Dover Athletic chairman Jim Parmenter says the club are ‘living the dream’ after the unveiling of the club’s new stand amid a crowd of more than 3,000 fans.

Crabble was packed on Saturday for the 2-0 win over Guiseley on the club’s Family & Diversity Day, which included the opening of the £1.3m 500-seat stand which houses state-of-the-art dressing rooms.

Mr Parmenter said: “It was a fantastic day. It’s a terrific testament to the hard work of all the people that were involved in it, organisationally and in terms of building the stand.

“It was a distant dream in 2006 when we came to the club, just about to go into Ryman League Division 1 South, hugely in debt, the ground was falling apart and the football was pretty poor.

“It’s taken 10 years but we’re back now, pushing for the play-offs in the National League, the ground is superb – Football League standard and some of the facilities we have got in the new stand are better than at some League clubs.”

Mr Parmenter also revealed there was scope to undergo further expansion, adding: “There is capability to extend on that stand and take us to 2,000 seats which would be enough for us but that’s something for the future.”

More than 50 local schools were handed free tickets for pupils by the club which gave a youthful feel to the 3,018 crowd, and Mr Parmenter added: “You have to look for supporters of the future. If you can get people hooked at a young age, then we know from experience they will come and support the club. What was pleasing was that there were a of a lot of adults here, too. It wasn’t all school kids.”