"I want to win it," said the Bideford manager. "No messing about – I want to get up again. I don't want to stay in that league, I want to get back to the Premier Division."

The Robins' four-year stay in non-League's third tier officially came to an end two weeks ago. In truth, it had been a long time coming, having been cut adrift at the bottom of the table since January. A surge of five wins and three draws in the 11 games before they were demoted gave fans hope – but it was too late.

So Bideford will spend the summer preparing for their first Division One game since April 28, 2012, when they were promoted as champions. The result that sealed the crown was a 1-0 home win against Taunton Town.

And while Taunton stand a chance of getting out of the division via the play-offs, there will still be plenty of local interest – and from further afield – in what is sure to be a competitive league next season.

Tiverton Town and Barnstaple Town will bring derbies back to the Sports Ground, while the big hitters of Salisbury and Hereford will boost gate receipts.

"I cannot wait for it," said Joyce. "I am excited. If you started the season next week I would be ready for it. It won't be easy in the South and West but every game will be competitive. Hereford and Salisbury will want to go straight through but we would like to trip them up and make them work for it.

"We have won this league before so we know what it is about and how to do it. The resources in the Premier Division are unbelievable but you haven't got that in the one below. It is a more competitive league."

Joyce, who admitted his side "need tweaking in one or two places" to compete next season, said he did not have any complaints about being the first Bideford team to suffer relegation.

"It has been very tough," he said. "We have proved we can stay in the Premier Division – we did it for four years – but we haven't been good enough this year and the league doesn't lie. We finished where we deserved because we weren't good enough.

"There are no excuses, we fought as hard as we could to stay in the league and get a higher place, but ultimately you finish where you deserve."

http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Bideford-manager-Sean-Joyce-aiming-win-Southern/story-29193113-detail/story.html