Neil Cugley knows champions Folkestone face a battle to stop history repeating itself in the Ryman League Premier Division.

The last two sides to win Division 1 South finished in the relegation zone the following season and Cugley is determined to buck the trend.

Peacehaven & Telscombe, champions in 2013-14, are now heading back to the county league, while Burgess Hill – who lifted the trophy 12 months ago – finished this season 21st out of 24 clubs in the Premier.

Cugley said: "We know it’s going to be tough. We look at Burgess Hill and they’re fourth-bottom in that league.

"Burgess Hill stayed with most of their players and it shows the players have got to work hard and be right up for it, otherwise you can get dragged into that even when you got a lot of points like they did (109 last season).

"They finished with 50 points, so it’s a lot of points to stay up in that league. You’ve got to do it week in, week out or you can slip into it, as they have.

"We’ve got to emulate Merstham and not be too much like Burgess Hill and get dragged back into it."

Merstham beat Folkestone in last season’s play-off final and finished 10th in the Premier with a much-changed team.

The two sides will meet again as equals in 2016-17 following Folkestone’s record-breaking march to the championship.

Their total of 114 points is the highest in English football this season and Saturday’s 3-1 win over Tooting & Mitcham was their 15th in a row at home.

Cugley said: "You couldn’t have made it up, could you? It was near enough the perfect season.

"We’ve won the league without getting into debt or throwing silly money at it, we’ve got the leading goal scorer (Ian Draycott), we won the most games, scored the most goals, let in the least, stayed four months unbeaten and after we won the league, we continued to win the games."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.