Dover chairman Jim Parmenter has sensationally vowed to walk away from the club if Whites fans do not return to Crabble in their droves by the summer.

Despite Athletic’s standing in the race for promotion to the Football League, just 588 fans attended Tuesday night’s dismal 2-1 home defeat to Southport - which Mr Parmenter revealed was less than half the crowd the club budgeted for.

Mr Parmenter spoke out after the approval of a £400,000 Stadium Improvement Fund grant towards the cost of rebuilding the Family Stand, complete with a block of League standard changing rooms.

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He said he was reluctant to invest a further £500,000 of his own money in the project - on top of nearly £3m investment in the past 11 years - if people of the district wouldn’t come out to watch games.

Mr Parmenter said: “What I want to say to the people of Dover is, with crowds of 588 I’m not going to take this club anywhere near the Football League. I am not going to invest the money.

“So, it’s up to the local people -do they want a club challenging for the Football League, or don’t they, because if they’re not going to turn out, I’m going to walk away.”

He added: “I’m going to walk away from the club entirely unless people get behind the club and give us some support. There’s no point in me spending hundreds of thousands of pounds if that’s not what the people want.

“I’ve spent 11 years and several million pounds getting the club to where it is, and when we’re pushing for promotion, close to the top five, and we get a crowd of less than 600 it’s just not doable.

“It’s up to the people to decide if they want a football club. I’m not knocking or criticising anybody. It’s their decision. They either want to come and support the club or they don’t.

“It’s up to them. I’ve done everything I can do. We’ve got the grant, I’ve got the investment, but I’m not going to do it unless the people want it, and I will walk away, because I’ve had enough.”

Read more in Thursday's Dover Mercury.