Chairman Gary Smart is already starting to see the hard work of installing Faversham Town’s new 3G pitch pay off.

Town’s first-team squad trained on it for the first time this week while Smart also went on the surface, which cost around £750,000.

With many other non-league clubs opting to get artificial pitches in recent years, discussions over whether Town should follow suit have taken place. Ultimately, Faversham had decided to stick with the grass surface they have had since the Salters Lane club reformed in 2005 - until Smart, appointed as chairman last May, decided the timing was right.

Smart, of Smart Office Solution Ltd, explained: “The remit here has always been ‘No, we can’t’. We’ve come in as a new board, a new dynamic and with new ideas, and said ‘We’ve got to do it’.

“They left it in my hands to go out and get the relative funding in place.

“We got that funding done by the end of December, which is mainly guaranteed from my company and myself. But the club, as a commercial aspect, will be able to offset some of that debt itself.

“It’s for the community. It’s for Faversham first - by Faversham first, I mean the whole town and Faversham Strike Force, the Kent Youth League [sides] and then the East Youth League [teams].

“We’ve got 47 hours a week booked on it already without advertising anything and a list as long as your arm to try and get on it!

“We have mitigated a load of spaces at the Abbey School, from Strike Force and Faversham Town, so it’s £750,000 well spent on the community.

“A lot of people walking around the stadium have all said they never thought in their wildest dreams that it would happen.

“So, it’s already having a big impact.”

Tenants Faversham Strike Force, of Southern Counties East Division 1, also will benefit from the Salters Lane facilities.

Smart praised the support they have received from Strike Force, especially first-team boss Gary Axford, assistant Stuart Benfield and club development officer Lee Suter.

He said: “Lee, Gary and Stuart have been fantastic in the background with us.

“They have offered their services whenever we needed them. Lee has been great with behind-the-scenes help with the pitch and the Football Foundation.

“We couldn’t ask for a better groundsharing partner.”

Smart himself also went on the pitch for the first time on Monday night before manager Sammy Moore’s players got to work on it.

“It feels very springy which is good,” he noted. “It’s not as hard as I thought it was going to be. It’s got a bit of a spring in it.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the first training session but, equally once we’ve got the new tunnel put in this week, seeing them come out and play on it.”

Faversham will play on it for the first time when they host Merstham in the FA Cup Preliminary Round this Saturday.

The Lilywhites then host Whitstable on Monday, August 28, in the Southern Counties East Premier Division.

As well as on the pitch, improvements have been made to their floodlights and the slope in front of the clubhouse - where a pocket of Faversham fans called “The Slopers” watch games from - while the old fencing around the pitch has been replaced and moved closer to the playing surface.

Most of this work has been done with help from Town’s “Monday Club” volunteers while Velocity Sports have laid down the surface.

Smart said: “They’ve been amazing, the Monday Club.

“From day one, they saved us a couple of thousand pounds by taking the [advertising] boards and the fence down. That came off the bill so that was nice.

“All the extras we have done, the slope and the other bits, went into that pot of money so we got more for our money, really.

“The floodlights were a problem so we have upgraded them.

“It’s just been a complete roller-coaster since we got planning on May 17. They started on May 23 and, from that point, it’s been hectic to say the least.

“Velocity Sports have been amazing. We have worked really well with them. We have done what we said on the tin and vice-versa.

“I cannot speak highly enough of them, they’d done Whitstable and Herne Bay’s pitches. They’re a fantastic group to work with.

“We have a bit of work with them going forward. It’s not just here it stops, it keeps going.

“The club’s financially sound with the revenue from the pitch.

“If I wasn’t here tomorrow, say if something happened to me, the club would be in a much better financial position than it was when we came in.”

The club are playing at Step 5 this term after suffering relegation but hope their stint outside of the Isthmian League will be brief.

“They [Town’s players] know what the vision is,” said the chairman. “They have all bought into that vision.

“It’s not just for today, not just for tomorrow, it’s for the next three or four years. We have got some old heads and some youth in there.

“Over the seasons, I’m sure we’ll tweak it a couple of times.

“But we want the core to be around for a few years and to get us up the leagues.”

It’s not just the first-team squad which will benefit from the new facilities, though.

Smart explained: “We have got disabled football, we have ladies football, we want everybody to be on it.

“Whoever can go on that pitch, they should go on that pitch. If it’s on a Friday night at 9pm, we’ll fit them on.

“It’s got to be used by all.”

But Faversham have, somewhat alarmingly, suffered successive defeats ahead of their return to home action.

They lost 4-1 at newly-promoted Lydd on Wednesday after Ashley Miller was sent off at the end of a goalless first half while Lydd’s Luke Burdon also was given their marching orders for reacting to Miller’s challenge.

The Lydders raced into a three-goal lead and, although Gary Lockyer scored an 84th-minute penalty, another Lilywhites spot-kick was saved before the hosts then added a late fourth.

Town also suffered a 3-2 weekend defeat at Corinthian.

Defenders Ollie Gray and Matt Parsons got their goals while boss Moore was sent off from the dugout.