every season, is getting tougher. When you have a league when only one team goes up it’s a fight. Four teams could have won the league in the last month of the season.

“My old friend Paul Fisk (the Hythe Town manager), a close friend, he thought he had to keep everyone fit and that told in the end. If he had the players available to him I think they might have just pipped (champions) Thamesmead.

Norton Sports, a side that clinched the Kent County League title, are expected to join the Kent League next season, groundsharing at nearby Herne Bay.

And Luchford believes the Kent League should welcome the club into the fold.

“I mean it’s a bit of a catch 22 to be honest,” said Luchford. “I don’t think anyone should stop a side that’s proven at their level to move forward.

“It’s important for sides to go up. No doubt they’re working hard to get their facilities but you have to look at the League situation.

“We’ve only left with 15 teams and the FA start to give us the right to be at the level we are. It’s important that these teams come through.

“It shouldn’t be frowned upon. We should welcome them with open arms and it strengthens the League and I’m all for it.”

Looking ahead to Faversham’s third Kent League campaign since their return to this level, Luchford and Strouts are expected to work with a squad of nineteen, which includes two goalkeepers and insisted that the club only pays it’s players expenses.

“We’ve spoken to every player (from last season’s squad) and invited a few players to pre-season,” said Luchford.

“We’ve got a few targets, we’ve spoken to and letters will be coming out and everyone will know what we’re doing and moving forward to get our squad into place.”

Visit Faversham Town’s website: www.favershamtownfc.co.uk