Eastleigh FC to go full time

Eastleigh have announced they expect to go full time next season in a bid to finally crack the Blue Square Bet South. The Spitfires have established themselves in non-league football's second tier over the past six seasons, having risen up through the pyramid from the Wessex league.

But the club now say they are keen to progress to the Premier and a switch in approach is required.

Eastleigh director David Malone says the move is still very much in the planning stages but is sure it is the right route for the club to take.

He told the NLP: "This is not a case of us chucking money at full-time professional players carelessly. We have had six years in this league. We've thrown our financial kitchen sink at geting out and it isn't enough. We need fresh ideas and we need to explore other avenues if we are going to do it.

"The money we have got to spend does not give us the chance to compete with the big names. It's not a hard-luck story, it's a fact of life.

"We have got to try and do something different and with a young, full-time team we think that promotion into the Blue Square Bet Premier will be more realistic.

"All we are doing is re-directing some of the money we have got and spending it on younger players who can spend more time together."

On the Eastleigh shopping list is likely to be up-and-coming teenagers released by their local football league sides.

Manager Ian Baird will go full-time next season after confirming his commitment to the club and Malone believes the move will have the backing of the fans and could draw bigger gates next season.

He added "Too often the players this season have run out of puff and with a fit, youthful squad of keen players we think there is no danger of a repeat."