Kent League chairman Denise Richmond has expressed her surprise that Sporting Bengal have moved to the Essex Senior League.

Bengal appealed against the FA Leagues Committee’s decision to keep them in the Kent League despite their continued wish to switch leagues.

The FA decided to allow them to change leagues last week, prompting further changes in Kent with Cray Valley moving from the Kent Invicta League into the Kent League and Lewisham Borough joining the Kent Invicta League.

"I didn’t expect it as I assumed once the FA Leagues Committee meeting had been and gone that there wouldn’t be any more movement," explained Mrs Richmond (pictured).

"We were only going to lose Sporting Bengal as long as we continued with 16 teams in our Premier Division.

"We’ve always been open with the negotiations but we wanted 16 for a viable competition for the league. We offered up various options to the FA but nothing came of it at the time."

Paying tribute to Sporting Bengal she said: "You have to say that it has been very difficult for them from a playing point of view.

"But as an association and a club it has allowed them to develop. They have already been in touch and told me that they will be forever grateful to the Kent League for giving them that opportunity which is a nice thing for them to say."

Lewisham were due to appeal the decision not to include them in the Kent Invicta League, but with a will on all three sides Mrs Richmond is pleased with the final outcome.

"Common sense has prevailed," she added. "We had a club that wanted to get into step 6 and we had a club in Cray Valley who finished with the same amount of points as Canterbury in the Kent County League, finishing third on goal difference, and then Sporting Bengal wanted to move to Essex."

Cray Valley, who play a stone’s throw away from Greenwich Borough’s old ground in Eltham, are undertaking a six-figure redevelopment plan of their Badgers Sports Ground home.

"They will have everything in place except lights and covered accomodation by the end of July," said Mrs Richmond. "They have permission in place for that and have applied for funding.

"They will have the ground up to standard by March 2012."

Canterbury and Cray Valley’s move to the Kent League will be formally constituted at the league’s annual meeting on Thursday.