GATES HAVE OPENED TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD

IT'S WEDNESDAY afternoon and Ramsgate chairman James Lawson is just off the phone to AFC Wimbledon.

- Matt Badcock

There's lots on the to-do list ahead of their trip to Plough Lane to take on the League Two side in the FA Cup second round tomorrow night.

A sold-out away end will be cheering on Ben Smith's Isthmian South East side for the biggest games in the club's history.

No fewer than 20 coaches will take supporters from Kent to south west London with a number of designated pick-up and drop-off points at schools to help ensure children - many who play in the club's 1,000-strong youth section - can easily attend with parents.

"When those kids leave school at three o'clock on Monday and make their way over to the local pick-up point, where there will be 100-200 fans singing Ramsgate songs it's something I never imagined would be possible," Lawson tells The NLP.

Indeed, FA Cup fever has well and truly swept the Thanet area.

More than 400 hat and scarf sets have been snapped up and they've even sold an advertising board to a Mexican company.

Much of their recent success and explosion in attendances has been driven by Lawson's idea to build the club from the youth up.

"Traditional Non-League fans are from the older generation, aren't they? When I took over in 2019, I ran the youth side of the club and, essentially, the youth club took over the senior club. Which is fairly unusual.

"We do huge amounts of community projects, those kids all get free tickets - that's where our growth in terms of attendances as come from. People who didn't traditionally watch Non-League football are now big fans in Ramsgate.