Sammy Moore has spoken of his excitement at going full-time with Faversham.

The Salters Lane outfit have announced the 2023/24 campaign will see Town boss Moore and assistant Darren Beale start a post-16 education and football Academy programme.

Moore has always insisted he has bought into the long-term project at the club, despite this season’s struggles in Isthmian South East, and he’s looking forward to creating a real pathway into the first-team at Faversham.

Their under-23s have impressed this term while right-sided player Benedict Bioletti came through Town’s youth ranks to represent the first-team before moving to League 2 Colchester last summer.

“When we first met the chairman [Gary Smart] and the board, we saw there was a project here,” Moore said. “That’s why we came.

“We want to be part of something exciting going forwards. Going full-time allows us to add in every area of the football club, really.

"We’ll look at the scholarship we’re going to be starting and look at the under-23s but look below into the youth set-up as well.

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“We want to build a club. This club is only going one way - that’s up.

“Going full-time is what I’ve wanted since I’ve been in management and it’s an exciting opportunity for players coming to us.

“But also, there’s a clear pathway now for players to progress from the youth sides all the way to the first-team. Hopefully we’ll have one of our home-grown players playing for us soon.

“We’re delighted to be going full-time. We came here because it’s a long-term project and the chairman has bought into that.

"He knows what we’re doing off the field is trying to make the football club better. It’s exciting times.”

For the first-team, though, their focus remains on trying to avoid relegation.

Moore admits, ideally, the club will remain at Step 4 in the non-league pyramid next season but says that’s not essential ahead of the launch of the Academy programme.

He said: “It’s not the be-all-and-end-all. Sometimes, you need to go back once to go forward twice.

“We have come in to try and keep the club up. But everyone needs to understand the situation we came into. It wasn’t great.

“It’s a completely new Faversham team out there and we’ve got to gel together. But we’re starting to do that and starting to see performances.”

Things don’t get any easier for the Lilywhites, who host Whitehawk this Saturday before a trip to leaders Ramsgate on Wednesday.

“We’ve got some tough games coming up,” said 35-year-old Moore.

“This month’s tough but we’re now on a run where we feel like we can pick some points up.

“We’ll just take one game at a time, try to take three points from each game and try to manage it the best we can.”

The first trial date for Town’s new Academy will be at Salters Lane next Friday from 11am until 1pm.

Faversham visited East Grinstead on Tuesday, losing 1-0 despite a playing return for Moore, after a 2-2 draw at Sheppey was earned through goals in the first five minutes by Michael Ademiluyi and Kieron Campbell last Saturday.

Emmanuel Dasho has left the club but fellow defender Jacques Kpohomouh has signed for the 2023/24 campaign.