Dover chairman Jim Parmenter insisted every penny will count as the club look to compete at National League South level next season.

Whites were promoted at the first time of asking from Isthmian Premier after winning the play-off final at Dartford on Monday.

But promotion presents new challenges as Dover now find themselves trying to compete at Step 2 again.

“It means we’ve got to really think about our budgets,” admitted Parmenter. “We’ve got to start fundraising.

“We’re going to need every season ticket sale we can get, every supporter we can get and every local business that we can persuade to back us to do something good in the next league up.

“You’re always learning lessons. I’ve been around non-league football for 30 years and I’ve been as far as the play-offs [to get to the Football League] and as low as Ryman South, so you always learn lessons.

“But the big lesson is that you have to live within your means and you need people to support you - both on the terraces and financially.

“We go back a stronger club on and off the pitch. We’re a much more unified club than we’ve been for a long time.

“That’s magnificent for me because that’s one of the great things. If you can achieve unity in a football club, then you’re winning the battle.”

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Parmenter admitted everyone had written Dover off after they suffered a dip in form at the start of the year.

But they’ve certainly deserved their promotion after winning play-off games at Billericay and Dartford - teams who both finished in the top three.

“It hasn’t been expected all season, really,” added Parmenter. “We did well at the beginning and then as we dropped off over Christmas, everybody sort of wrote us off.

“But if you know this group and the manager and players, you know they’re never going to give up and you know there’s always a chance.

“The way we played at Dartford was fantastic. We’ve won both play-off games well.

“There’s been moments of brilliance in the game, but mainly it’s about the group. It’s about the team and the management and the hard work that they put in.

“We had some good games at the beginning of the season, but these two play-off performances are right up there with the best of the season.”