Chairman Steve Kimberley said he has been ‘overwhelmed’ by the positive response he has received from football supporters since announcing that Falmouth Town has applied for promotion to the Toolstation Western League.

Falmouth currently play in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League premier division (step six), but following a good run in the FA Vase this season, coupled with an 11-game winning streak in the league, the board has decided to apply to go up to the Western League premier division (step five).

“We have been talking about promotion, should we or shouldn’t we for a while now,” said Kimberley. “We had a really good run in the FA Vase this season and in the game against Willand (the Western League side that eventually knocked Town out of the competition) if we had had two strikers, I think we would have taken that match to extra-time and gone on to win it.

“We were short of a couple of players and we gave them two soft goals and it was all uphill from there, but we are not afraid of going up to the Western League at all.”

Recent champions in the CSWPL have refused promotion on the grounds that the extra travel costs will hinder the club.

Buckland and Bodmin are both sides that have taken that decision for financial reasons, but again that is not something that concerns Kimberley.

“In fairness it is a bit like saying ‘you can’t afford to have children’. You can never afford to have children. It is going to be hard on us, but if you get better opposition, you should get better crowds. We are drawing fans from Truro, Penryn and other areas and we will carry on doing that.”

The application for promotion has received backing from Cornish football supporters, who have given the club messages of good will.

“I’m over the moon with the response that I’ve had, which has come from our own supporters and fans of other teams,” added Kimberley. “You should want to support a club that has got the ambition to go up. People keep talking about other sides that don’t want to do it. I’m not bothered about other sides. I’m not bothered about what Bodmin and other clubs are doing, I’m bothered about what we are doing. We have got a great set of players and we are an ambitious club - we are on our way.”

There is a few things Town need to do though before promotion is granted. They need to finish in the promotion places in the CSWPL premier division, but also above Plymouth Parkway and Buckland Athletic, the two other sides that have applied for promotion.

There is also a number of ground improvements to be completed, but Kimberley added that he is confident this can be done.

“We know exactly what we have got to do and we have got 13 weeks to do it. It is going to be a tall order, but we are expecting that we can get it done. We are going to need many hands and finance, but if our club and supporters want us to go forward I expect them to dig deep.”