TOM Killick says it would be "a great achievement" for Poole Town to regain their Southern League status.

But the Dolphins manager has acknowledged it will be "tough" for the Wessex Premier leaders to match the stringent ground criteria standards required to go up.

In one of Dorset football's saddest tales, Poole relinquished their Southern League membership in 1996 two years after being forced out of Poole Stadium, which had been their home for 61 seasons.

Since then the club has overcome great odds to valiantly rise from Hampshire Division One to the top of the Wessex.

However, they have struggled to find a permanent home and are currently playing on a school pitch at Tatnam Farm in the town.

Poole, who host Totton in their most important league game for almost 12 years tomorrow (3pm), have officially applied for promotion.

And Killick said: "If we are in the position where we finished top or in the top two, I would be very keen to be promoted.

"I would like to manage a team in the Southern League and I know the players would want the opportunity to play in the Southern League.

"It is a two-stage process, one we have to finish in the top two and secondly it has then got to be decided that the ground is acceptable. Both steps are going to be hard. If we manage to achieve both it would be a huge achievement."

Asked if Tatnam met the criteria to allow Poole to go up, Killick replied: "All I would say is that it will require a huge effort on and off the field for us to do it at the end of this season.

"But at this stage it is what we are aiming for.

"I am not under-estimating the difficulties. It is a huge ask in both respects, but that is what we are aiming for.

"Because of the history of the club, the high level of support it still enjoys, the size of the town and the fact I believe we are in the process of assembling a squad that could hold it's own in the Southern League, it would be brilliant if we could get promoted.

"In particular, I feel that because of the club's history and size of the town (which was about 143,600 in 2005), Poole should have a football club playing in the Southern League, if not higher. I'm told Poole is one of the biggest towns in England that hasn't got a Football League team and I think that shouldn't be the case.

"When you look at a club like Dorchester Town and the facilities they have got, and the standard of football they are playing at, it is a shame from Poole's point of view we are nowhere near that because Dorchester (population about 18,000) is much smaller than Poole."

Dolphins new boy Mark Robinson, ironically signed from the Magpies this week, is set to make his debut against Totton.

  • Meanwhile, Wessex League acting chairman Bob Purkiss confirmed that no action will be taken against Poole Town after Bemerton Heath Harlequins lodged a complaint over an unofficial website match report.

Webmaster of poole-town.fsnet.co.uk Steve Bean posted a controversial report of the sides' Wessex Premier clash on December 29 and criticised Bemerton for their "thuggish behaviour".

But Purkiss told the Echo he was "satisfied" that the Dolphins had apologised to Bemerton for the contents of the report and proved that the club had "no control" over the contents of the site.

Poole Town: (from) Harvell, Yelland, Whitley, I Richardson, Skelton, Cann, T Smith, C Smith, Sturgess, S Richardson, Robinson, Funnell, Culliford, S Smith, Brown, Osborne, Ayres, Tong, Fisk, Lima.