New era kicks off with clean bill of health

Folkestone Invicta have unveiled Jim Pellatt as their new chairman after the Football Association gave the Ryman South club a clean bill of health.

Invicta have been without a chairman since the acrimonious departure of Mark Jenner midway through their first home league game of the season in August following a dispute with other members of the board at Cheriton Road on how to take the club forward.

Pellatt, pictured, had a spell previously as interim chairman and took over as chief executive towards the end of last season. In a statement announcing his appointment on Friday, officials confirmed he had effectively been running the club alongside manager Neil Cugley for several years and had accepted an invitation from fellow directors to formally take the helm on a permanent basis.

Invicta’s new chairman said the club would now be adopting a small number of minor suggestions from the governing body’s unit on future improvements to operations. Matters that came under the FA’s scrutiny included VAT records and returns, cash ledgers, payroll and players’ contracts, payroll tax deductions and record keeping throughout the football club.

Pellatt said: "I am very pleased to lead the club but I will be continuing to do the same job here as I have been doing for the last few years. Football is just as much a team game off the field as it is on it, so everyone who gives their time, their skills and their expertise to the club is equally important.

"A couple of weeks ago the club underwent an FA compliance review where every aspect of how it is being run comes under the microscope. We have now received the FA Financial Regulation Officer’s confidential report, which the board have to formally accept, but we can say that in all crucial aspects the club received a clean bill of health."

He added: "Critically, the FA Financial Regulation officer found no truth in allegations made in certain sections of the media."

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