The lights are on at Holmesdale

KENT LEAGUE club Holmesdale can now look forward to a brighter future with the installation of their new floodlights, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Bromley based club, preparing for their second campaign in the Kent League, have spent £67,000 on new floodlights and hard standing all around their Oakley Road ground.

“They’re actually up as we speak, the lads are there working and we’ll switch them on and test them, so it’s all done and dusted,” club chairman Ray Tolfrey told www.kentishfootball.co.uk following the club's opening pre-season friendly, which they lost 4-2 to Cray Wanderers on Thursday evening.

“The whole works was £67,000, 60% grant from the Football Foundation and the rest we’ve had to find ourselves.”

Despite spending a vast amount of money on ground improvements, Mr Tolfrey doesn’t mind Vandanel Kent County League champions Norton Sports gaining promotion into the Kent League and sharing Herne Bay’s Winch’s Field - who have also splashed out money, on an improved playing surface.

He said: “I think it’s good for the Kent League, they obviously need teams, so it’s good to see another team come up.

“From what I hear, I think they’ve got a ground in the pipeline as far as I know, they’ve got one lined up within three years.”

The Dalers finished their inaugural Kent League campaign with only Lordswood and perennial whipping boys Sporting Bengal United below them in the table.

But Mr Tolfrey is confident the club can enjoy a much better campaign this time out.

“Above third from bottom, midtable hopefully would be nice,” he said, when asked about his aspirations for the new season.

“We were third bottom above Lordswood and Sporting Bengal and both those teams took four points off us.

“If we could have reversed that, then I think we could have been just below half-way.”

Holmesdale are a club that do not pay it’s players and the club rely on players who play football for the love of the game.

“Last year we just managed to get boys that wanted to play for us and we just hope we can do the same again this year,” explained Mr Tolfrey.

“It’s the same this year, the boys aren’t going to be paid, so we just hope we can bring in the players we need.”

The Holmesdale chairman revealed his future plans for the club’s Oakley Road ground.

He added: “Apart from the lights and the hard standing all the way round, that’s it for this year.

“We are going to look at what we need to do to improve it but we are going to try and do it year-on-year, rather than this year, a massive hit in one go.”

Manager Tony Beckingham, meanwhile, believes he has the players that can climb the Kent League table this season, now that the club have secured their Kent League status, having fulfilled their promise of installing floodlights.

“To be honest that’s the most important thing for the club that the facilities are up to scratch,” said Beckingham.

“If we didn’t have them, we wouldn’t be playing Kent League football anyway so for us as a club that comes first and hopefully now we can settle down and concentrate on the football side.”

When told that his chairman wants a midtable finish, the manager replied: “Has he? He could have told me!”

But he added: “If we can keep the squad I’m hoping to put together, I think midtable is a realistic target.

“You never know, you only have to go on a run with a few decent results, get a bit of confidence, and I think we’ll do quite well this year.

“But I’m not going to set silly targets. We’ll do the best we can but midtable is a realistic target for us.”

Beckingham admits his club cannot compete with most of the clubs in the League when it comes to financial matters.

“You might beat them on a one-off but you’re never going to beat them over the course of a season,” he admitted.

“It’s no different to the Premier League, the teams with the most money will always attract the best players and will always be looking to win titles.

“All we can do is to get boys who want to come and play football and commit themselves to a club and give everything they’ve got.

“When the chips are down I know my lads want to play for Holmesdale and hopefully for me, giving me everything they’ve got.

“Some club’s may not have that luxury, when players are just going there for money - we’re not going down that road yet. I don’t envisage that for an amount of time.

One player who hasn’t chased a pound note during his playing career is goalkeeper Danny Harwood.

The 35-year-old has played for Erith & Belvedere (Southern League), Bromley (Ryman League) and Croydon (Kent League).

And Beckingham admitted the experienced goalkeeper is key to his plans this season.

“Danny came down to us last year and he’s basically brought a stabilising effect to the back four, a calming effect,” he said.

“He’s a big lad, he has a presence and he was a big asset to us last year and I think he’ll be a major factor in us doing better than we did last year.

“He’s on nothing, he’s comedown because he wants to play football and he enjoys it.

“That’s all I can say, credit to him for that. No doubt about it, he could probably go and get more money elsewhere.

“He’s chosen to come down, he’s 35 years of age, I hope he doesn’t mind me saying that, and he’s looking to enjoy his football and I think that’s a great compliment to our football club.”

Visit Holmesdale’s website: www.holmesdalefc.co.uk