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Folkestone Invicta fans dig deep in bid to help Isthmian Premier club through tight financial period

Supporters at Folkestone have been rallying around the club to help them through a challenging financial situation.

Invicta are in the middle of a five-week run without a home game – a sequence which has placed a temporary drain on the Isthmian Premier club’s resources.

Chairman Paul Morgan acknowledged the club’s plight over the weekend and appealed for fans to help by making donations via a Friend of Folkestone Invicta scheme.

Folkestone Invicta supporters have been treated to some excellent football at the BuildKent Stadium this season Picture: Chris Davey
Folkestone Invicta supporters have been treated to some excellent football at the BuildKent Stadium this season Picture: Chris Davey

By Monday around half-a-dozen people had been in touch with manager Neil Cugley, who said the response is typical of the club’s loyal fanbase.

He said: “It’s an awkward one, really. It wasn’t that long ago that we had five matches in a row at home (the last was against Hythe on October 29).

“Now it’s gone the other way, I’ve never known a situation like it in all my years in football.

“Paul (Morgan) is a great bloke and I can honestly say we would not be in this league without him, but he hasn’t got a bottomless pit.

“We did a similar thing five or six years ago and the fans were great then. I’ve already had five or six people come forward to help and it doesn’t surprise me.

“We’ve got a very loyal fanbase, they like the team and the way we’ve been playing.

“It’s only a short-term thing but it’s great that the fans have responded in the way they have.”

On the pitch second-placed Invicta produced one of their best victories of the season on Saturday, winning 3-1 at Enfield.

Cugley admitted it was the perfect response after the midweek FA Trophy defeat at Maldon and Tiptree where they let slip a 2-0 lead and missed a penalty.

He said: “The Maldon defeat was so disappointing. The penalty miss seemed to affect us really badly and we just folded.

“I felt the players let themselves down but we had a bit of a meeting before Saturday’s game and all credit to them, they were superb.

“We played really well in the first half but Enfield bombed us in the second and we stood up to it.

“We’d said to them at half-time (when Invicta led 2-0) ‘If they score how are you going to respond?’ As it was they did score quite early but the boys dug in. I was really chuffed.”

Invicta are without a game this weekend as Haringey have an FA Trophy tie. That game will be played on Tuesday, January 21.

Cugley’s side are next in action at Lewes on November 30 before finally returning to the BuildKent Stadium on Tuesday, December 3 when they host Kingstonian.

Invicta’s Kent Senior Cup second round tie at Tonbridge will be on Tuesday, January 7.

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