Christmas has come early for Folkestone Invicta after the club revealed they are set to clear all their debts within weeks.

Having been burdened by a Company Voluntary Arrangement since early 2010, Invicta expect to pay off the CVA three months early – if they pull in a bumper gate for the noon showdown with Hythe Town on Boxing Day.

Ground improvements at the Fullicks Stadium will follow and then the focus will be on strengthening Neil Cugley’s squad for the promotion run-in.

That good news comes just 10 months after Cugley had to ask supporters for £10,000 to help keep his squad together.

He said: "It’s great for the club. We’ll get the CVA paid off and the bills paid by the end of this month. Then we’ll tidy up the ground.

"In February, I was told by the chairman there was no money left at the club. We had to get the supporters to raise money to pay the wages to the end of the season, so it’s been ongoing for quite a long time.

"This means we can move on, get the ground up to standard and not worry about the bills."

Folkestone chairman Jim Pellatt said in August that "80% of CVAs fail but ours will not" and he’s been proved right.

So how have Folkestone managed to succeed where so many others have failed?

Cugley said: "It’s been down to really hard work, keeping the wage bill down over the years and not spending money we haven’t got.

"It’s also been a lot to do with the supporters and what they did last February, coming forward and raising £15,000 to keep the team together. Without that, we wouldn’t have sold Johan (ter Horst, to Hull) and we wouldn’t have made the play-offs."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.