AS some of you will already know, Eastleigh Football Club have been promoted to the Conference National (one division below the Football League), a promotion they achieved in their ninth season of Conference South football, having in the previous eight seasons twice been beaten in the two-legged play-off semi-final despite winning the away leg by two clear goals.

In the 2001/02 season we finished in the lower half of the Wessex League (four divisions below the Conference National) with one of our current players Craig McAllister in that team, so we have made great progress since then both on and off the field, and close season ground improvements should provide better viewing for spectators next season.

Our owner Stewart Donald has provided great support for Richard Hill, who has worked hard in bringing in the players that he felt he needed to achieve success. At the time of writing, 16 of our 26 league victories have been achieved by the odd goal, with four of these games being won in added-on time, which suggests we have a good team spirit and players who keep going right to the end.

For me, one of the best things about our success against Basingstoke that clinched the title was 90-year-old life president Derik Brooks, who formed the club as far back as May 22, 1946, playing a major part in the presentation, and former chairmen Roger Sherwood and Paul Murray attending the game and being fully appreciative of both Stewart and each other.

If you allow for the fact that Chester, Aldershot, Halifax and Gateshead have reformed since being relegated from the Football League, then 14 of this season’s Conference National teams are Football League clubs, while on the other side of the coin Forest Green Rovers, Braintree Town, Fleetwood Town and AFC Wimbledon have all successfully moved from the equivalent of the Wessex League to the Conference National and the last two named are now Football League clubs.

We hope that during next season we can continue our progress both on and off the field, and that we can continue to build up our fan base, having attracted a crowd of over 1,500 for the Basingstoke fixture that clinched the title.

MALCOLM CLARKE, press officer, Eastleigh FC.