Hythe assistant boss Darren Beale says the new regime at his hometown club has come at the right time.

Beale and manager Sammy Moore were appointed by Gary Johnson in the final weeks of last season.

But they find themselves working with new chairman Matt Smith, who has wasted no time putting his plan into action.

There have been big improvements at Reachfields, with Smith, the former Sheppey chairman, investing in pitch improvements and transforming the clubhouse.

Beale, who was assistant to Tim Dixon at Hythe a decade ago, can feel the difference.

“It’s come at the right time,” said Beale. “I was at Hythe 10 years ago and, I’ll be honest, when I came to the interview and looked around, it hadn’t changed a bit.

“Matt’s come in and freshened it up and all the supporters I’ve spoken to, where I’m from Hythe, all seem to be pretty excited at the changes.

“It’s not going to happen overnight - Matt has a long-term plan - but you’ve only got to look at what he did at Sheppey and how that club developed on and off the pitch.

“That’s his aim at Hythe. It’s all heading in the right direction off the pitch and it’s down to me and Sammy to get it right on the pitch.

“It won’t be easy - there’s a lot of good sides in the league and a lot of money about - but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s great to start at the same time as the new owner and hopefully we can go on the journey together.”

Hythe started pre-season training on Saturday.

Among those in attendance was latest signing Louie Procopi, the teenage defender who had a trial at Premier League Brentford last season.

He’s joined from Ramsgate and looks set to see plenty of action in a Cannons shirt.

“The lad’s a real talent,” said Beale. “It’ll be interesting to see how the season pans out for him.

“We want to use him as much as we can.

“With players like that, you know there’ll be potential clubs at higher levels looking at him.

“If we can help him on the pathway, we’ve played our part in that journey.

“He’s only young but we have that faith to play him and the experience around him will only help.

“He’s come here as a defender but with his energy and fitness levels, we could potentially use him in midfield.

“More exposure to men’s football is the main aim.

“He’s here to play regular football and if we can progress him as an individual, that would be a bonus.”

Hythe’s opening session included a number of trialists while the club are keen to bring youth-team players through.

Beale added: “We had a good turnout on Saturday of players we’ve retained alongside new signings and trialists.

“There’s a lot of clubs taking players in. Whether they’ll be at those clubs come the first game of the season is another matter.

“I think there’ll still be a lot of movement but we’re quite happy with where we are. We had over 20, which is good, and we’ll filter it from there.

“Another good thing is we had four youngsters from the under-18s who came through at the end of last season and they trained with us on Saturday.

“We’re keen to create that pathway from the youth to the first team.”