JIMMY Ball’s five-year deal with AFC Totton comes with a view of immediate success and long-term planning, according to the Stags’ manager.

Appointed First Team Manager in March, Ball combines his first-team duties as Head of Football Operations.

The Southern League Division One South are clearly gearing up for a promotion battle this campaign after narrowly missing out on the play-offs this term, with Ball stating that he aims to create a winning culture at the club during his reign.

Alongside on the pitch pressures, Ball will also oversee the creation of a player pathway from youth level to the first-team, with chairman Stephen Snow believing that the former Forest Green Rovers manager can help Totton by “building a better club”.

In an interview with the club’s website, Ball said: “The ambition is to win, first and foremost.

“You have to do that daily, in how you work, how you compete, and you have to do that weekly on the pitch, in games.

“You have to do that in leagues, and in cups. We’ve got to win - you can start making bold predictions and stuff like that, but basically if you’re winning, you’re succeeding and you’re developing and you’re kicking on.

“The simple notion is to compete every day, and to win as much as possible. You can’t win all the time, because you’re playing against other teams and they’re entitled to have a go, but we’re looking to be successful, to climb leagues, and to do special things.”

Ball was briefly interim manager of Forest Green, a side who have risen from being in the Southern League prior to the turn of the century, to now sitting in English football’s third tier.

Neighbours Eastleigh have also established themselves as a full-time outfit from their humble Wessex League roots, whilst Ball also pointed at the rise of Dorking Wanderers, who reached the National League this season after starting in the 16th tier.

“In recent years we’ve seen it – Dorking have done amazing well from where they’ve come from, the climb, you look at League Two with Sutton, with Barrow teams like that,” mentioned Ball.

“They’ve come from where we are.

“Look at Forest Green, it’s fantastic, a club that I was part of.

“It’s possible, but you’ve got to have the infrastructure, the backing, the support and you’ve got to have the players too.

“Hopefully if we can get all those things right, the potion right, the cohesion together, the continuity about the message, togetherness, then anything is possible with hard-work and determination. That’s the aim.”

Aside from his role as First Team manager, Ball spoke of creating a “whole club”, hoping to strengthen Totton’s approach to their youth sides and academy.

He restarted: “To have a whole club is really important, you want those kids around the club that have the dreams of the first time they play football, and all that enthusiasm, and everything that goes with that.

“I think it is important to have a whole football club, and to structure it right so that there are pathways, there’s possibilities for players. Getting really good coaching into young players, watch them really enjoy themselves, make them unafraid of making mistakes, and helping them progress it is massively important.

“To have a whole football club is the aim, you can’t click your fingers and have it happen overnight. You’ve got to do systematically and you’ve got to do it properly so there’s a proper structure.

“That’s the aim – I think it is very, very important for the community for Totton, and for the football club, because we want to see kids that have come into the club in their younger years, all the way through their teens, come into our academy and work themselves up into our first team.

“That would be something that would be pretty special in the future. We want a whole club approach, and hopefully we are very successful at that.”