LOCAL players have earned South Park promotion and manager Joe McElligott has promised to stick by the club's ethos of developing talented footballers in the community as they prepare for life in the Ryman League.
South Park played their last Combined Counties League game on Saturday, beating Windsor 1-0 to finish on 104 points, 14 more than their nearest rivals and the highest total since Merstham won the division in the 2007-08.
"The statistics might make it look like it was easy for us, but I can assure you that the players worked very hard, game-in, game-out," McElligott said.
"Our season wasn't quite as good as Merstham's but really, South Park have defied logic because Merstham are a big, established team whereas South Park have come a long way in a short amount of time."
While South Park's rise through non-league tiers has been rapid, it has been an organic process with McElligott's group of largely Reigate-based players growing with the club.
And while many newly-promoted teams in the Ryman League have been forced to rip apart the squad that earned them promotion in a bid to ensure survival, the South Park boss is eager to buck the trend.
"I truly hope we can move forward together and take on this next challenge," McElligott said. "Our ethos at South Park is the development of local players and I see it as a key component to our success.
"Look at JJ O'Sullivan; we made him captain on Saturday to mark him surpassing 250 games for the club, and there are a few that aren't far behind him. We want to continue to progress, but the development of local players is important to that.
"There is a real spirit in the team and that is created by how they eat together, drink together and play together. It creates a desire to perform. I think the core of the team have grown up together, and they have learned from their experiences together and hopefully they can now push on together."
