Defender Crossley Lema has today departed Folkestone Invicta in order to take up an offer at a higher level.

The right back only signed for Invicta from Carshalton Athletic earlier this summer but, after and approach from a club playing in the National League South, has since decided that his future lays elsewhere.

“We were delighted to have signed a player of Crossley’s ability earlier in the summer and we are equally disappointed that he has already moved on. During negotiations we made the offer of a contract for next season but he wished to remain a non-contract player. We knew when we signed him that Crossley was looking to push himself to a higher level and we expected to be a part of that journey although clearly we did not expect it to happen this quickly. Obviously supporters will be disappointed to see a player move on without having made an appearance but unfortunately that is something that can happen in non-league football. While we also understand that supporters may be anxious to see more names put pen to paper for the new season, we can assure them that we are working incredibly hard to ensure we bring in players who are the right players for the football club. We return to pre-season training on Saturday where we will have some new additions so supporters can expect more news soon.” – Micheal Everitt