Jim Parmenter has not ruled out helping Dover Athletic but insists that the club needs to be run as a big business.

The former Whites director – who had a spell on the board at Margate – was the man who revealed exclusively to the Dover Mercury in 1999 that Dover Athletic was in serious financial trouble.

He resigned from the board after failing to secure control of the club when pumping thousands of pounds into the coffers – which made him a major shareholder. Since his resignation, he donated all his shares to the Supporters Trust.

But, despite no longer being a director at the club, he still keeps in contact with people at Dover.

And he admitted: “It’s sad to see Dover in this situation. Dover is the second biggest club in Kent. There is no doubt about that. Only Gillingham are bigger.

“Dover has the fanbase and should still be in the Conference. I think everyone in Kent knows that but mistakes have been made in the past which sees the club in its present situation.

“It is very difficult for fans to run a football club, which is what’s happening at Dover. They are a big part of the club and have done a tremendous job there. The Supporters Trust is a credit and they’ve raised a lot of money to help Dover Athletic survive.

“But Dover Athletic is a big business. It has to be treated that way and be run by someone who has experience of running a big business. I would never criticise those who are running the club now. Mick Kemp, John Farringdon and his wife Denise are hard-working people, who care about Dover. They have done a great job.

“But if someone was to come in and pump a load of money in, they need to gain control of all the Husks’ shares. They still own the majority of them. But also anyone taking over the club would have to work with the fans – it is their club ultimately and the Trust has much more power now.”

Parmenter admitted: “I’ve made mistakes myself in football, that I’d never repeat now. Sometimes, in football, you do things that you’d never dream of in business. That is a mistake. You have to treat running a club purely as a business, nothing else. That is the way forward.

“And that has to be the way forward for Dover Athletic – it certainly has great potential to anyone coming in, as long as those debts can be cleared.”

So will Parmenter consider returning to Dover?

“I’d never say never. I am watching the situation at Dover with interest but no-one has called me yet.”