Worldwide events overshadowed everything else as the 2020s began, with the Covid-19 pandemic spreading across the globe over the first few months of 2020. It reached the UK in earnest in March, leaving the Fleet’s televised game with FC Halifax Town as one of the final matches to be played in Western Europe before society was locked down.

Up to that point, the Fleet had appointed a new CEO in Damian Irvine and mounted a spirited fight against relegation, earning that last win at Halifax that took us out of the bottom four and above Maidenhead United in the table. Despite assurances there would be no relegation that season, a U-turn saw the Fleet demoted as a points-per-game calculation was used to determine final placings. It left the club 0.02 points behind Maidenhead to be demoted by the narrowest margin.

The Fleet conducted a search across Europe for a new coach and in the summer of 2020, multiple-promotion-winning German coach Dennis Kutrieb was appointed, his first task to build an almost entirely new squad. His first season in the country was a thankless task, against a backdrop of empty stadiums and Covid outbreaks that eventually led to some clubs voting to suspend the season, which proved to be the outcome in February 2021.

In 2021/22, the Fleet made it all the way to the promotion final but despite taking the lead on 92 minutes, hosts Dorking Wanderers would equalise in the final minute of an added 10 and go on to win in extra-time. Heartbroken but determined, the Fleet and Kutrieb stormed to the National League South title the following season, winning the league by 20 points and breaking a number of club and divisional records along the way. The Fleet also made the Second Round of the FA Cup for the first time in almost 20 years, appearing live on terrestrial TV against Fleetwood Town.

Back in the National League, the Fleet found the going tough through the autumn and winter and the club faced a relegation battle which led to Dennis Kutrieb’s departure and the appointment of Danny Searle. A superb run of form from February 2024 saw the Fleet secure National League status on the final day, relegating opponents Boreham Wood instead in a dramatic ‘do or die’ climax to the campaign.

Off the field, ambitious plans for a new 8,000-seat stadium were announced as part of a wider retail, leisure and homes-building development to transform the locality – and this was granted planning permission in April 2024 in a huge and pivotal moment for the future of the club.