Agreeing new deals with so many of his squad came as a shock to Folkestone boss Neil Cugley.

Getting to the Fullicks Stadium means a tiresome journey through the M20 roadworks for most players, several of whom come from London or further afield.

Cugley was expecting quite a turnover this summer but only striker Ade Yusuff has moved on.

Kieron McCann this week became the 14th player to commit for the 2019/20 season.

Speaking on the KM Football Podcast, Cugley said: “It’s very pleasing. I’m sometimes a bit shocked. Because of where we are, a bit tucked away, I’m really pleased they all agreed to stay on.

“I spoke to Roland Edge and Micheal Everitt, my assistants, and we thought we’d lose four or five so to only lose one is very pleasing.

“We’re not paupers but we’re not big payers and it’s a bit of a trek coming down to us for certain people. Getting down to us from their work is a problem sometimes so all in all, we’re delighted they all stayed.”

Cugley looked at how recruitment has changed during his 22 years in charge.

He said: “The big difference now is there are so many teams in Kent. Going back a few years, there weren’t that many big clubs. You’d pick off a player from Dover or somewhere like that but now it’s a lot harder.

“There was one I thought I’d got and he turned me down on Sunday because of the travelling and you have to accept that. You don’t get too upset about that, you move on and hopefully get a bit of luck.

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“We’ve got pre-season games against good sides so they might have somebody you want. I’m still looking at a couple that will come and hopefully play for me in pre-season, and we’ll go from there.”

This season will be Folkestone’s fourth back in Bostik Premier and Cugley is aiming high again.

He said: “I’d love to get in the play-offs again this year because they are good. People can be for or against play-offs but I quite enjoy them.

“I like the win-or-lose thing, it really puts you under pressure
but you know the rules before you start.

“There’s always people who say ‘we came second so we should be promoted’ – no, you know before you start.

“We’ve been second and got in the play-offs so you know the rules and I think they’ve been a great thing. They’ve kept the leagues alive for a lot longer.”