Pat's backing builds momentum

Terry Casey

Having Pat Gallagher supporting and endorsing the building of the new stadium has given the whole project more than just money, it has given it the credibility and momentum that will ultimately result in Maidstone United FC at last playing its matches in Maidstone.

Pat is renowned locally as an immensely successful businessman and captain of industry and this latest gesture is just another example of Pat Gallagher's overwhelming generosity towards the people of the town.

Pat has already given a great of time and thought to the construction of the new stadium and he has pledged his continuing support and expertise.

We are now taking significant strides forward and are looking at a fund that has now reached £1,000,000. We are still a long way short but with your help buying seats and bricks I am now, for the first time, convinced that we will make the target and build the stadium.

KCC Highways have agreed to sell the club the land bank that adjoins our site in Whatman Way, which gives our design engineers more space for the east stand to be situated. It's good news like that which makes up for the problems encountered with the MOD securing the freehold. Being involved in Maidstone United is a bit like being on a roller coaster.

As the fund for the stadium build is entirely separate from the day to day running of the football club, proceeds from the lottery will enable the club to trade solvently for the 2011/2012 season. Please try to persuade just five of your friends and family to join the lottery as this will mean that the football club can pay its way for the first time in many years.

Andy Ford and Steve Butler should have been the “dream ticket” for Maidstone United FC. Not only were they highly experienced they also worked tirelessly in trying to get the team out of the relegation places. If effort and commitment were the only qualities required then Andy and Steve would have seen us to safety but sadly it seems that there are many factors that govern success in football management. I want to thank Andy and Steve for the time, loyalty and effort that they gave to the club while they were in charge.

I know it is clearly early days but Bill and I have been very impressed with the conduct of Jay Saunders and whilst any decision about next season won’t be taken for some time Jay has already demonstrated many qualities that suggest he understands how to get the best out of fellow professionals.

The ups and downs of football

Bill Williams

For the past three or four seasons our club has had a “relegation” tag firmly attached to our shirts and over that time it has been necessary to change our club management in an attempt to save the club from relegation.

The bottom line has always been the same that we have had managers who have not been able to address the goal spread across the team. When a team is assembled it has to have the ability collectively to score at least 45 goals to keep you in any league. The more goal spread you can get around the side obviously the higher up the league you go. This statement isn’t as simple as it sounds and the recipe for success obviously has more ingredients, tight defensively, good players, tactical awareness, team spirit – it goes on.

When Terry, Oliver and I made the decision to appoint Andy Ford and Steve Butler we all believed that this was the correct decision for all the right reasons. We never imagined for a moment that we would have to be reviewing what other managerial options were available to us again so soon.

We are disappointed that the appointment did not work out and are still mystified as to why it didn’t work as we thought their experience and knowledge would be enough to assemble a team to keep us in this division.

Decisions of this importance are never taken lightly and are always made in what we believe are the best interests of the football club. Unfortunately you don’t always get them right.

Our next permanent manager must be the right choice as it is paramount to the future development of this club that this downward spiral is corrected.

We have decided that in this interim period to put Jay Saunders in charge as a caretaker manager and work along with him with a view to offering him a permanent position.

There will be those who will say that Jay is far too inexperienced and that we need a vastly experienced manager with a proven track record. We have just been down that road recently and it may still become an option.

Jay Saunders wants to become a manager; he has great rapport with the players and years of experience playing at this level. We will find out if he has the tactical awareness and knowledge of identifying a talented player in the weeks ahead.

My first bit of advice to him would be to select a very good assistant as playing and managing is certainly not an easy job. So let’s get behind this decision and give Jay every opportunity as it will allow us to have a look at each other, see what ability he has and give the Board the added opportunity to have some time to deliberate before we make an important decision.

Investing in our future

Terry Casey

Bill and I have had meetings with a number of local investors and they have all confirmed that they want to become involved in helping to build a football stadium in Maidstone.

Our detailed business plan itemises the cost of building the stadium at £1.6 million and explains how, with further capital from Oliver and myself and a football foundation grant, we have already got £400k in the stadium fund. We are presenting a plan that is based on running a successful business on the synthetic 3g pitch which has already been well received by the businessmen that we have approached.

Although the early reactions we have had are very positive the fact is that £1.2million is an awful lot of money and we are going to have to work very hard to raise this amount.

I am aware of the frustrations that the supporters are feeling over the result at Canvey it was a game that I thought we could have won but I am learning that football doesn’t seem to follow a script.

The fact is that we have appointed, in Andy Ford, a man who has a successful record in football management and he shares the frustration that is felt by all of us when the team perform badly. The amount of work and effort he has put in since he took over in late October suggests to me that he will get things right before the end of the season. It is encouraging that we have also been able to re-sign quality players like Jay and Nathan, which is evidence of the determination of us all of us to avoid relegation.

It is difficult to imagine how important that a successful Maidstone United team is to many of the people of the town. I bumped into someone recently who reminded me of the passion that could be generated. He told me that his father, Adrian, was so thrilled at the Stones getting to the third round of the FA Cup in the 1978/9 season that he had christened him as follows; Glen, Richard, Christopher, William, Kenneth, Neil, Brian, Norman, Allan, John, Barry Clark.

Glen was chosen by his dad because it was the name of the goal scoring legend Glen Coupland. 

I am convinced that when we bring Maidstone United back to the town we will bring the crowds back and the whole community will benefit from our efforts and endeavours.

One for the future

Terry Casey

During our weekly meeting with Andy Ford, Bill and I congratulated the new management team for producing a performance at Carshalton which was, by all accounts, as good a display by a Maidstone team for some time.

We then looked ahead to the match at Harlow and Andy informed us that it would be difficult to find eleven players to start the game. Such is the unfairness of football that we took a great stride forward at Carshalton only to be struggling to find a team for, probably, the most important match of our season.

We are however a small business and we are already losing a great deal of money each week so we are not prepared to make panic moves into the market. Andy and Steve are building a competitive squad within the budget and we are determined to put the business onto a sound footing. My personal concern was that we would not be good enough to stay in this league but I am convinced that we have enough talent and determination beat the drop.

I had the pleasure of watching Maidstone United under 14s two weeks ago. I must say that not only do they have a number of highly talented players they also, as a team demonstrated levels of discipline that would make any Maidstone supporter proud that they were wearing a Maidstone shirt.

I spoke to them in the dressing room and they were polite and well-mannered and a great credit to their parents and to Alan Swift and Marc Gasson who run the side. They won the game as they have won all but two of their games all season. They did it without any dissent or petulance but by skill, determination and teamwork. With continued good leadership and careful handling these kids will become the future of Maidstone United.

Bill and I went to Dover Athletic FC this week and met with Jim Parmenter, their chairman. He showed us around the stadium and gave us valuable ideas as to how a football club can make extra revenue from activities off the pitch. What was interesting was the fabulous condition of the grass on the pitch. It was explained that the grass surface was in such excellent condition because they hardly ever trained on the pitch and did not have a reserve team, therefore only using the surface once every two weeks. We then asked what other ways improve revenue streams and he told us “beating Gillingham in the FA Cup helps!”