New faces on Folkestone Invicta’s board of directors and an increased shirt sponsorship deal have given the club two big boosts ahead of next season.

Season ticket holder Paul Morgan has joined as an associate director and he’s expected to be the first of several new appointments.

Shaun Beattie and Adrian Williams recently stepped down from the board after their company, M3 Solutions, withdrew as shirt sponsors.

A club statement thanked both men and said they had stepped down as directors "for no other reason than that the growth of their company has severely limited the time they can commit to the club."

Mr Morgan joins the club at a time when they’re preparing to start a season for the first time since paying off their Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).

Invicta chairman Jim Pellatt said: "If you go right back to August last year, we were still sorting out some of the financial issues but that’s now been done.

"For the last few months we’ve been debt-free and we’ve got more people promising to come on board next year as the club gets better and better. That will enable us to fund a really good campaign.

"We were having to find £10,000 a year out of the money we had just to fund the CVA.

"Not having to pay that – admittedly we do have to start paying rent on the ground – the burden that’s lifted by coming out of the CVA and not having a penny piece of debt, it makes a huge difference as to how you can plan for the future.

"The main thrust now is to get more people, good people, involved, who can contribute a little bit and enjoy the football club. That will give us a bigger base to go forward."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.