Chatham Town are willing to take a gamble as they bid to make a break from the doldrums.

Since winning promotion from the Kent League in 2001 the club haven’t achieved a finish better than 10th at the level above and the last two seasons saw them hovering just above the relegation places in the Ryman League.

Chairman Jeff Talbot and the board have decided to increase the playing budget for next season and they’ve also changed their midweek games to Mondays in a bid to lure more fans to Maidstone Road.

Mr Talbot hopes the changes, which also include opening up their bar on non-matchdays, will help the club turn a corner.

He said: “Like with other chairpeople and committee members I speak to, it is difficult to attract people to games but the one thing that always gets crowds in is winning. You don’t see crowds falling when a team are winning.

“It’s down to the players and if they can get results consistently then the crowds come in, in ones and twos then threes and fours, and fives and sixes. It’s like catching a disease.

“We have decided to shake things up and put more risk into it. We are normally risk averse as a board but have loosened the belt a bit. We want to try and do something on the pitch.

“We do put the finances first and work around that. We are not going to throw that away but it’s just that we have decided to spend a little more upfront and if we can get the people in to watch, then that will pay for it.”

Read the full story in Friday's Medway Messenger