Whitstable Town goalkeeper Dan Colmer - KentOnline’s Player of the Year - accepts early-season form will be vital in 2025/26 Southern Counties East League Premier Division promotion push

Goalkeeper Dan Colmer accepts improved early-season form will be vital in Whitstable’s 2025/26 promotion push.

The Southern Counties East League Premier Division team missed out on an Isthmian League return for the first time since 2022, despite an historic FA Vase victory, as they came third and then suffered play-off semi-final shootout heartache.

A play-off finish for Jamie Coyle’s Oystermen was, nevertheless, a fine achievement after a slow start to the new management team’s regime.

And Colmer is confident they will come out the traps quicker next time around.

“I would like to hope so,” he said. “Obviously, a few players will be going and a few players will be coming in but, hopefully, we can start off absolutely flying.

“We were something like 11th at Christmas and finished third. If we can take that form into this season, we’ll be absolutely flying.

“That’s the aim because we know we’ve got to go up, otherwise we cannot really say the year has been a success.”

If Whitstable can replicate their form in the season run-in, rather than the disappointing spell earlier in the campaign, they’ll undoubtedly be a force to be reckoned with.

Colmer said: “There’s no better feeling than winning every week. Since Christmas, that’s pretty much been the feeling in our changing room and you have got to just ride that wave.

“When you’re winning and winning, you don’t want it to stop.

“Unfortunately, it had to at some point - but doing that at Wembley was absolutely brilliant.

“It really has made me hungrier for this year.”

Colmer also praised the Whitstable supporters as he reacted to being crowned KentOnline’s Player of the Year.

He made the Team of the Year and won the vote for star player with a whopping 38 percent.

“It’s a