CRAY WANDERERS manager Neil Smith has retained versatile captain Anthony Cook, 32, and former Welling United striker Tom Derry, 27. Left-winger Jamie Yila, 21, has signed for National League South side Chelmsford City, managed by Robbie Simpson. RED VELVET - Kent County League Premier Division champions last season - have today apponted Ian Jenkins as their new manager.

Our aims next year is to keep moving forward and reaching the sort of level that Welling Town have reached and just keep moving forward. We’re not a big club, we’re a club who can compete against the bigger teams. Welling Town have applied to make the jump into Step Six (Southern Counties East Football League First Division) football next season, still playing at Bayliss Avenue in Thamesmead. We play down at Eltham Town’s ground and next year we’ll be moving on to Metrogas so that’s a move forward so we’re thoroughly looking forward to it. We’re going to let the boys have a good rest now, we’ve had a tough season and we’re looking forward to starting pre-season in July.” Significantly, this is the first time the club have gone deep in the competition since 2010, when Johan Cruyff and his band of loyal disciples ripped up the Ajax blueprint and started it all over again. The period, which ended with Cruyff’s ousting in 2015, came to be known as the Velvet Revolution, and it was during these years that the seeds for the current success were planted. Red Velvet manager Lee Hedges said: “Great performance particularly from Welling Town. We knew we was in for a hard game tonight but I think we proved from a Red Velvet point of view that we can compete against the best.PUNJAB UNITED manager Chipie Sian has appointed Simon Green and Alan Foreman to manage the Gravesend based club’s under 23’s next season and has snapped up winger Aaron Rhule, 27. DARTFORD recently appointed manager Alan Dowson has retained the services of Sam Odaudu, who was captain of the Academy for the past three seasons and spent a loan period at Isthmian League Premier Division side Margate last season. Fluidity and flexibility became increasingly important, and De Ligt again acts as a case study. As a clearly gifted youngster, De Ligt rapidly moved up the different age groups in his early teens and was tasked with playing in a number of different positions. He was seen as too slow at receiving the ball and moving it forward so was deployed in central midfield. The short-term loss to the Ajax youth team’s defence has been the senior team’s long-term gain. As Juventus found out, De Ligt has evolved into one of Europe’s most adept ball-playing defenders. Experts from the Dutch Olympic training centre were summoned to fill the kitchens with high-quality elite sports provisions. And in keeping with the principle that all players should be individually coached, Ajax’s youngsters were placed on individualised nutrition plans to help with their development.

FOLKESTONE INVICTA manager Neil Cugley has signed former Cray Wanderers goalkeeper Bailey Vose, 24, and holding midfielder James Rogers, 37, who was player-manager at Hythe Town last season. Goalkeeper Tim Roberts has departed the Isthmian League Premier Division club this summer after making 404 appearances for the Cheriton Road outfit, scoring once at home to Horsham. Köln waited 267 days for a Bundesliga win and when it came it was a big one against Borussia Dortmund, writes Andy Brassell. TUNBRIDGE WELLS newly-appointed manager Luke Carpenter has retained Connor Pring, Robbie Bissett, James Nurden, Ryan Cheek and Frankie Griffin. The game could so easily raced away from a spirited Red Velvet side that were playing in their biggest ever game in their nine-year history. Daramy missed a sitter for Welling Town when he slid his shot past the foot of the post after Peter Smith pinged another sublime pass this time to Golding who put the ball on a plate for his team-mate, who was under pressure though.Hedges added: “Again, Grant proved what a sort of player he is but I did feel at the time we was looking the stronger of the teams, finishing very strong. We had players going off, players coming on. We were having to rejig the line-up but we had to dig deep against a quality team.” Referee Natalie Hudson failed to produce a yellow card for Red Velvet keeper Barnes – one of four major incidents in the game where the offender got away with it!