VIDEO: Worthing FC Press Conference

At a press conference at Woodside Road on Thursday October 4, to officially welcome Argyll Insurance Group and Marsha's as the club's sponsors, chairman Dave Agnew set a five-year target for the club to be in Conference South. He said: "We want to be there in five years time, although I don't see ourselves as a full-time Conference outfit yet."

Rebels are flying high in Ryman League Division 1 South this season and are through to the third-qualifying round of the FA Cup. They now have several players who have come through their youth system into the senior side and Agnew added: "We've had a radical change at the club in the last 18 months to two years.

"Up until three years ago, we had no youth-team players. We had a senior team of players brought in from all around the south east.

"The club was successful four years ago, but that was via bringing players in from outside the area. My ethos is to promote youth players through the club, and we are bearing the fruits of running a youth-team now.

"Last Saturday in the FA Cup, we beat a very good Walton & Hersham team with a side full of Sussex footballers. We can't be just a team of Worthing-based players but I'd like to think of ourselves as a Sussex-based team.

"We want to drive the football club via our youth set-up, and we now have clubs from under-7 to under-16."

Worthing were also quick to acknowledge the importance of local businesses, Argyll and Marsha's, getting involved with the club.

Joint-manager Danny Bloor said: "Rikki Banks has been here for a year and a half and without this sponsorship, we couldn't have a player of his ability.

"Last season, we had James Fraser and he's now a professional at Bristol Rovers.

"It's an exciting time ahead and the sponsorship is greatly appreciated. We are fielding three sides now, the first team, reserves and youth, and that costs a lot of money.

"At times you have to go backwards to go forwards, and that's what happened last season.

"The sponsorship is absolutely vital to the youth side. We wouldn't be able to run it otherwise.

"There's only so much that you can rely on volunteers doing, before you need the money. We've got some of the best coaches in the area and we want to keep them here."

Rebels' youth set-up is now gaining interest from numerous players in the area and Bloor said: "People see the good work we are doing and now want to come to the club. We're getting a good reputation for young players. We will give them a chance.

"We know they will make mistakes but will keep faith in them. It's important to us to have some of the best young players from the south of England here."

Agnew added: "We've brought Jeremy Ramsden in as commercial manager and that shows where the club is going. We want everything to be more professional. We want Woodside Road to be an intimidating place for teams to come. We want them to come here and see that it's a proper set-up - a club that's going places and knows what it's doing.

"We want the whole community to be involved with the club, like it was 15 to 20 years ago.

"We want to get schools involved as well and at every home match, we will have a youth team here, who can come and use our facilities and look at what we are doing."

Marsha's have agreed a two-year deal as the principle club sponsor and Argyll Insurance Group are the sponsors of Woodside Road's main grandstand.

Kevin Young, of Argyll, said: "We're delighted to be involved with Worthing Football Club. We already sponsor Worthing Rugby Club, and are excited to now be with the football club as well."

Keith Howells, from Marsha's, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be the principle sponsor. We are pleased to be involved with a club with so much emphasis on youth."

Click on the green play button above to watch video footage from the press conference.