Ks promotion attracts attention of new faces (From Surrey Comet)

Ks promotion attracts attention of new faces

8:00am Tuesday 12th May 2009

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Kingstonian boss Alan Dowson has revealed his phone hasn’t stopped ringing since securing the Ryman League Division One South with players wanting to join his Ks squad.

The Kingsmeadow chief has already retained the services of Carl Wilson-Denis and Simon Huckle for next season, and is confident more will follow suit over the next fortnight once holiday season is out of the way.

Dowson has lined up pre-season friendlies with Woking and Premiership stars West Ham United as a carrot to the current squad to stay on board and is lining up a swoop on at least three players this summer to bolster his resources.

The prospect of Premier Division football is attracting interest from elsewhere and the genial Geordie - who picked up player of the year Wilson-Denis after the striker contacted him for a trial last summer - is hoping to unearth another hidden gem.

“Things have gone crazy since we won the league. It has been a non-stop string of agents and players asking if there is a chance of them coming to play here,” he said.

“I’ve got three or four targets in mind, but I’ll not be signing anyone unless they are better than I already have. It is a long time until pre-season and things aren’t really going to get sorted on that front until then.

“We always have plenty of people train with us to start with - that is how we picked up Carl - and I don’t think that will change, but it looks like there will be a few more.

“You hope that sort of thing happens again. It shows people are taking an interest in us.”

Kingstonian will entertain the Hammers on July 31 after Upton Park chief scout Roger Croft - a former team-mate of Dowson’s at Millwall - this week confirmed the club would bring as strong a side as possible to Kingsmeadow.

And the Ks boss - named manager of the month for April last week - is hoping that and the clash with the Cards, will boost the club coffers enough to help finance his promotion ambitions.

“Clubs at this level need as much money as they can get at a time like this. Money makes the football world go round,” he added.

“To get friendlies with these sort of clubs show we are on our way back and the Ks name is still a big one in non-League game.

“Fulham were down here last year and brought six internationals. Whatever team West Ham bring, they will be quality.

“We’ve had crowds of over more than 700 in the league this year, which is what we need to be successful. These games will get us off to a good start.”

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