Chairman Jim Pellatt stands down: It was important to me that when the time came to step down and hand over, I could do so in the knowledge that the club is in a better place today than at any time in my nearly ten years with Folkestone Invicta

JIM PELLATT has decided to step down as the chairman at championship winning side Folkestone Invicta – citing family commitments.

Mr Pellatt has decided that the time is right to hand over the reins to a younger man, club sponsor Paul Morgan, with Invicta in its best ever shape both on and off the pitch.

Mr Pellatt replaced former chairman Mark Jenner a couple of months into the 2014-15 season and leaves the Cheriton Road club debt free and back in the Ryman Premier League after a five-year absence.

As a business advisor he installed a great deal of commonsense and sensible housekeeping into Folkestone Invicta, repaying the five-year Creditors’ Voluntary Agreement (CVA) brought in by a previous administration early last year.

The CVA had served its purpose, but had – of course – become a millstone around the clubs neck, and when Mr Pellatt was able to tell supporters at an open meeting upstairs in the Wilf Armory Suite that the debt would be paid off early, he kick-started the drive back towards the Ryman Premier League.

In a statement, which was published on www.folkestoneinvictafc.co.uk, Mr Pellatt said: “I have decided that now is the right time to hand over the chairmanship of Folkestone Invicta FC to a younger person and return to being a director.

“I am delighted to say that Paul Morgan has accepted an offer from the board to become chairman.

“It has been on my mind for some time and I have discussed the subject with other board members that I should step down as chairman at the end of the season, whilst at the same time remaining as a director to ensure a smooth transition.

“For the last six and a half years, I have been very much hands on with the administration, accounting, tax and all facets of the club.

“The last two years as chairman have made it into pretty much a full-time job and it is certainly on my mind 24 hours a day, as my long suffering wife Annie will testify. Eventually that takes its toll.

“With family in Australia and here, I now need to have the freedom to spend more time with them and enjoy them before they are too old.

“It was important to me that when the time came to step down and hand over, I could do so in the knowledge that the club is in a better place today than at any time in my nearly ten years with Folkestone Invicta.

“On the playing side we have just won a championship and financially the club remains free of debt.

“The support I have received from all at the club has been tremendous and I thank you all.

“Paul Morgan has been at the club for a season or so and has impressed everyone with his warm engaging personality and the way he has thrown himself wholeheartedly into the club.

“But behind the smile lurks a very sharp business brain, honed by having built his company – our main sponsors, of course – into a highly successful business.”

Folkestone Invicta clinched their first ever title – the Ryman League Division One South – on Good Friday, 25 March and with five league games to spare.

Manager Neil Cugley, 59, has been in charge of the club for 1,001 games.

Visit Folkestone Invicta’s website: www.folkestoneinvictafc.co.uk