EASTLEIGH face a hectic start to what could potentially be a truly sensational 2015.

Richard Hill’s Spitfires enjoyed a record breaking 2014, but next year could be even more remarkable.

Eastleigh welcome in 2015 lying fifth in the Conference Premier, the elite division of English non league football.

Last Sunday’s 5-1 romp at Braintree elevated Richard Hill’s men into the final play-off place – still with at least two games in hand on all the four teams above them.

Eastleigh have three games in hand on second placed Bristol Rovers – two of them at home – and would move level with the Gas if they won all three of them.

Eastleigh have 21 games left in the first four months of 2015, and a third of them – seven matches – take place in January, starting tomorrow at Woking.

Having lost 2-0 in the FA Trophy in Surrey a few weeks ago, Eastleigh followed that up with a 2-2 Conference Premier draw at the Silverlake Stadium on Boxing Day.

It seems incredible to think of Eastleigh potentially winning promotion to the Football League, where they could have two Hampshire derbies against once mighty Portsmouth in their 2015/16 fixture list.

After all, this is the club that as recently as 2003 were still playing in the Sydenhams Wessex League.

The club first reached the Conference South – the sixth tier of football in this country back in 2005.

The Spitfires were always competitive at that level, but the arrival of Oxford-based Bridle Insurance as owners in 2011 provided an extra financial boost.

Hill was appointed Ian Baird’s successor in September 2012 and Eastleigh have not looked back since.

After losing in the play-off semi final in 2012/13, the club stormed to the Conference South title last season.

Helped by Bridle’s backing, Hill was able to bring in experienced Football League players such as strikers James Constable and Jack Midson, defender Paul Reid and midfielder Craig Stanley during the summer.

Constable and Midson were at Oxford United when they won promotion from the Conference in 2010.

One thing in Eastleigh’s favour is a superb home record.

They have truly made the new-look Silverlake Stadium – featuring a brand new covered stand behind one of the goals and covered terracing opposite the main stand – the proverbial fortress.

Out of 23 home league games in 2014, Eastleigh won 18 of them.

Four were drawn, and only one defeat was suffered – against Boreham Wood in the final game of 2013/14 after Eastleigh had already won the Conference South title.

This season’s form has seen the club’s league average attendance jump from 680 to 1,537 – a percentage increase of 126!