Peacehaven admit getting the message across about their rapid progress is hard.

The Magpies are currently the fifth-placed Sussex club in the football pyramid behind Albion, Crawley Town, Whitehawk and Eastbourne Borough.

After back-to-back title campaigns they are sitting ninth in Ryman premier, unbeaten in their last seven league games.

But, while there has been an increase, crowds have not grown as much as the club had hoped which has a knock-on effect on the finances of the club.

Peacehaven will kick-off at the earlier time of 2pm when they host Thamesmead in the FA Trophy second qualifying round today due to a floodlight problem which they currently do not have the money to fix.

Chairman Andrew Melbourne said: “We are ninth in the league but unfortunately in the attendance table we are right near the bottom.

“It would be really good for the club and the players to get some more local fans to come along to watch. We have some decent games coming up so we would really like more support.

“The average attendance has gone up but being realistic to survive in the Ryman premier long term you can only do that if you have the finances to keep up that level of costs because it is more expensive, there is a lot more travelling involved.

“We really want to drive the crowd up to at least 200 on Saturday afternoons so we can keep the momentum going.

“We have a problem with one pylon. The pylons are quite old and it is quite a serious problem. We really want to replace the whole system as soon as possible but we are looking to have to raise £15,000 to £20,000 to do that. That is another fund-raising campaign we are going to have to run.

“As a club we need to get the message out more about the quality of football. If you are in the footballing community and see some of the signings we have made people will know they are good signings and we are doing well. But we need to keep talking to the community and let those who aren’t in the know with non-league football that we are playing good football and it is entertaining.”