Deal boss Derek Hares saw his team lose their last game of the season and admitted: "this has been the most difficult season during my seven years in charge."

Last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Greenwich Borough means Deal finished ninth, three places higher than last season but three places below the top six position that Hares had predicted his squad were capable of achieving at the start of the campaign.

Hares (pictured) put much of the blame for that under-achievement on the on-going boardroom power struggle at the club, saying: "This has been without doubt my hardest season in charge because for the past six months I haven’t known from one week to the next what was going to happen off the pitch.

"The focus hasn’t been on the football but on the boardroom dispute. Faversham (the Kent League champions) and Herne Bay (who finished runners-up) both have strong, focused boards and you can see the difference."

With the Football Association currently conducting an inquiry into the respective arguments of the two groups claiming to run the club, Hares is hoping that the FA will deliver their verdict soon.

He said: "For the future of the club this situation can’t go on much longer."

As to his own future, Hares admitted: "If Dave Reid remains as chairman I am pretty certain he will ask me to stay on and, because I have had so much support from Dave and the supporters’ club, I feel loyal towards them. But if the Deal Town Rangers group end up running the club there’s no way I will be staying."

Deal hold their presentation evening on Saturday week, and Hares said: "I have told the players to go away and have a break, and I’ll start talking to them after that about next season."