ONE successful family and a football club with the drive and determination to break the big time – the dream team.

In what can sometimes be a cynical world, it is very hard to find football fairytales.

Yet for a moment in time, it looked like south Essex had its very own, the King family and Canvey Island Football Club were on the brink of something special.

A 13-year golden spell, fuelled by the King family’s finances and strong leadership, saw the club charge through the lower leagues.

The Gulls achieved six promotions from 1992 to 2006, moving from the Essex Senior League to the Football Conference, just one league below professional clubs in the English game.

In 2001, the club also enjoyed success in cup competitions winning the FA Trophy in front of 10,000 fans at Villa Park in Birmingham in 2001.

They also defied the odds to reach the third round of the FA Cup in the 2001/02 season, joining the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in draw for the world’s oldest club cup competition, before eventually bowing out to Burnley.

As a result several of their games were broadcast national TV and for a while, the Gulls were suddenly in the consciousness of the British sporting public.

Through it all, on each step of the journey, were holiday home magnate and councillor Jack King, and his son Jeff.

With father sorting sponsorship from the stands, and son both on the pitch and touchline managing the team, the club’s ambition to succeed took off.

A look back to the club’s glory days is all the more poignant given Jack’s death last week aged 91.

Jeff, 57, described the era as “a special time” and says it was privilege to have been involved.

He said: “My dad was helping in the club back in the 1960s, so he started it all off really.

“I played for the first team when I was 17, so it has been a big part of my life too.

“I was asked to help out with the management of the team back in 1992, and then all of a sudden I was in charge.

“Dad was sorting things off the pitch with sponsorship, which is just as important as what happens on the pitch. Things just snowballed and we had a really great run, it was an exciting and special time.”

Unfortunately the club fell victim to its own success, where the pressures and demands to plough cash to match professional rivals proved too much.

Jeff said: “We took the club as far as we could really, some of our closest games in the Conference were about 100 miles away, and the players in the division were much stronger and quicker.

“It wasn’t really sustainable.”

After resigning from the Conference in 2007, the club now plies its trade in the Isthmian Premier League – English Football’s seventh tier.

The football club’s current chairman John Batch thanked the “inspirational” Kings for their contribution to the club.

He said: “If it wasn’t for Jack and his family’s investment, the club wouldn’t be where it is today, or have enjoyed the success it has.

“It has been a real adventure and Jack, along with his son Jeff, have taken the club to great heights.

“We held a minute’s silence at Greenwich Borough on Saturday, Jack was a hugely popular member of the community and was a big part of the football club's survival.”

A lasting tribute to Jack King’s contribution comes in the form of stand bearing his name at the club’s stadium in Park Lane.

So what next for the Gulls? Work has started to build a new clubhouse which it aims to open in September.

But can the club build on its success and climb the divisions again?

Jeff King believes the club’s future “looks bright” and hopes his friends can mount another charge to the top.

What is certain, is that the foundations to any ascent through the leagues have undoubtedly come from its trophy laden times in the King era.