Faili vows to win County League next season

Their 4-2 defeat at home by Cray Wanderers on Saturday condemned them to finish second to bottom with three teams due to be relegated.

The defeat brought an end to five years competing in the Ryman League after gaining promotion in 2012 as Sussex County League champions.

Disappointed Faili said: “It’s absolutely devastating. We worked so hard to get to this level.

“There is only one person to blame for it and that’s me.

“After the first six games we were in midtable and then we started to fall away and never really recovered.

“We suffered injuries to players like Allan Tait, Ben Godfrey and Jamie Crellin at Christmas and I didn’t replace the players until later on and by that time we were in the bottom third of the table.”

Faili admits he has now experienced everything in football, having tasted league and cup-winning success and now suffering relegation.

He has vowed to come back stronger next season, having been backed by the club.

Faili said: “I’m very lucky to get the support of the board.

“We are aiming to come back stronger and show our bouncebackability.

“We will be making changes and will make the squad bigger but will keep 75-80 per cent of the players. I would like to bring in more locally-based talent.

“All in all I’m very excited about next year!”