Behind every successful man, so they say, is a great woman and the mantra certainly rings true for Neil Cugley at Folkestone Invicta.

Cugley, his players and the club’s board have commanded plenty of newspaper column inches over the last 19 years but the manager’s home life has rightly remained private.

However, his marriage to Pauline has proved as strong a partnership as any Cugley enjoyed as centre-back or centre-forward during his time as a Folkestone player.

The pair wed in 2003 and Pauline described her husband as “totally dedicated” – especially when it comes to football.

She said: "Football comes first in his life and when we had a Golden Retriever, I came third. I’ve moved up to second now.

"It does affect his mood. I never like to arrange things on a Saturday night because if he lost, he wouldn’t be interested. If he loses badly, he would probably sit in another room listening to music.

"You certainly don’t talk about anything else, any other aspects of your life on a Saturday, after he’s lost.

"If he’s lost, I’ll be asleep when he gets in. I will never talk about it.

"When he comes back and he’s lost, I would never say ‘what went wrong?’ He wouldn’t want to talk about it so you learn to say the right things. It’s not that he’d go mad or anything, it’s just the respect we’ve got.

"If he’s down, he doesn’t want to come home and start talking about it all over again. If I don’t know the result, I will never ask, I’ll look in the paper the next morning at work if I think they might have lost."

Respect is the right word. Neil admits he’s not good company after a defeat.

He said: "Pauline’s always supported me and knows when to say something or not say something. She knows she’ll never get much comment out of me after a game if we’ve lost.

"She’s easy-going anyway. Anybody who knows me knows I’m not one to go on about football too much or have things round the house, anything about football."

Pauline is a football fan and she now works behind the bar at the Fullicks Stadium on matchdays. "She’s turned that round unbelievably," Neil said. "Two years ago, it wasn’t making any money and now it’s one of our big earners at the club so all credit to her."

That closer involvement with the football club has given Pauline an even greater appreciation of Neil’s role at Invicta.

She said: "He’s been instrumental in the good times and the bad, raising money, absolutely everything. A lot of people think it’s just a bit of training and picking the side on Saturday and it’s certainly not. He’s always given 100% on everything to do with the club, keeping it going.

"Winning the league this season meant everything. He’s been there 20 years and that was the icing on the cake. It was tremendous for him.

"He’s worked hard for that and I must say the group of footballers he’s got there now, you couldn’t wish for nicer people. He’s always been lucky that the footballers who have played for him have got respect for him and a lot of them we’re still in touch with now.

"He will always stick up for his players as well. He could slaughter someone badly but once that game’s over, if someone else has a go he will always defend them.

"He doesn’t see any bad in people. He always looks for the positives in everybody and the players see that."

So what does the future hold for Mr and Mrs Cugley? More dog walks and fewer evenings taken up by training or coach trips to away games?

Pauline said: "I don’t think he wants to slow down and if he does, he hasn’t discussed it with me.

"He will know when he’s ready to give up. He won’t hang around for years when he knows he’s over the hill or can’t do it. He will know the right time to let go.

"I just think he’s tremendous at what he does in the club."

Pick up the Folkestone & Hythe Express for our full coverage of Neil Cugley reaching 1,000 games as Folkestone Invicta manager.