Dulwich Hamlet boss Martin Eede insists his club still has a bright future despite the heartbreak of missing out on a place in the Ryman Premier League.
Hamlet were well set for promotion most of the way through the season only to fall away in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Their seventh-placed finish sent them into a winner-takes-all play-off with Wealdstone at Champion Hill.
The scars of surrendering their promotion hopes in a penalty shoot-out remain fresh for Eede.
But with the club's reserve and youth teams enjoying great success this season, Eede still has plenty to look forward to.
"Our reserves have won the Suburban Premier League with the youngest ever squad in the club's history, while our youth side are in the final of the Southern Youth League Cup," he said.
"That tells me the club is very strong and we have some excellent young players here.
"Quite a few have already broken into the first-team squad."
Dulwich will be in the Isthmian League Division One next season, where AFC Wimbledon will provide lucrative opposition.
Eede has pledged to stay at the club and hopes he can take them one step further this time.
"I'll definitely be here next season to have another crack at getting promotion," he said.
"What we achieved this year was excellent considering the financial strength of the other teams who went up.
"That doesn't mean anything now, but hopefully the players will come back stronger for the experience."
The boss doesn't know how many of the squad will remain at the club over the summer, but is confident there won't be too many jumping ship.
"This is the time when everybody wants to take a holiday," he said.
"No-one has intimated to me that they want to leave, but there is always some movement.
"I'm already concentrating on next season and have arranged a pre-season friendly with Millwall for July, 22.
"There is work to do to the stadium and the pitch, so I will be keeping very busy!"
Hamlet were well set for promotion most of the way through the season only to fall away in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Their seventh-placed finish sent them into a winner-takes-all play-off with Wealdstone at Champion Hill.
The scars of surrendering their promotion hopes in a penalty shoot-out remain fresh for Eede.
But with the club's reserve and youth teams enjoying great success this season, Eede still has plenty to look forward to.
"Our reserves have won the Suburban Premier League with the youngest ever squad in the club's history, while our youth side are in the final of the Southern Youth League Cup," he said.
"That tells me the club is very strong and we have some excellent young players here.
"Quite a few have already broken into the first-team squad."
Dulwich will be in the Isthmian League Division One next season, where AFC Wimbledon will provide lucrative opposition.
Eede has pledged to stay at the club and hopes he can take them one step further this time.
"I'll definitely be here next season to have another crack at getting promotion," he said.
"What we achieved this year was excellent considering the financial strength of the other teams who went up.
"That doesn't mean anything now, but hopefully the players will come back stronger for the experience."
The boss doesn't know how many of the squad will remain at the club over the summer, but is confident there won't be too many jumping ship.
"This is the time when everybody wants to take a holiday," he said.
"No-one has intimated to me that they want to leave, but there is always some movement.
"I'm already concentrating on next season and have arranged a pre-season friendly with Millwall for July, 22.
"There is work to do to the stadium and the pitch, so I will be keeping very busy!"
Dulwich secured the Suburban League title with a 3-2 win over Wingate & Finchley last week. Nathan Lother, George Gibson and Nicolas Plumain scored the vital goals.
Dulwich Hamlet supporters have produced a video and DVD of their London Senior Cup final victory over Tooting & Mitcham. Videos are £10 and DVD's £12, with postage £1.50. To place an order e-mail Bill Azzi at bazzi@btinternet.com
