Dartford chairman Steve Irving says club aim to return to National League and double their turnover in next five years as they debunk fallacy that there is a lack of ambition at Princes Park

Dartford have outlined their vision for the next five years to the club’s hardcore supporters.

Chairman Steve Irving believes the future’s bright after addressing fans at a forum last week.

There’s an extra air of positivity around Princes Park given the impressive form being shown by Ady Pennock’s squad in Isthmian Premier.

But in a wide-ranging interview, Irving reiterated the club’s desire to get back to the National League, aims to double their turnover in the next five years and the impact relegation had on the club last summer.

“It went very well, it was the first chance in a long time that we’ve been able to put something together in that sort of format outside of a shareholders’ meeting,” said Irving on the fans’ forum.

“It was an open forum, everybody was invited to come, both in person and online. We outlined plans for the future. We’re in the early stages of putting that five-year plan together and it was a case of relaying to everybody what the vision was and where we feel we want to be in five years and what the club plans to do about getting there.

“There were presentations from Norman Grimes, vice-chairman, who is leading those doing the business plan, Mark Brenlund presented some financials for the five years in terms of what the future looks like and what additional revenue we’d need and Gareth Morgan laid out the things we’ve got to look at and the difficulties.

“People call us a big club, but financially where we are aligns with many other clubs in terms of budget, debt, ownership, so it was really to set the scene for everybody.

“The feedback was very positive. Supporters were pleased that we’ve gone out there to put such a meeting together, they were pleased to hear honesty and detail which some