Chairman Len Smith admits Eastbourne Borough must attract a new set of fans if they are ever to turn full-time.

Borough welcome Darlington to Priory Lane tomorrow with Smith eager to see what the of turnout they get on what has been labelled Non-League Day.

Attendance so far this season have been poor with the visits of both Hayes and Wrexham well under the break even target of 1,200. A bumper gate of 2,485 watched last weekend’s clash with AFC Wimbledon but that was boosted by more than 1,000 travelling fans.

Smith is keen for the club to turn fully professional in the next few years but says it won’t be financially possible until attendances are averaging around the 2,000 mark.

With no fixtures in the Premier League or Championship and Albion without a game due to it being an international week Smith is urging football supporters who have never visited Priory Lane before to give it a try.

He said: “There are quite a few people in the Eastbourne area who travel to watch League sides so hopefully this weekend they might come along and see what we have to offer.

“We desperately need to attract some new fans. We have got a hard core of supporters but are having trouble pushing our average attendance past the 1,200 mark.

“About ten years ago we were getting less than 200 so it has gone up fairly steadily but we seem to have hit a ceiling at the moment and can’t get past it.

“The minimum we need is 1,200 but we would like to get it up to 1,500 as we have some pretty big expenses we need to pay for this season. If we are to think seriously about going full-time then we need at least 2,000.

“It might take a while to build up that fan base but I think we can do it. Eastbourne has not had a club at this level before so it might take a while for people to realise what we are doing.

“But the population in Eastbourne and the surrounding area is something like 150,000 so if we can’t get attendances up to somewhere near 2,000 in a few years then I would be disappointed.

“We will have to go full-time eventually if we stay in this division. It is something we are working our way towards gradually but it is an expensive move and we have got to make sure we can afford it.

“I see it happening in the next couple of years. It is difficult to fix a timescale because gates have been disappointing and we need to get them up. We cannot exist as we are on gates of 1,000 let alone go full time.”

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