Chairman Brian Barry admits he was taking a huge risk when he sacked manager Louis Carder Walcott with Bedfont & Feltham in the midst of a promotion race.
That was back in February, and five months on, the club are back in pre-season training looking forward to life in the Combined Counties Premier.
John Cook came in and took over the reins, leading Bedfont & Feltham to second place in Division One and promotion behind their tenants at The Orchard, CB Hounslow United .
Barry said: “It's a chance I took, and my name would have been dragged through the dirt if the decision had back-fired, but the club has to come first, and the disciplinary record was appalling.
“The previous manager was asked plenty of times to sort it out, but it wasn't, and a club is about more than just winning games. I de-registered 19 players overnight who weren't right for us.
“John came in and only lost two games out of 14. He brought players back in who had been dropped under Louis and we couldn't stop winning.”
Next season will be the first time the club, formed four years ago through a merger of Bedfont FC and Feltham FC, have played in the Combined Counties Premier, although both its predecessor clubs did.
In its short life, the club has also won two County Cups and a League Cup, as well as losing a League Cup final and Southern Combination Cup final – but Barry has set his sights even higher.
He said: “In the past we've always been robbing Peter to pay Paul, but we're one of the wealthier clubs around now. We've always had ambitions to play higher but never had the money to do it. We want to be playing higher than the Combined Counties in a few years.”
Hicham Abdellah, Rashid Obbadi, Jordan Waller, Joe Moriarty, Jim Ward and Michael Campbell have all signed up for another season, while Rickie Borrett has joined from Whyteleafe, Jack Turner from Knaphill and Theo Campbell from Dorking. Jahmal Ramsey and Jacobe Lambe have also returned to the club.
