Manager Neil Cugley says all he can do is carry on as normal

The three remaining directors of Folkestone Invicta may put the cash-starved club into administration if they fail to find a new £70,000 sponsor or investor by 9am on Monday.

The consequences of that decision, should the board of Bob Dix, Brian Merryman and Nigel Busbridge decide to go ahead with it, are that Invicta will start the Ryman League season with an automatic 10-point penalty and all the players’ existing contracts will become null and void while the administrator tries to restructure, then sell the business.

Invicta’s financial problems were revealed during a shareholders’ meeting at Cheriton Road on Tuesday night, but Andy Ingleston, their long-serving financial controller, insisted afterwards that even if the club do go into administration they would still be playing in the Ryman League next season.

He said: "I have run the finances of this football club for the past 10 years and at the start of every season we seem to have a wobble like this, but I am confident that we will get through it again like we have always done in the past.

"If a new investor or sponsor, who is willing to put £70,000 into the club, does not come forward by 9am on Monday then the directors will consider putting the club into administration.

"If they decide on that course of action it will be done to protect their liabilities, although it needs to be stressed that – in footballing terms – those liabilities are minimal.

"However, we are a small club in a small town and we feel we need to address the issue now rather than allowing it to get worse."

Manageable

Although Invicta are still involved in long-running discussions with the Inland Revenue over the exact size of an unpaid tax bill, the decision to consider going into administration has been prompted by the loss of two of last season’s major sponsors, recruitment agency HR GO and brewers Shepherd Neame.

It is believed they contributed around a third of Invicta’s running costs for the past season, estimated by Mr Ingleston to be around £150,000, and he added: "The debts we have are manageable, but the problem we are facing is coping with the running costs for next season following the loss of two of our main sponsors."

Invicta manager Neil Cugley, who missed Tuesday’s meeting because he was away on holiday, said: "All I can do is to carry on as normal, and so the players and I will be back at the ground for the start of pre-season training next Thursday."