BRIGHTLINGSEA Regent chairman Terry Doherty has confirmed that the R's will receive a 15 per cent sell-on fee if starlet Rob Harvey moves from Championship side Millwall.

The midfielder, who progressed through the ranks at the Taydal Stadium, recently signed professional forms with the Championship side.

He moved for an undisclosed fee and Regent will receive an additional sum if Harvey is still under contract as of September 1, 2019.

The Gazette understands that further amounts will also be due if and when Harvey makes his first start for the first team and then ten, 20 and 40 appearances.

“The actual fee was quite small but there are quite a few clauses in Rob’s contract, meaning we would benefit financially if and when he reaches certain appearance milestones," Doherty told the Gazette.

“We’re happy about that but at the end of the day it’s not about us as a club.

"It’s all about Rob, although obviously it’s nice to think we could make a little bit of money in the future.

“We probably would have accepted whatever was on the table because we don’t want to stand in his way or put them off.

“I’ve heard horror stories of clubs like ourselves holding pro clubs to ransom and then the player in question hasn’t ended up moving.

“We would never do something like that because it’s career-defining.

“The thought that a player couldn't take an opportunity because his club were being a bit selfish is frightening.

“Millwall have been brilliant.

“They’ve been absolutely fantastic and dealt with the situation so well.

“They’ve been nothing but graceful and I’ve been really impressed."

Doherty believes Harvey's success should motivate the current crop of young players and has high hopes for the R's reserves, who now play step six football in the Thurlow Nunn League.

“Even more important for me is the knock-on effect, in the sense that our young players and our reserve players can see a clear pathway to progress and hopefully do the same," he said.

“They know that if they perform they might get noticed and also that we, as a club, want to support them and won’t hold anyone to ransom.

“We'd like to have three or four young players in the reserve team knocking on the door of the first team, maybe stepping up and coming off the bench.

"That's the model we're working towards and it's great that our teams are closer now, rather than the reserves being in division one of the Border League."