THE dust has hardly settled after Aldershot's triumph, but already Terry Brown has sketched out his strategy for next season's debut in the Nationwide Conference.
Aldershot have finally reached the national competition 11 seasons on from the black day in 1992 when the cash-strapped former professional club was forced to withdraw from the old Division Four.
Aldershot Town FC was speedily formed, starting life in the Ryman (then Diadora) League Division Three, and Terry Owens, the first chairman, launched a 10-year plan to get the club back to the Football League.
Optimistic, yes. But Aldershot have reached the Conference in 11 years and, in theory, are one step from Division Three.
Brown, however, a seasoned Conference manager from his days at Hayes, knows all about life in the high-grade competition and views it as a long-term campaign.
The manager sees Yeovil, the Conference champions, as the blueprint for success.
"They're going up with a squad built up over three years. The players have an average age of 24 or 25, and that could not be better.
"We will look to strengthen, particularly on the scoring front. We need an attacking midfielder who can score goals and possibly a winger or two.
"I'll be sitting down with the board to discuss the type of players we need. We want youngsters that can develop – perhaps eight or ten of them. We have some now, Michael Harper for instance. Players like Anthony Charles, John Nutter and Nikki Bull are all 21 – people don't realise how young they are.
"We've got the basis and we'll operate like most of the Conference clubs, with half a full-time squad, but on a similar budget to what we have now. The young players will be training full time – with me on Mondays and Wednesdays and with the seniors on Tuesdays and Thursdays."
Brown and his asistant, Stuart Cash, are keen to cast an eye over any aspiring young players in the district. "I want local hungry youngsters. We don't want players to be travelling from all over the world," said the manager.