A club legend will be remembered at Faversham Town this Saturday.

The Lilywhites’ Isthmian South East match against Ashford has been dedicated to the life of club president Ray Leader - a man who played an integral role in the club’s reformation in 2005 - following his death, aged 85, last month.

Mr Leader was involved at Faversham Town FC for more than 50 years and a great advocate for non-league football.

His son, Marc, remains club vice-chairman while grandson Rhys is under-23s manager.

While Town manager Tommy Warrilow expects it to be an emotional occasion, he knows his squad’s focus needs to be on matters on the pitch at Salters Lane.

He said: “I’ve not seen Marc Leader and the rest of their family since the passing of Ray.

“It will be emotional for them.

Town man makes team-of-the-week

"It will be a good opportunity on Saturday for the town of Faversham to pay their respects to Ray because he was such a popular character so, hopefully, we get a good crowd.

“But we need to do our jobs on the pitch. The nice thing is we will get an opportunity to pay our respects to Ray at the game on Saturday.

“It will be an emotional day but, hopefully, we can stay unbeaten.”

A book of condolence for Mr Leader will be open on the day while the club say they intend to stream a memorial service before the Ashford game.

That will begin from 2.30pm at the Shed End of the ground, with the car park expected to be closed from 2.15pm.

Two days later, Faversham are due to be back in league action against newly-promoted AFC Whyteleafe, last season’s beaten FA Vase finalists.

Former Faversham utility player Helge Orome is among their squad.

Warrilow said: “They’re going to be a good footballing side.

“But we have got Ashford to worry about first. Then, we’ll move onto the next game once we have played them.

“I’m not really giving Whyteleafe much thought.”

Town were 4-2 winners at Merstham as they booked their place in the FA Cup first qualifying round last weekend.

“They were a team that were in the play-offs last year so it was a yardstick for us,” said Warrilow. “It was a tough game.

“They started well, we struggled to get to grips with them, but we had two or three chances to score even in that period.

"But we did break the seal and got a couple before half-time.

“We’re not going to get it all our own way this year and we’ve got to get used to that.

"Sometimes, you have got to dig in and we did that at times.

“In the second half, they pulled a goal back but we carried on doing what we were doing and got another couple. It was the FA Cup so the most important thing was the result.

“Merstham is a team I expect to be in and around it so that was a good win.”

Defender Jack Parter and playmaker Nathan Wood struck at Merstham.

Big striker Eniye Amgbaduba was credited with the other two goals but Warrilow said: “He will have the two - but one was an own goal!

“What I love about Eniye is he’s a really good character.

“He doesn’t get any protection from referees because of his size but he just always has a smile on his face. He works his socks off and is playing well.

“When I spoke to him over the summer, I told him it was important that he went somewhere he would get game-time. He’s come in and settled really well.

“He’s been great in the changing room. If everyone does their jobs, collectively, that’s how you get success.

"He got his goal but, even when he doesn’t score, he still does his job.

“Johan (Caney-Bryan) is getting back to full fitness with his groin.

“The one thing you know about them is they’ll be a real handful. It’s something we have not had (the pair playing together) and we have got Tash (Tashi-Jay Kwayie) up front, as well.

"There’s competition for places now.”

Faversham have been handed a home draw against Hastings.

That FA Cup first qualifying round tie will be played on Friday, August 29, due to the Hop Festival weekend.