Chairman Josh Healey has spoken of his excitement at Folkestone’s plans for a new 3G pitch.

The Isthmian Premier club confirmed the intention for the new season to be their last on a grass surface at Cheriton Road this week, subject to planning being granted by Folkestone & Hythe District Council, after positive discussions with the local authority.

“For us as a club, it’s massively needed,” said Mr Healey.

“And for the borough. Folkestone & Hythe District Council are shy of the amount of 3G pitches they should have due to their local plan, so this will help with that, as well.

“It's exciting times. We have done a lot at the ground, upgrading the Sports Bar, newly-named The Dugout, and the first-team facilities.

“Hopefully, this is the next step so the club can expand into the wider community.”

Just last month, the formation of Invicta’s first senior women’s team was confirmed.

They would be among those to benefit from the state-of-the-art facilities alongside the club’s thriving youth-team system, as well as the first team.

Mr Healey noted: “That’s the whole point.

“We want to grow the youth and Academy side of the club, and have an under-23s team, as well.

“It’s pretty much impossible for an 18-year-old to go from playing youth-team football to Isthmian Premier football, with the odd exception.

“We want to grow that side of things at the club and also the women’s team.

"There’s far more to why we are doing it than just for the first team.”

Folkestone remain one of few non-league clubs in Kent to still play on grass - for now.

“If you look at all the clubs around us - aside from Dover, Hythe and Sittingbourne - they’re pretty much all on 3G pitches,” said the chairman.

“Clubs like Herne Bay, Whitstable, Ashford, Faversham, Maidstone, Ramsgate and Margate are already on them - and most of them have been for many years.

“I appreciate some people prefer grass, grass would always be my preferred option.

“But economically, from a club perspective and a stability viewpoint, it just makes a lot of sense.

“We have had monthly fans’ forums since we have been here.

“It (the possibility of moving to a 3G pitch) is often brought up. The fans are far more accepting of it than not, which is good.

“I think they can see why we want to take that plunge.”

Asked where the majority of the funding for the £1million plans would come from, Mr Healey, owner of the GSE Group, replied: “It will be coming mostly from ourselves, with my background in construction and property at GSE.

"There are smaller grants that we can get, as well, but that’s unlikely because the ground is owned by the council and we have 12 years left on the lease.

“It’s a £1m investment - there’s no shying away from that.”

The board also had little intention of moving away from their Cheriton Road base so the project for an artificial pitch could go ahead, with the football club neighbouring Three Hills, where the cricket club and hockey teams are based.

“It’s the ideal location,” explained Mr Healey. “You’re about a five-minute walk from Folkestone West train station and, from there, you can get to London in about 50 minutes.

“We’re not far from the M20 if you travel by car.

"The town centre isn’t far away, especially if you take the bus, but even if you walk.

“The club has been at Cheriton Road for many years and I don’t see why we would want to move if we can help it.”

Mr Healey has been chairman at Folkestone for just over a year and thinks boss Andy Drury can ensure brighter times are ahead on the pitch for the club, too, after the 40-year-old steered them away from Isthmian Premier relegation trouble last term.

“When we walked through the door, the recruitment had pretty much been done,” he added. “There wasn’t really much for us and the management team to do at that time.

“Through last season, there were many changes - on and off the pitch - but Andy now has had a fair crack of the whip at putting his squad together.

“Hopefully, we can have a far better season than we did last season.”

Prior to the previous two campaigns, Invicta had often been challenging for promotion, finishing fourth in the 2017/18 season before they lost their final-four fixture against Hendon.

Mr Healey said: “They have always been in and around the play-offs, apart from the last two or three seasons since Covid.

“But every club has those good periods and those periods where, unfortunately, some things do change.

“You could say the club was going through a little bit of a tough time but, hopefully, we’re on the right track to change that.”

Folkestone started pre-season with a 2-1 victory at Sheppey through late goals from summer signings Dan Smith and Evans Kouassi last Saturday.

Forward Tom Derry bagged a hat-trick in a 4-0 win at Whitstable on Tuesday night, Smith getting their other goal.

Invicta travel to Ashford this Saturday and fellow Isthmian South East side Sittingbourne on Tuesday.

Former Chatham Town coach Kevin Brown has joined Invicta as the club’s new first-team coach.