Neil Cugley believes Folkestone Invicta need a major backer rather than a begging bowl if they are to move on.

He praised the fans who raised £15,000 earlier this season to keep them afloat, saying: "They paid for this team. We wouldn’t have been in the play-offs if it wasn’t for them raising that money to see us through the final 15 weeks of the season and they deserve the credit for that.

"We had a lot of problems off the field again, with the main stand being shut, games being postponed, then running out of money in February.

"It was an unbelievable response but we can’t do it again next year. We have got to be better organised, more professional, get a bit more money in and try to find a millionaire chairman."

Cugley added: "If we had gone up, we definitely would have needed a backer. You can just about get away with it in Division 1 South.

"Dover, Margate and Maidstone have all got them. You need somebody to help out - not put in loads of money, because we don’t owe much - but just help to push things on.

"If we had gone up, the budget would still have stayed the same and teams would have been paying seven or eight times as much as we are, in the Ryman Premier.

"I want to manage in it and I wanted us to go up and challenge ourselves. Some of the players need it but we need to have somebody behind us to take it on.

"Last year, losing to Maidstone in the semi-finals was even more of a relief because I knew
it would be difficult."

Full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.