Steve King thinks he has “a pretty good handle” on Isthmian South East football - but has warned those at Deal they might need to get used to losing more regularly again!

They are plotting for life at Step 4 after they went up as Southern Counties East League Premier Division champions.

Boss King has forged some good relationships with bosses at various non-league clubs in Kent.

While he’s hopeful they can be competitive and establish themselves at the level, he admits it’s unlikely they will be as successful as they have been in the past two promotion-chasing seasons.

“I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on Step 4 football,” said King. “I’ve gone and watched games in that league when I can. I know quite a lot of managers at that level.

“So, I’ve got a pretty good handle but, obviously, the knowledge base now changes from needing to know SCEFL inside out to needing to know that league.

“I will be spending plenty of time, having conversations with people and getting advice from managers. But we know what we will encounter next year.

“We know there will probably be two or three outstanding sides in that league - like there has been last season - but then we know a lot of the games are going to be very similar to a lot of the games we have played against the top three or four.

“That’s what we will be expecting week in, week out. Games similar to the latter rounds of the Vase and games similar to your Faversham ones and stuff like that. It will be like that every single week in that league.

“We know we have got a side that can compete at that level. Now, it’s about preparing.

“Probably our biggest challenge for everybody at the club is we’re not going to win every week.

“Everybody has got to remember that, understand that and take a little step back and realise what we have achieved. We need to realise, one loss in 28 games last season, we’re not going to do that.

“Obviously we will try to, don’t get me wrong, as every side does. But, realistically, we’re going to be losing a lot more games than we have in the last 24 months.

“We will be as prepared as we can be. I cannot wait. We’re really looking forward to it and I’ll be gathering as much information as we can before we get going.”

Deal have been one of the more established Step 5 sides in the county for many decades.

Since King officially replaced Derek Hares two years ago, they have been steadily improving, bringing in a lot of players with higher-division experience, which has culminated in their title triumph.

He said: “Ashley Miller has always plied his trade at that level. This was the first year that he’s dropped down.

“Obviously, you have got Rory Smith, Aaron Millbank and Tom Chapman. Wes Hennessey, when he’s been at Ramsgate, has done well for them.

“The rest of our side has been built over time. Macca Murray played a lot of Isthmian games before he came to us. Billy Munday played at that level for Ramsgate as an 18-year-old and he’s been fantastic.

“We have got no doubt that we will be able to step up. As a football club, we just, over time, will have to go up and try to compete.

“Our (average) attendance of more than 600 would have been second in that league behind Ramsgate. If we can go up and try to keep the crowds coming in, and we’re getting crowds in the top three or four in the division, you would hope to be able to compete around the play-offs and the top-end over a couple of years.

“We don’t want to just stand still as a football club. I don’t think we are seen as ‘Little old Deal’ anymore, with our crowds and everything we have done.

“We want to try to build and sustain the football club so, in 10 or 15 years’ time, people think of Deal as an Isthmian League club, like people do of your Sittingbournes and your clubs that have been around the Isthmian Leagues now for 20-odd years.

“We want to be seen as that and not a Step 5 club. But that’s going to take time.”

Among the derbies the Hoops can look forward to are matches against Ramsgate and Sittingbourne - beaten in their Isthmian South East play-off semi-finals last term - alongside Sheppey, Ashford, Herne Bay, Margate, Hythe and Sevenoaks.