Director's blog: OA's Q&A

What a few weeks it has been. After two seasons of Covid disruption at last we are seeing some regular football, live at the stadium, with enthusiastic fans creating a great atmosphere.

The men’s first team are doing us proud right now, second in the table as I write this and on an unbeaten (well you know what I mean…) run of 12 matches.

I must congratulate Hak and his staff for turning the season around after our form collapsed in October. It seems a simple demand on the players has paid off: work harder! We can see the effect of this in our performances. Opponents are given far less time on the ball and pushed to make mistakes; when we attack we have more players available making runs, getting into good positions; when we lose the ball players are working their socks off to get back in position and defend.

When we the fans see our team playing with such effort and commitment it makes us even keener to shout our support. It’s win-win and long may it continue.

If I could just add one important additional reason for our recent success: my absence from the matches. I have been stuck in France as the Covid restrictions tightened in November and this appears to have had a miraculous effect on results. Finally, I’ll have to admit that Tim Murrell and you others are right, I am a bad omen…don’t worry I’m not returning to Kent for a few weeks yet!

Despite being away for so long there have been a few questions flying around and so I thought I’d give you my answers to some of them.

Is this the best team we’ve had at the Gallagher since coming home?

I think it’s too early to say. We’re on a great run and the team is playing some exciting football but let’s judge them after a full season. Hopefully in May we’ll be celebrating something special. It would take an exceptional season-long, effort however to match Jay’s promotion squad of 2016. The squad which sat near the top of the National League table towards the end of 2017 was decent too. Players such as Pigott, Lewis, Loza and Hines were outstanding and we beat teams like Dagenham, Woking, Eastleigh, Sutton and Macclesfield all away from home…and Cheltenham!

What’s going on with all these contract extensions then?

Terry, Bill and I feel we have an exceptionally talented and hard-working management team and playing squad this season. Given there is a reasonable chance of promotion we felt it was timely to secure the services of our manager and the spine of next season’s team early.

We are delighted with where we have got to with this but of course other players still have the opportunity to prove themselves too. There is abundant talent throughout this squad.

We are of course aware that extending contracts like this at our level of football is not without risks. In other situations I have seen the award of a long contract cause players to stop trying so hard or go off the boil. Others are unlucky with injury. In the case of this season’s squad we have a very honest, hard-working group so I have no worries on that score.  

How are the club’s finances doing?

Through Covid Terry, Bill and the team worked very hard to batten down the hatches and avail ourselves of all the public financial assistance going. You, the supporters, have been generous in donating season ticket moneys and in many cases working as volunteers around the club to help us where possible.

So, despite being shafted by the National League in the October 2020 funding distribution (more on this later), we have managed to turn in another profitable year. We will be publishing the figures in a few weeks time. This is the ninth year in a row we have made a trading (EBITDA) profit and I will be asking Kieran Maguire, the guru of football finance, if he knows any other club with such a record.

It may not be as sexy a football record such as winning the league nine times in a row, but I’m mighty proud of the achievement nonetheless. Our profitable business model underpins the club and makes it safe and sustainable in an era of bankruptcies and financial over-stretching.

Are there any plans to expand the stadium?

In past years stadium expansion was obligatory in order to meet grading requirements (the reason behind the Genco Stand) and was paid for by the profits we made together with grants made available by the Football Foundation. The situation now is slightly different. We don’t have to expand the stadium for ground grading purposes now, regardless of whether we get promoted this season or not.

However this season has seen the occasional return of a horrible phenomenon – crowd disturbances. We are trying to address this by improving our security operation and by restricting access to unaccompanied, non-member youths. Nonetheless we have to admit that the way we are able to accommodate away fans is not ideal. Placing home and away fans in the same stand is always provocative to a certain section of support. It’s not just at the Gallagher. We have seen this at Eastleigh, at Dagenham and at other stadia. It’s never ideal.

Some fans have asked why we can’t put away fans in the town end. Well the stadium was designed to have away fans entering through the north turnstiles, they can be segregated more easily, turnstile capacities have been calculated with this in mind, extra seats can be made available in the main stand. Furthermore the town end has the greater facilities for home supporters, the Spitfire Lounge, the food outlets, the Club Shop, the meeting area in front of the turnstiles. There simply is no other way of segregating supporters safely in line with capacity, entrance and exit requirements.

In the master plan for the stadium, once built out to its 6,000 maximum capacity, the town end becomes the home supporters’ end and the Genco Stand becomes the away supporters’ stand, with a segregation line where appropriate. We may have to add turnstiles and exits at the north end at some stage. However we have limited funds for expansion at present. This might change if we are promoted.

In the National League we become eligible again for substantial grant support, although Football Foundation grants are always capped at maximum 50% of total building costs… As a result we are starting to look again at the feasibility of replacing the town end terracing with a larger terrace, maybe a slightly smaller version of the Genco Stand. This would have to be done within a tight budget, without restricting future development of the West side stand and with a design capable of having additional facilities (changing rooms, seats, bars, etc) bolted onto it in the future.

It will be a fascinating feasibility study. If we were to find a way of designing and funding this it would resolve our Genco Stand issues instantly. The town end would revert to its previous use as the home supporters’ end. It’s a long shot but watch this space.

Are we still contesting the National League’s disastrous governance during the Covid period?

Where do I start? Firstly, let there be no doubt as to what happened. The National League board proved to be incompetent throughout the crisis, from March 2020 onwards. There were errors of judgement and errors of mismanagement, there was arrogance and failure to admit to mistakes and apologise for them. Clear-headed directors would have resigned but the ones we had were simply unable to grasp the seriousness of the crisis and the extent of their statutory responsibilities as directors, which are to represent all clubs fairly and not to feather their own clubs’ nests.

The chairman, Brian Barwick, who finally resigned months after we and other clubs called for his head, kept blindly bleating ‘we are a well-respected league’ during every public utterance, as though he was conducting the orchestra on the Titanic.

Jack Pearce, who was the architect of the flawed distribution of October 2020, has refused to admit to or apologise for all the errors of judgement. Let’s not forget it was Pearce who saw fit to recommend a distribution which went against government guidelines to reimburse lost gate receipts. His distribution proposal rewarded seven out of eight National League board members’ clubs with £500,000 more than they should have received. He acted as though he knew better than government. To add insult to injury the directors of those clubs, whose pockets bulged after adopting the Pearce distribution plan, then had the gall to appoint him Barwick’s replacement as League Chairman. Even Stalin would have blushed.

It’s really no excuse to say ‘well it was Covid so what else could we do’. The then Chairman Barwick should have had the humility back in March 2020 to establish Covid crisis committees to assist the league. Some of his board colleagues, who subsequently resigned, had proposed this. He could have drafted in additional support. He could have seen what was going to happen and himself resigned, admitting he had no appetite for the challenges ahead. He and his board simply weren’t up to the task on their own. They behaved as though they were some village committee organising a knees-up, not a company board responsible for governing some 68 clubs, clubs with combined turnovers of £50 million, clubs with 2,000 paid staff and hundreds of thousands of fans. It’s very serious stuff.

Over the past months we have been working hard with other angry clubs and our legal advisers to hold the guilty parties to account for what went on in these recent dark days. This has proved complex and expensive. We have not given up though.

In the meantime we have been made aware of a project to produce a film documentary telling the truth about the National League governance during this period. We are looking forward to working with the producers and writers to create a powerful documentary, whose exposure of the truth will have a real impact.

Have you finished now?

Yes, give me a cold compress. Goodness, I haven’t even mentioned 3G pitches yet…

Er…Any news on 3G pitches?

Yes. Tracey Crouch’s recent review into football governance, hopefully to be adopted by government in the Spring, says League 2 should allow 3G pitches for a grace period of three years, which is as good as unconditionally allowing them. Moreover there are now clubs in League 2, e.g. Sutton, Harrogate and Leyton Orient, who have shown they are in favour of 3G pitches. I remain confident that we will be able to use our 3G pitch in League 2 if ever we knock on the EFL door.

Anything else?

Yes. Apologies for being long-winded. That’s what not being able to attend matches and talk to you in person does for me. So let me end by wishing you all a great end-of-season spent following the Stones.

Yours in sport

Oliver Ash

A return to some sort of normality

We are all desperate to return to some sort of normality after some of the most stressful and anxious times we will ever experience.

Whilst to some football is just a sport, to many people it is much more than just a game. For millions of football supporters attending a game and supporting their team will be a massive step towards the new normal.

Maidstone United is, and will always be, a club deeply committed to the community it represents and the closure of the Gallagher has meant that thousands of people have not been able to gather to watch or play the game that they love.

We are working hard to get all elements of the business operating, as the club is suffering from the complete shutdown of all our income streams.

The most high profile of all our activities is of course the first team which drives the whole business model.

If the first team is doing well we find recruiting academy students is more successful, we find our player development squad numbers increase and, of course, we get bigger crowds through the gates.

On the flip side if we don’t get things right on the pitch, then financially and emotionally life can be dire.

Our three seasons in the National League were a struggle and I also felt last season was a great disappointment.

Despite the difficulties of the last four seasons, we have always made sure that the business is profitable and viable.

We will continue to take a sensible approach to how we run the club and are prudent about the money we spend.

One of the first decisions we have made is regarding the playing budget for the 20/21 season because our retention and recruitment will not progress unless we have a financial framework to work with.

We have contacted players we feel could be right for the team, initially to establish their thoughts about whether they would prefer to train three mornings or two evenings a week.

Our findings were clear in that the majority of the players we spoke to wanted to train three mornings.

There was no evidence that this would force the playing budget upwards but it was evident that the players we wanted were ambitious and wanted to make football their main source of income.

For Maidstone United to continue this training regime is a major statement of our intention to get back to the National League. Whilst our three seasons were difficult, we learned a lot and will not make the same mistakes.

The playing budget will be less than last season but because of the uncertainty around crowd numbers and start dates, we will try to be flexible and keep some funds in reserve.

In addition to the five contracted players, we are in advanced negotiations with a further four of last season’s squad.

We are keen to avoid signing the journeyman players who drift from club to club without really committing to Maidstone United, so our campaign will concentrate on more local players.

There are a substantial number of players that are of interest to us but making sure we make good signings has never been more important.

We know from telephone calls to hundreds of our supporters how vital the football club is to many people so we will ensure that we will be ready for the new season, whenever it starts. Thank you for your continued support.

Terry

The responsibility of doing our best

It’s been a difficult week at the club after that disappointing men’s first team result at Weymouth and the nature of the performance. 

We have been spending hours and hours with Terry, Bill, John and Hakan reflecting on what is currently not right and how we can fix it. Everybody has their view on what to do and we appreciate this. 

However, we have the responsibility of doing our best to operate the club successfully and put things right when needed. We know we don’t have all the answers but we are working hard.

The team struggled on Saturday because we were missing at least five key players and because the team endured a five and a half hour coach journey after a closure on the M25, arriving at the stadium less than an hour before kick-off!  All this puts huge pressure on the team. To his credit Hakan made no excuses for all this but I will. 

This week we know the players and coaches will try their damnedest to get the win, recover some self-respect and give something back to the supporters. Having said that it will not be easy. Welling are in form and we will still be missing several of our key players. It’s up to the others to show some pride and extra effort for the cause.

More generally we are suffering somewhat off the field as well. Due to overspending on the playing budget since the beginning of the season, some below par performances and a 15% drop in attendances, cash-flow is extremely tight. This reduces our room for manoeuvre. 

As I say repeatedly, we cannot and will not operate like several other clubs in the National League, where owners subsidise annual losses to the tune of between £500K and £1.5M. 

We believe several clubs in National League South also run at a significant deficit. We can’t match that and sometimes it’s frustrating. 

We budget to spend less than we produce in income. It’s that simple and it will keep the club alive and kicking when others fall by the wayside.

As stated previously we are still trying to identify possible investors to help the club grow sustainably faster but for the moment we are no further than several preliminary discussions. 

We are therefore unable to create financial miracles as we toy with ways of improving performances. 

We are already considering carefully how to operate next season. Clearly there are choices and changes to consider and we hope to make an announcement about all that shortly. 

In the meantime all Terry, Bill and I can do is to thank you for your support and please continue to get behind the team whenever you can, even when things are not going the way we all want them to. 

The club is a great club and it needs you to push behind it.

Oliver

A defining decade for the Stones

So it is Happy New Year time once again. On behalf of the directors I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and successful 2020 whether you are with family, friends, at work or doing what you most enjoy, watching the Stones of course.

We have just ended an amazing decade in the life of the club. Back in January 2010 we were coming to the end of our tether and by August the Maidstone United train had hit the buffers.

Ten years on and we have a fantastic stadium in a great location near the town centre and we have enjoyed progress on and off the field for most of the decade. It really has been an extraordinary ride.

Thank you to all the fans. Those from yesteryear and then the wilderness years, and also all those who have joined the party at the Gallagher Stadium and supported the club on its recent journey.

Thank you to our business partners, in particular Gallagher Group, Britelite, Gullands, Shepherd Neame, Compare and Recycle, Rockingham Reins, Genco, Churchill Security, Manchett Facilities, Henry Reeves and Co, Simon Miller and Haynes who have stayed with us and supported us faithfully over the decade and thus enabled us to play at National League level.

Thank you to all the volunteers who have stood by us and with us and worked tirelessly to raise the profile and prosperity of the club. Thank you to our staff, who give everything for the cause and have done throughout the dramas of ten long years. Thank you all.

We have come a long way but there is still a long way to go. The challenge is to remain patient, be proud of the sustainable business model and community club we have and enjoy the football played at National South and National League level.

Accept that it will not always be the beautiful game. Understand how tough it is to survive financially when we are unable and unwilling to throw money we don’t have at the playing budget, while other clubs at this level and above spend hundreds of thousands of pounds which they don’t earn.

It’s frustrating trying to compete with these clubs but that’s just how it is right now. Maybe it is for the best. However, we do appreciate that because of these limitations not every aspect of how we run the club will please all of you all the time. All we can do is ask for patience and understanding. Everybody at the club is a supporter and we are always trying to do our best.

As you know we recently announced a plan to try and find new investment to enable us to grow sustainably, faster. Our strategic plan, the success of which will depend on this new investment, is to develop the stadium to enable us to increase our recurring commercial and football revenues.

We also want to keep developing the community side of the club including the women, disability and the youth football sections and ensure all this remains a valuable asset to the local area.

It’s a heck of a challenge for us to remain sustainable and to achieve a promotion to the EFL within the next decade. However, I believe that it is absolutely feasible and that this coming decade can be every bit as exciting for Maidstone United as the last one has been.

We have had plenty to cheer over the past ten years. I won’t bore you by discussing every memorable match in detail because like me you’ve probably watched most of the games fifty times already.

So instead, before I go, I’d like to name my team of the decade and invite you to comment and challenge my selections on social media.

I haven’t gone for any players from the last 12 months because it’s a bit too soon for this season and last season is generally best forgotten. However, I really hope by the end of this season some of our current players will have progressed from ‘favourites’ to ‘legends’.

Goalkeeper: Lee Worgan. Lee was outstanding for us over several years and played in two of our amazing three promotions in four years. He was a real club man and got involved in coaching and soccer schools. Became an official Stones legend for one particular penalty save and subsequent celebration.

Right Back: Jamie Coyle. OK, so I’m playing Jamie slightly out of position here but we’re overloaded with centre-back legends and Jamie was versatile enough to play right back. He was a strong defender and a stalwart for us for a couple of seasons. He was a leader too on the field and is now developing a good coaching career off it. In the runner-up position were other good players and characters like Seth Twumasi, Callum Driver and Richard Davies, who looked so promising before injury did for him.

Centre-Back: Steve Watt. Watty is a shoo-in for a centre back spot. Such a strong header of the ball, excellent reader of the game and a forceful communicator, who set a fine example with his commitment. A core part of our successful run. A club legend.

Centre-Back: Sonny Miles. It is to Sonny’s credit that he beats Lokko, De Havilland, Okuonghae, Finney, Parry, not to mention Elokobi, to this position. Very effective, always gave his heart for the club and played with total commitment. One of those who made you feel his heart was made of amber.

Left-Back: Tom Mills. Tom came up through the ranks and played for us for years and years, a good, solid defender, improved season on season and always reliable. Some spectacular goals were the icing on the cake. He beats Joe Anderson and the adaptable Bobby-Joe Taylor to the spot.

Right-Midfield/Wing: Zavon Hines. Zavon was only with us for a three-month period in 2017 but what a time that was. He was one of the best players ever to appear for the Stones and when he wanted to perform he was unstoppable. Some sublime moments of skill and great goals (Eastleigh away anybody?). He outdoes stiff competition from the dependable Matt Bodkin with Vas Karagiannis also close to featuring.

Centre-Midfield: Stuart Lewis. It’s a tough position to pick with so many good and popular players competing. Stuart wore his heart on his sleeve as well as the captain’s armband. Always showing a good example with his tireless running box to box. His signing in early 2017 saw a massive turnaround in our fortunes and we ended the NL campaign strongly.

Centre-Midfield: James Rogers. A credit to him for seeing off competition from other memorable club midfielders such as Danny Lye, Reece Prestedge, Micky Phillips, Jack Paxman, Jai Reason and Joe Healy, not to mention Jay Saunders. James was an old-fashioned ball-winner for the Stones and he commanded the midfield for a couple of terrific seasons. A real Stones legend.

Left-Midfield/Wing: Alex Flisher. What a player he was for the Stones. Skilful and with a huge heart he was the sort of player you would travel far and wide to see. A real eye for goal and a fabulous left foot. Good enough to keep Blair Turgott and Jamar Loza out of the side, both of whom were excellent for the club.

Striker: Joe Pigott. His performances lifted us in 2017, we were not the same side without him. Perhaps the best signing of that period. A strong, skilful striker, he could score out of nothing, as those of us who witnessed his stunning opener against Dagenham in February 2017 would affirm. Now doing well a few levels above. Good luck to him. One of our own.

Striker: Frannie Collin. A Stones legend goal-poacher, who will always be remembered for his winner against Stevenage, fortunately before VAR was invented. Was a key part of our climb from the depths of the pyramid and fans took him to their hearts, like they did to most of these players. Close runners-up were Jay May and Shaun Welford, two talented strikers who played their hearts out for us, and also Ian Draycott.

Manager: Jay Saunders. Well, who else? Seven memorable seasons as gaffer. Many of these players were his recruits, he certainly knew how to get them to play for us.

Head of Football: Bill Williams. Still the wisest footballing mind in the office. An invaluable source of support, advice and encouragement for Terry and me over the past ten years.

Well, that was fun to do, not easy to make team selections, brings back many good memories. I would certainly love to see that team in its prime out on the field again.

All that remains is for me to wish you a Happy New Year and a Happy New Decade and Come on you Stones!

Oliver Ash

Ten years on

This year is the tenth anniversary of my involvement with Maidstone United and I raise my glass to that. No regrets yet. On the contrary the experience has been most stimulating and highly enjoyable – at least from October 2010 onwards. 

It has been my good fortune to have met some wonderful people who support the club in so many different ways and to develop a bond with the club, its loyal business partners and its supporters. Long may this continue for me and my family because Maidstone United is now important to all of us and the club is, in every sense, a worthy cause.

Not everybody thinks this of the club of course, even those who really should. Last week we published a press release regarding the local council and the issue of the piece of land we have been trying to buy. But more of that later. This is but one of the thorny, existential issues facing the club as we now find ourselves competing at the top end of the National League. Everything concerning 3G pitches, stadium development and financing and EFL rules for entry seem to be coming to a head. Let me review these challenges in detail and consider where we are and where we want to go…! 

In 2011 we were still playing at Sittingbourne and when we moved into the new Gallagher back in July 2012 we were in the Ryman South. When you look at John Gooch’s marvellous video of the new ground launch on Stones TV and you follow the camera around the mudhills and mudfields which eventually became the Gallagher Stadium you cannot help but be gob-smacked by how far we have come in a short space of time. It’s why we sometimes still do things ‘on the hoof’, there has never been a period of consolidation. It’s always been Go, Go, Go… Currently we find ourselves with a fabulous new stadium but which is far from ready to be accepted in EFL. 

Forgetting for a moment the question of the 3G pitch, we still have to persuade the EFL to let us take part in the play-offs this season, should we finish seventh or higher in the League, a genuine possibility. In order to satisfy them on this we have to show by 31st December 2017, backed up with architects’ drawings, planning documentation, detailed costings and a programme of works to be carried out, that before 30th April 2018 we will be able to fulfil the EFL ground criteria. 

This means increasing the capacity to 5,000 of which 1,000 are seated. It also means increasing changing room sizes, adding medical rooms, press facilities, disabled facilities, turnstiles, etc. It is more complicated than meets the eye. For example no hard standing areas alongside the pitch count for capacity in EFL. So before we even start to consider increasing the capacity from 4,200 to 5,000 the capacity will have dropped to about 3,200! So we have to find another 1800 capacity. 

When we demolish the existing Loucas End we will lose the 500 existing capacity. So we will need to replace these numbers too. So it will need to be a pretty massive new South Stand in due course. We are now looking at just developing the South End initially seeing as the West side is currently on hold and we have to have a plan capable of being constructed in its entirety between mid-May of one season and end April of the next, and while football matches are being played. As if that were not all challenging enough we have to work out how to finance all this. Building a huge Super Genco Stand at the South End together with associated ground and utility works will not leave much change out of £2 million. 

It has to be said too that we are perhaps the only National League club to be in this position, of having to extend our stadium every time we are promoted because we started only six years ago with nothing. We haven’t had the luxury of building up the infrastructure over time. We’ve almost risen too fast. Other clubs at our level have large stadia which qualify in many cases for EFL – in some cases even at Championship level – together with training facilities. 

When I spoke to the Crewe chairman recently about 3G pitches he explained that there was no pressure for them to install a 3G pitch because they have a first class training facility up the road. We find ourselves in the invidious position of having to extend and alter virtually every facility we have in order to go up to the next level. It is true that EFL have some room for flexibility in allowing some items to be upgraded or extended at a later date but there is absolutely no guarantee they would do us any favours the way things stand at the moment.

Talking of 3G right now we are squeezed between an EFL not allowing artificial surfaces and a National League punishing clubs for being successful on them. Things are certainly moving on all this but it is hard to see what the end-game will be. The EFL may decide to allow 3G and relax other rules relating to entry to EFL but not before 2019-20 season, (may…) while the National League double relegation Rule 23.12 can only be changed by a vote of clubs. 

It is unlikely clubs will vote for changing this controversial rule without pressure from the FA because as it stands it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas. However in reality, if a 3G club were promotable and refused to rip up their pitch and put in natural grass (not a simple matter anyway in little over two months) what would the FA do on appeal? I believe it would be difficult for The FA to force the relegation punishment down a 3G club’s throat given all their public support for 3G pitches and their acceptance widely in international football. And that is before any question of legal action (already hinted at by one 3G club) or public outcry at the absurdity of it all.

Could this rule lead to clubs trying to throw matches? Well, it sounds unlikely doesn’t it. The idea of Sutton v Bromley at Wembley with both sides attacking their own goal is shocking. For me the very fact that the rule penalises success so strongly inevitably gives an incentive to losing and that is disturbing.

The question has of course arisen as to what would we do if we were in the position of winning promotion. I have spoken to a few fans as well as colleagues about this. My view at present is that we cannot afford at this stage in the club’s life to rip up our pitch and put down grass. As well as the cost of putting down grass (£200K-300K?) there is the ‘loss’ on the cost of the virtually new 3G pitch installed last year (£200K), plus the loss of income and savings through losing the 3G pitch (estimated at £500K per annum). Add to that the loss of our community infrastructure, the need for a new training facility for the first team and all other club teams and the potential cost of reinstalling 3G should we be relegated immediately back down from League 2 and it starts to appear like a no-brainer. 

You’d have to be insane to rip up a complete club model of community and sustainability. Now this is just my opinion and we have not debated this at board level nor discussed it openly with fans (Winter Supporters Meeting in January, date to be announced shortly). I do believe however, contrary to what was argued by a National League spokesman in Matt Dunn’s excellent recent article on 3G in the Express, that our fans would understand if we were forced to refuse promotion because we felt it could kill the club financially. I believe they would back us as they have always backed us. 

Our club has after all already suffered the worst loss of all for football club fans in 1992 when the club folded having taken a promotion for which it was not ready and which it could not ultimately afford. We would have to be insane risking that again. I believe our long-suffering supporters would want us to do the right thing for the club in the long-term and if that means refusing a promotion and then facing the consequences on 3G so be it. 

Whatever happens this season on and off the pitch I firmly believe we will not end up suffering the ignominy of a double relegation from the National League. Terry and I remain confident that we will find solutions to the various challenges outlined above (and to the ones I haven’t told you about) as we have always managed to do. Simply this is the first time since we returned to the Gallagher Stadium that we have had a set of challenges which are so daunting. They are daunting because of time. It is not hard to plan for, say, three to five years in the National League while you prepare properly for promotion to EFL. It is harder to work out what to do when you find the players outperforming in Year 1 and giving you the ticklish problem outlined above of possible promotion or play-offs!

All this brings me back to the strip of land and the borough council. As you can see acquiring this strip of land is not the critical issue we face right now. It would however allow us to consider development options serenely and probably make some savings on costs. In the longer term it is essential in order to develop the West side with a modest stand. As it happens the strip of land was only ever going to be used as an access way and we have no intention of developing it. If we can acquire this land there will be enough room for the West side to be developed into a small stand with this new access way used to get into it from the back. 

In order to play ball we did offer to pay a clawback bonus to the council if the stadium land were ever sold at a profit. What we have to have is simplicity. Our stadium site is covered in easements, rights of way, covenants and legal charges. You will be horrified to learn it cost us nearly £10,000 in legal fees and countless hours of unproductive administrative work just to get the Football Foundation grant for the Genco Stand put in place! We cannot afford to have a restrictive lease contract doing the same thing for us. This we made abundantly clear to the council but they ignored it, while stating that they supported the club and it was good for the town.

What I find ironic is that in my activity in French rugby with Brive we have a very supportive local authority. The Town Council in Brive la Gaillarde and the Regional Councils give us around €1,200,000 per annum in grants and sponsorships and this amounts to some 7% of our annual income. The officials from the councils are always at our side supporting us on match-day and providing logistical support whenever possible. They understand that the town gains much of its recognition from the rugby club ‘brand’ and that if the club is successful it will rub off on the town and the whole region. It is truly win-win. A few years ago an economic study estimated the economic value of the rugby club to the region to be some €53 million annually! 

Now I am not advocating that in Maidstone the council owes us anything. I appreciate that public finances are under pressure and that there may be more deserving causes. We are not asking for grants or sponsorship. Just genuine support when we need it and when it can be given without cost to the council. Here we have such a case. When you consider all the challenges we have as described above we could do without the extra one of spending 12 months going round in circles on what should be a relatively simple matter.

Well, that was a bit of a lengthy ten-year review. I hope you found it stimulating. I hope the next ten years in the life of your club are just as stimulating as the last ten and together we have a lot of fun!

COYS.

Oliver

So another exciting season starts...

You still have to pinch yourself to remember that this time six years ago we were starting another season in Ashford with no concrete plan as to how the club could survive let alone go forward. Only in my wildest dreams did something akin to the Gallagher Stadium appear on the horizon looking like Old Trafford, but then again I'm not sure I want to go into too much detail about my wildest dreams... 

Now we are actually starting a season in Division 5 of the professional game. Pinch, pinch. Fixtures against York and Wrexham and Tranmere are now the norm not the exception. Pinch, pinch. We only have one FA Cup match to win before we can get to Round 1. Pinch, pinch...

Terry, Bill and I rarely make formal targets for the season, just as we rarely have formal Board meetings. Of course we discuss the football just like you do and there is usually a meeting of minds, after all if we didn't have a similar outlook on matters football and business we would have fallen out long ago. 

For me an admirable target for this season would be top half. Such a result would be fantastic. If you had come up to me at Homelands and said in six years time would I accept 12th in the Conference and a 4000 capacity new stadium in town with a top quality new 3G pitch I'd have torn your arm off before eating it. Well, maybe not eating it...but I may well have accepted your offer.

This close season has been frantic. We have had to commission and lay a new pitch. We have had to prepare plans for our new stand. We have had to prepare for a new division with new rules and constraints, travel on a national scale, new players to recruit and existing ones to manage, etc.

It's been a massive effort by Bill, Terry, Jay and all the club staff, who have been flat out trying to get all this in order. It is a major challenge getting everything done within the strict time limits imposed by the FA and raising vast amounts of money (close to £1,000,000 this close season) but as ever we will do our best. As long as it makes good business sense. So far that is still the case although in an ideal world we might perhaps have 'chosen' to wait another year before promotion because of all the capital project requirements which come in its wake.

Our financial results for the past season will be published soon and they are looking as encouraging as in previous seasons. Four successive seasons of increasing turnover and steady profit margins is not to be sneered at. It underpins increased capital spending on the stadium at a difficult time and encourages Terry and me to invest further as we will unfortunately still have to. The main thing is we are investing in infrastructure which will give the club a first-class home for the foreseeable future and not in a quick hit on players. 

We asked the supporters to contribute through our Stand up for the Stones project and so far the response has been terrific. Many thanks to all of you who have given and thanks in advance to those who are still to give. Every contribution makes a difference, not just with this specific fund-raising but throughout the season, with tickets, merchandising, beer, in fact everything the club tries to sell. It all goes towards club funds and allows the club to operate successfully at this level. It's very simple really: every penny you spend in and around the club helps your club! So please make that extra effort for Maidstone United, go the extra yard if you can.

I'm not sure that supporters realise how much pressure is placed on clubs by The FA and Leagues with their endless rules and regulations, not always useful or fair, but which pile on stress and pressure. When Sport England threaten to cut FA funding if their structures aren't reformed and professionalised I cannot help but agree with the sentiment. The FA and Leagues should exist to help all their clubs, not just some of them, reduce their stress and remove the needless obstacles in their way and not just to expand the blazer buttons and egos of some of the officials.

Terry always accuses me of spending my every waking moment on the sunny terrace of some mythical Parisian café-bar. This is a quite scandalous accusation, the very thought of which is disturbing my Pina Colada by the pool here on vacation...from where I wish the Stones, Jay and all our new squad, all of our wonderful supporters, the very best of luck for the exciting season ahead.

Yours, Oliver Ash

Is the present Drinking Act at football stadiums outdated?

There are a number of adjustments that we will all have to make now that we have been promoted to the upper echelon of non-league football, and for me personally the most frustrating change is going to be that none of our supporters will be able to drink alcohol when they are in ‘view of the pitch’.  

Yes, you did read that right - this now takes effect at all first team games, exactly the same as we have all got used to when we play FA Cup matches.  

After five years of being able to walk into any of our four bar areas here at the Gallagher Stadium order a drink and casually either stand and chat or sit down and consume the contents while watching the game has now gone – it is not allowed at this level under the control of alcohol Act which came into force in England and Wales in 1985. 

It is my opinion that there are now a couple of very valid reasons why this Act should be revisited. The first is that without doubt the average match day experience has changed significantly since banning football supporters from consuming alcohol ‘in view of the pitch’ happened back in the 80s. And yet, nearly 30 years later, it still remains the case that drinking and watching football while cheering on your team is a crime potentially punishable by a prison sentence!

Even grounds at our level now bear little resemblance to the pre-Premier League environment of the 1970s and 1980s. The make-up of crowds has shifted dramatically. The affluent middle classes feel that they can attend football stadiums with their families, with little risk of encountering danger. 

Secondly, there is a very clear disparity with other sports. Why should a Rugby supporter be able to drink a pint while sitting in their usual seat, simply because the game in front of them involves an egg-shaped ball rather than a spherical one? Or similarly the Barmy Army, famed for following the England cricket team all over the world, are lauded for their drinking culture; yet lazy stereotypes associating England football fans with alcohol-fuelled hooliganism persist. If there remains concern that drinking alcohol while watching football matches poses any more risk than doing so while at rugby or cricket, such a view needs in my opinion to be objectively re-evaluated and substantiated.

The justification for the more general Licensing Act in 2003, which allows premises the option of flexible opening hours and the potential for 24-hour drinking, was that it would discourage binge drinking by enabling people to spread their alcohol consumption over a longer period. This more liberal approach was a welcome acknowledgement that the out dated restrictions aren’t necessarily the most effective way of influencing behaviour. 

However, this legislation contradicts the situation which we are all going to have to face in the Gallagher Stadium, where our fans will be indirectly encouraged to drink as much as they can, as quickly as they can before the match and at half time, to compensate for not being allowed to do so while the match is taking place. In this contradiction lies an inherent, outdated suggestion that football fans are unworthy of the privileges enjoyed by the general public at Rugby and Cricket.

There is pressure on non-league clubs to be self-sufficient; revenue generated from match day food and drink sales has become more crucial. I believe that relaxing the pitch side alcohol ban could make a difference to clubs’ like ours quest for survival.

In the current, vicious political climate, it is inevitable that some tabloids would sensationalise the idea of reversing the legislation as a gateway to the return to the hooliganism of the 1980s, but evidence contradicts that. The assumption that football fans can’t control themselves is again in my opinion an antique relic that bears little relevance to supporters of today.

But we are for now where we are and all of our supporters understand the law of the land and more importantly the rules that abide here now at National League level. We all understand that we will have to adapt to an FA Cup type mode every week and behave accordingly. But it still doesn’t make it right and I hope that someone, somewhere, more powerful than me argues the case with the authorities sooner than later, as I have seen nothing wrong with our clubs approach to drinking over the past five years that warrants this change in approach. 

Bill Williams

The joys of the cup, 3G in the Football League and five years on...

Once again, thanks to the skills and professionalism of our squad and management, we find ourselves in the first round of the FA Cup and looking forward to a real treat of a match on Sunday against Yeovil. 

I am gutted to miss a home game in the FA Cup First Round for the second year running, particularly as it looks like we will set a new capacity record thanks to the huge demand for tickets. 

We are obviously delighted with the interest generated but disappointed for those unable to get tickets. There is no perfect system for satisfying everybody when demand outweighs supply. We do however recommend joining our Fan Club as it is relatively cheap and guarantees you a ticket and also helps club funds.

At times like this our newer supporters in particular might be forgiven for thinking this is just what it's like every year. But you'd be wrong. This is an exceptional run of success for the club and we should all savour every moment of it. 

To get to the proper rounds of the FA Cup is always the icing on the non-league cake. It allows the players and managers to test themselves against seriously talented professional teams; it gets the club into the limelight for brief but unforgettable moments; it raises the profile of the club and enables us to attract more supporters, more business partners and more customers, all of which is positive for the long-term health of the club. 

Also it's a huge amount of fun mixing it with the 'big boys'. This is what most non-league clubs dream of. So let's share the dream and enjoy every minute and never, ever, take any of this for granted. 

And while we do that, let's remember that our squad has managed to get us to third in the league and pressing for a play-off place. This is as notable as the FA Cup run and will hopefully keep our whole season as alive and kicking as the previous Gallagher Stadium seasons have been. There is a long way to go of course but there is a growing confidence that we can compete in this league and have a chance to reach the play-offs in April. Let's see how we go.

The FA Cup also raises the profile of our 3G pitch, which is no bad thing, even though we are aware our pitch does sometimes look tired, what with all the use it gets  and can appear shiny and patchy, particularly under the lights and on TV. After Graham Westley's comments last season on the dangers of 3G, while his club Stevenage were advertising it in their programme as perfect for youth training, it will be interesting to hear what the Yeovil manager has to say.

Recent weeks have seen England play on 3G again, without any serious adverse comment. Furthermore we have heard on the grapevine that the Football League are once again revisiting the 3G issue, under pressure from The FA. The time may indeed not be far away when a club from National League comes knocking on the Football League door with a 3G pitch. The FA realise that there is no simple way for National League to manage 3G clubs seeking promotion while the Football League door is shut. So they will be as keen as we are for the Football League to allow in 3G. 

On that topic I noticed today that Kidderminster Harriers, in serious fiancial difficulty, were taken over. Their new owner stated he was looking at a new business model to grow the club as a community facility not dependant on match day revenues…well my friends at 3G4US may have some advice for him.

You will possibly be aware of the race against time to get the new east staircase open and fit for purpose this Sunday. The completion of these works will give us over 3000 capacity in normal circumstances and just under 3,000 when we segregate. It all depends on how we segregate too. The numbers change all the time depending on where we might put dividers and how many rows of seats or metres of terracing we wish to block off. That depends on whom we are playing… in any event these numbers will be quite satisfactory for us and the league. 

We are also embarking on a new master planning exercise for the stadium design to revisit where we plan to be in future years as and when we continue to climb up the pyramid. The focus now is achieving the minimum capacity requirements (4,000 for The National League and 5,000 for League Two) in a logical and economical way, so as to give us the best possible chance of financing them sensibly. The precise urgency of this exercise may depend on how the team is doing!

You can all be rightly proud of the club's facilities, which are among the newest and best in the league. On top of that please let's make sure all of us, staff and supporters alike, continue to welcome all fellow and opposition supporters to the stadium with the same friendliness we usually do. That is what we stand for.

As Christmas pokes its nose round the door, can I respectfully ask you to consider buying presents through our shop? Look out for special opening times in the run up to Christmas. We try and produce new and attractive merchandise, Helen and her volunteer staff are the friendliest in the business and every penny contributes to your club's financial stabilty. So it's for a great cause! Thank you.

Lastly we held a club Premium Partner wine-tasting event last week, thanks to Shepherd Neame, which was successful. Our Premium partners such as Shepherd Neame, Britelite, Gullands and Gallagher Group, as well as many others, contribute hugely to our resources. 

On 19 November, in the evening, we host our twice-yearly Supporters' Get-Together in the Spitfire Lounge. The theme is 'Five years on, looking back and looking forwards'. You will have a chance to meet fellow supporters for a drink or two, chat to Jay Saunders and some of the players and ask questions, hear from Terry and Bill about the latest club news and possibly view the premiere of the latest Stones TV production thanks to Fred Atkins and John Gooch. In fact you might soon be seeing much more of John's work because he is returning shortly to bring you - once again - highlights from most of our matches. 

Yours in sport,

Oliver Ash

Building for a successful future

It seems like a long time since a thousand or so of us heard the news that Hendon had drawn and our result at Dulwich had virtually made us champions. 

It is difficult to describe my feelings of relief and elation because I had never before felt such an overwhelming sense of achievement. Oliver, Bill and I will be eternally grateful to the staff, the stewards and volunteers who gave so much time and commitment to get the club to where we are now. 

Being able to share the moments after the Dulwich match and after the final game at home to East Thurrock with the supporters, who have followed the team in such great numbers throughout the season, meant all of our efforts have been worthwhile. I am so grateful for being part of those joyous moments. 

The minute we knew that we would be promoted we put the finishing touches to the fundraising and plans for the east stand extension. 

Work starts on Monday (18 May) and we expect it to be complete by 7 August, the day before we play our first match in the NLS. 

We have a new lounge with 52 seats and we have 175 seats in the stand extension that we have been able to offer as season tickets. Incredibly all these seats have been sold for the start of the 2015/2016 which has vindicated our decision to spend £600/£650k on this development. 

There will be about 100 seats that we cannot sell as season tickets because we must offer them to our opponent's supporters when games are segregated. These seats will be available for sale on a pay on the day basis as the majority of games will not be segregated. 

Although the schedule for completion is tight we will be working all the hours necessary to fulfil our commitment to those supporters who have bought seats for the start of the new season. 

These works, along with extending the terraces at the north and south ends, will increase our capacity to 2,600 but to achieve the required capacity of 3,000 we must also install new stairs and new turnstiles in the north east corner. 

We have submitted plans for this work and are hoping to schedule this in alongside the east stand extension. We have until March 2016 to get the capacity to 3,000 to satisfy the requirements of the NLS.

To sustain all of our successes we know that we must continue to support Jay in his ambitions to secure the club in the NLS and put a team together that can challenge for a place in the higher league. 

We have the support and we have the infrastructure to play at a higher level and we intend to reward that support by putting together a team that we can get behind and be proud of. 

We will be facing opponents with substantially more money to spend on their squads but we have given Jay a budget that we feel will give him every chance of winning matches.

We have enjoyed three exhilarating years and had an amazing journey and we fully intend to have more years of excitement and success.

Terry

The Stones Family

If there was one theme that kept coming back to me after the Friday night fun and games it was this one: thanks to the passion of the fans and their loyalty to the Black and Amber, there is a special atmosphere in the club at present; everybody involved in the club - officials, volunteers, supporters, players, more than 5000 followers on both Twitter and Facebook, etc. - are now part of a club which, without being too touchy-feely, is like an extended family: The Stones Family.

We should not underestimate the value of this close-knit club atmosphere that others aspire to: for example Leicester Tigers rugby recently launched a campaign to create the Tigers Family in order to promote the same values. It's all about not just supporting the team but doing it the right way: supporting each other. I think we are a step ahead of the game and we should all feel proud of this. It means we can go out of our way to make the club a welcoming place to new fans and encourage those who feel that this sort of family-friendly atmosphere is one they want to be part of. 

So let's make this season another remarkable one. The atmosphere in the Gallagher should be passionate but respectful at all times, of everybody - ladies, kids, match officials, even when they make awful mistakes, and away supporters, even when they're out to wind us up. 

A great opportunity for this will be in Calais. We will be 200 ambassadors for the club to make the trip so let's enjoy it to the full and try and ensure that the home club is left with a desire to see us go back for a rematch and to strengthen ties between our two clubs.

Turning back to last Friday I was delighted to see all the fans and also our main business partners get a big kick (unintended pun) out of the occasion. I also want to thank again all those friends who make this sort of event possible including amongst others Mike Cogger and the burger boys, the team kit-men and the Andy the physio (who was kept busy I can tell you...).

We had intended to do a Q and A session in the Spitfire after the game but when Terry and I saw that everybody was having a lively time already we decided to drop the idea. We will always be available to talk frankly and openly about the club and as far as I know we have no secrets! There is a lot of talk about supporter-owned clubs at present and how it's a good model for non-league; well whether that's true or not depends on the circumstances but in any event Maidstone United is supporter-owned I can assure you!

In the next few weeks lots is happening: the club dinner on 4th July, works progressing around the ground, the 3G pressure on the Football Conference growing as Sutton United continue to press for permission to use 3G in 2014, Jay's squad taking shape and the pre-season including a cracking match on July 13th versus Charlton, which will mark 12 months since the Gallagher Stadium opened.

Finally we have launched our membership scheme, the Fan Club, which is a fund-raising, loyalty scheme as operated by many other clubs. After one fantastic season we still need to raise revenues and your support of this will be much appreciated. It will also, amongst other things, give you priority when that crunch all-ticket match happens at some stage this season....it is certainly not designed to interfere with the Independent Supporters Club, which can certainly merit being a coordinated voice for supporters' ideas and suggestions for the club. 

That's all for now; have to keep resting my sore old calf muscle and prepare for the club dinner.

Oliver Ash

Building for the future

Maidstone United co-owner Terry Casey

During the close season Oliver, Bill and I have been working hard to make some significant improvements to the stadium. 

We had a limited amount of money that we could spend but we wanted to show that we are listening to our supporters and also demonstrating that we are not going to become complacent about the extraordinary support that we have had in our first season back in the town.

We are also working closely with Jay and, as you can see with the signings we have made, we are not going into the Ryman Premier to simply make up the numbers. As a football club we have the support that cannot be equalled until we look at the attendances in the Conference so we must be looking at involvement in the play-offs at the very least by the end of the 2013/2014 season.

In terms of the building works we have had the usual immense support of our business partners, notably Gallagher Group and Britelite, which have enabled the club to make so many improvements to the ground. We have also had the support of the BTSH committee who have made a substantial contribution to the developments.

Our first requirement was to spend money to satisfy some Ryman league requirements. Next on the list is the addition of another terrace at The Loucas End (town end) which will be installed towards the end of July. All the measures undertaken should increase the capacity to about 2,500 but this is subject to verification.

We need to clear some areas around the pitch and also to add some catering facilities at the Henry Reeves & Co Stand (Springfield end). At the beginning of July we will be laying a tarmac hard standing area on the river side of that terrace which will mean that we can put the six a side goals away during match days and also stand a permanent catering van on the site.

There has been a shortage of toilet facilities and we are installing a toilet block (the same as we already have at the town end) which we be sited between the fire escape steps and the storage building. Fortunately we have installed drainage in that area so there will be a minimum amount of disruption.

We are also creating a further hard standing area in between the changing rooms and the main stand. We have been overwhelmed by the numbers of children who want to have their birthday celebrations at the stadium and this area will accommodate those children and families.

We are also installing a building at the south end to serve as our second bar as we have reached capacity in the Spitfire Lounge and we are aware that many supporters are going elsewhere to have a drink. Our partner and supplier, Shepherd Neame, has recognised the need for further bar facilities and have been highly supportive in the installation of the building.

Finally, we are also installing another building again at the south end that will serve as a club shop. This will not be a permanent shop but will be an improvement on what we have used in the past.

Despite the generosity of the Gallagher Group, Britelite, Shepherd Neame and the BTSH association, these improvements will cost the football club more than £50,000 and whilst I appreciate they will not go far enough for some of our supporters we have to draw a line in the spending somewhere.

We have had the most wonderful season and we are re-investing in the infrastructure and the future of Maidstone United. I know that by continuing to improve the facilities is an investment in the future of the club but we are also aware that we must continue to serve up football that entertains and excites and is successful or the facilities will not be needed.

Thanks for all of your support.

Terry Casey