Chairman Jim Pellatt is confident Folkestone can cope with the financial demands of playing at Step 3 next season.

A return to the Ryman League Premier Division brings longer away trips and fewer Kent derbies – potentially none – while Invicta will need a playing budget good enough to be competitive.

But Mr Pellatt, whose diligent book-keeping has helped the club come through a CVA, doesn’t fear life at the next level.

He said: "We feel well equipped to do it because Cliff Egan, our commercial director, is tremendous at coming up with ideas and schemes.

"To bolster the capital base of the club, we are starting to issue shares again – only to supporters and friends who understand they’re not going to triple their money. Those are the ways we can bolster the finances and hopefully give Neil Cugley a decent budget next year.

"We don’t owe a penny. We started and ended the season like that.

"It’s probably been a harder season financially because we didn’t get the home game against Hythe (at Christmas), which is probably worth £10,000, we didn’t get the two games against Margate (the clubs met in the FA Cup last season) and against Haringey Borough (in the FA Trophy) we had to cover half their costs because they didn’t get enough gate to cover it.

"It’s been tougher but we still don’t owe a penny and there’s not many clubs that could say that."

Avoiding relegation will be Folkestone’s first target next season.

Mr Pellatt said: "We could achieve mid-table or more but truthfully I don’t know.

"What I do know is that the core of the squad this year, many of them have played at that level, understand it and have said to us we should be able to establish ourselves.

"If we were able to stay there with primarily the squad of players we’ve got, I couldn’t be happier."

Full promotion coverage in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.