Chairman Lee Carter today raised the bar of AFC Telford United’s ambition, declaring: “We aspire to reach the Football League.”

Carter saw his club miss out on promotion to the top flight of non-League football when they lost in the Blue Square North play-off final last season.

But he believes they will get there sooner rather than later – and can then begin to push further than any Telford team has gone before.

“Five or 10 years down the line, the Football League is where we have got to aspire to be,” said Carter.

“In the past I’ve only really talked about getting to the Conference, and maybe that was a mistake.

“Once we get there then I think it is only right we aspire to be run like a League club.

“We live in a massive town with no competition from any other club and a big community to tap into to get them into the habit of supporting the team.

Full-time

“The first challenge is to get into the Conference as a part-time team and compete as a part-time team.

“We will have to be generating far more cash before we could think about supporting a full-time outfit.”

Meanwhile, Carter was delighted by the success of Saturday’s celebration evening to mark the fifth anniversary of the creation of AFC Telford.

Around 200 people attended the event, with guests including former Telford United manager Mick Jones and ex-AFC Telford striker Kyle Perry.

“It was a fantastically successful evening and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it,” added Carter.

“There were some people there who got some well-deserved thanks – people like David Wright MP, Michael Frater (the former Telford & Wrekin Council chief executive) and Mark Donovan (the authority’s head of strategic regeneration).

“We wouldn’t be here today without people like them so it was good to get the chance to acknowledge them.”

By CHRIS HUDSON