Rosslyn Park managing director Shaun Justice says it is just a matter of time before the club turns professional, but there is no rush.

The £1.5m redevelopment of Park’s Priory Lane home – as unveiled in last week’s Wandsworth Guardian – is the latest in a series of steps towards shedding their semi-pro tag.

However, Justice also offered a word of caution adding that there are many more hurdles to clear, and they will not be forced into turning professional before the time is right.

Park, sitting second in National League One and led by former England international Alex Codling, are the best semi-professional team in the country.

They missed out on promotion to the Championship last season by just three points behind full-time Doncaster Knights.

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This time round, full-time Ealing Trailfinders are the team to beat and they sit on top of National League One boasting a 100 per cent record.

Justice said: “Our intention is to constantly move every area of the club forward, and to that end we are more professional this year than we were last year.

“We will look to move things forward again next year, but my concern about saying ‘We will turn professional in two years’ time’ is the mistake that other clubs have made.

“There is a huge amount of investment and work that needs to be done to secure a successful and professional environment.

“We wouldn’t want to go half measures – we’d want to make sure that if we were asking athletes to be professional, that they were working and training in a professional environment – kit, food, supplementation and facilities – everything.”

He added: “We have the best coach outside of the Premiership at Rosslyn Park, and we’ll continue to move that on until we have a really good support team around him.

“At some stage there will only be one way to go – professional – but I cannot see that happening in the next year to 18 months.

“It’s too big an investment to get wrong.”

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