Exciting, humbling and ultimately rewarding

Terry Casey

The last year has given me some of the most exciting, humbling and ultimately rewarding twelve months of my life.

When we gathered last September on a piece of wasteland in Whatman Way it was difficult to imagine what we would achieve. I now watch our own Maidstone United academy students as they study in their state of the art classrooms and play each afternoon on the equally state of the art playing surface. Many of the students show genuine footballing talent which will secure the playing future of Maidstone United for many years to come.

The future is also being secured by the numerous children’s and youth teams that use the pitch every week. Many of these children never knowing that the county town of Kent ever had a football team but now having a burning ambition to, one day, represent their home town sometime in the future. These youngsters are the future supporters of Maidstone United and we will nurture their love of football and make them feel part of the club.

The future of Maidstone United must also be secured by an attitude to business that means it will never again suffer the indignities of financial collapse and should never teeter of the brink of extinction again. We must make the club commercially viable and there is a clear link to a successful youth development system and a financially secure football club.

To complete the work of building the stadium was sometimes traumatic and often stressful but the support Oliver, Bill and I have had from the supporters of the club meant that we were never going to be deflected from the ambition of bringing football back to Maidstone after twenty five years. The 'tours' I conducted of the stadium, or as it was then building site, for the fans made me feel very humble with genuine supporters telling me about their aspirations for the club and their memories. They would often recall their fathers taking them to their first matches which reminded me of my dad who used to take me to the Athletic Ground on the London Road.

The interment of Elvis’s ashes are a poignant reminder of all the supporters who could not make the return of their team to the town.

The backing, financially, physically and emotionally, that we received from the supporters carried Oliver, Bill and I on a wave of enthusiasm and whilst I have said it many times I should repeat that it has been the supporters that have kept this football club in existence. The crowds we have attracted since we opened are proof that the football followers of Maidstone have an appetite for semi-pro football and I hope that they will stay with us because there is a lot more to come. What is also evident to me is the large numbers of families who are coming to the games which also bodes well for the future.

While what happens on the pitch is vital to all of us we are creating a stadium which will function throughout the year and become a hub for sporting and business activities for many years to come. I am acutely aware that a successful first team will generate more income than all the other activities of the business as a whole so we must ensure that we always financially support the team.

To the supporters who stuck by the club - thank you again.

I wonder where we will be this time next year!

Taking shape at The Gallagher Stadium

Oliver Ash

Every day means another chance to see the pictures and photos of the Gallagher Stadium taking shape. 

It's a very exciting time for everyone connected with the club. The contractors, our project managers Prime, Terry and Bill, and all the well-known club officials (including a few familiar new faces in new jobs) are all working flat out now to get it all done on time.

 

The ground has become green this last week and what a difference that makes. It suddenly looks like a football ground, which is a good job really. Getting the pitch laid and trouble-shooting every day to solve problems is a real challenge. 3G pitches, particularly when they will be used for senior matches in main stadia, are an unknown quantity; not much experience exists of installing them; independent advice of quality is hard to come by; empirical evidence even rarer. So we are having to make difficult decisions at times and we trust we won't come to regret too many of them when we see how it all looks and plays.

 

Our group of clubs, 3G4US, is going strong and lobbying for greater awareness and change on 3G pitches. We are eagerly awaiting feedback from the Football League after their survey, to which many of you contributed. Even more so because we are targeting automatic promotion this season. We want to progress up the pyramid as quickly as sensible business performance will allow us. 

In a nutshell that means that as long as enough supporters come to games, drink and eat in the clubhouse, buy merchandise, join our future membership scheme, play the lottery etc. and as long as local businesses support our sponsorship and advertising campaigns then we will generate enough revenues to afford a top quality team and infrastructure.

 

In addition we will have a pitch to hire out, a car park to fill, an academy to operate and a clubhouse/ bar events centre to manage profitably. The more revenues that all generates the more we can invest in due course into the football club. We won't go down the road of other football models where owners' or bank money is thrown at the first team and insufficient revenues are deemed irrelevant until the ship starts to sink. 

That's why we need all of you, including hundreds of new followers we will meet at the Brighton game, to keep behind us on and off the field so the business works well. Then we can realistically hope to be able to jump up at least couple of levels in the next few seasons. And that's why we want to get change on 3G sooner rather than later because you will know that under current rules the Conference has not yet agreed to allow 3G.

 

We are working with Jay to reorganise the squad for next season and give ourselves the best chance possible of achieving this aim. The new stadium and quality turf will give quality players the chance to show their skills; it will be such a different surface to the ones we're used to; looking like Wembley, genuine skills will be at a premium; luck will be less important than elsewhere. I for one, cannot wait to see the first few games and savour the spectacle!

Thanks for all your support.

Wonderful progress at Whatman Way

Terry Casey

The progress made on the Whatman Way site has been wonderful. The hundreds of us that can’t keep away are seeing developments every time we visit. Our thanks and admiration go to the team at Gallaghers who have worked incredibly hard and skilfully which has meant that, in this part of the stadium project, we are ahead of schedule.

The Gallagher performance has enabled us to order and pay a deposit on the floodlights.

The surface is now ready for the final layer of stone and the 3G carpet to be laid. We have confirmed our order with the pitch manufacturer but laying the carpet will be one of the last jobs that we do. We are also endeavouring to lead a lobby group of clubs who will start to get the FA to realise that the future in the game for the smaller clubs has to be playing on a surface that can be used all year regardless of the weather.  

We are currently looking at final designs for the club house and we are very close to starting work on the grandstand. Whilst there is a long way still to go, it is beginning to take shape and the excitement amongst the people of Maidstone is growing daily.

Our sales campaign will start after Christmas and we will be looking at selling advertising boards and a whole range of different items that will relate to our historic homecoming. One of our priorities is to ensure that we come up with a system that enables all of our loyal and regular supporters to get first opportunities for the high profile opening friendly matches. There will be more information on this next year.

We have been close to making the books balance this season for the football club but the historic financial problems still come back to haunt us making the job of making the football club viable more difficult to achieve. We have set aside a fund to build the stadium and I am optimistic that the team’s performances will continue to attract sufficient gates which will allow us to keep our stadium fund intact.

As well as all the excitement off the pitch, the performances of Jay and the lads has meant that we are getting better crowds than we have for some years and I am hoping that we continue to see an increase in attendances for the rest of the season. There is no doubt in my mind that because of the way that the team is playing we are getting fantastic entertainment. I felt that the during the Ramsgate match, with the noise from behind the goal and the general banter from the Stones faithful, that we were beginning to regain some of the old swagger that always went with Maidstone supporters in days gone by. There was a pride that I hadn’t seen for a while which comes from being top of the league, playing exciting football and knowing that we are coming home to our rightful place in the town.

Football can be a great game!

Powering our homecoming

Terry Casey

Over the last two weeks we have taken some significant strides to the building of a new stadium. We have commissioned an ecological study at a cost of 20k and we are proceeding with the installation of an electricity sub-station at a cost of 68k.

Because our target is to play our first match on the Whatman Way site in August 2012 these two elements of the construction had to be in place so that ground works can begin in September or October this year.

Oliver, Bill and I are constantly looking at ways that will enable us to reach the target of £1.5 million.  We are feeling more confident now that we have taken the plunge to take these early steps into the construction of the stadium. Another deciding factor was a conversation I had with Barry Fry who said he would give us a pre-season friendly in August 2012 and bring the Peterborough first team to Maidstone. I am reluctant to let this opportunity slip.

We were further encouraged by the news that we have agreed terms for securing the freehold to the land at Whatman Way, which was causing us some concern as the MOD solicitors were putting a number of restrictions on the use of the site which we could not agree to. The purchase of the freehold, the ecological study and the sub-station will require an investment of more than 100k, which demonstrates that we are absolutely serious about our intentions to build the stadium.

It has not been all positive however as we have received a bill from HMRC for 23k of unpaid VAT which we have inherited from previous years of mismanagement. We will have to deal problem promptly or face some serious consequences. 

We also have a problem for the 2011/2012 season as we are forecasting another loss which will, unless we get some help, bite into the money that Oliver and I can invest into the building of the stadium. Please help us with this short term problem by joining the club lottery which will be our main method of raising money. If each person reading this can sell just two monthly lottery tickets the club can make enough money so that the management of the team can attract a squad that we can be proud of. Bill Williams and I have a target of 20 tickets each and we have almost reached our target after just a couple of weeks. Please do your best as it will help us through the next 12 months.

We are putting together a number of packages that we are hoping to attract local businesses to help with both the short term requirements of the club and also the longer term needs of the building of the stadium. These will be advertising and sponsorship packages and there will be something for all local businessmen looking to raise their profile. A significant factor for anybody advertising through Maidstone United Football Club is the immense support that we are getting from The Kent Messenger who will be covering every single stage of the building of the stadium. Any local businesses who sponsor the return of the team to Maidstone will get enormous press and media coverage.

The selling of the bricks and the seats are going to be crucial to the BTSH fund as we have set them a daunting target of 100k which will enable us to build a clubhouse on the Whatman Way site. Please continue to send in your money as the fund still has a long way to go.

I am told we have the support of the Mayor and the local council. We have the support of our local MP, Helen Grant, and we even have the support of the Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson. There has not been one person who has said what we are trying to achieve will do anything but good for the community of Maidstone. If that support could be translated into practical or financial support then our path to the completion of the stadium will be made easier. The fact is that whoever gets involved will benefit a town that is desperate to watch semi-professional football in its home town and a community of hundreds of children and people with disabilities who simply want to play the game that they love in the town that live in.  

  

While we are now on a roll there are going to be a number of setbacks and challenges but they can be overcome with the support of the supporters of the club and the businesses and politicians of Maidstone.

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.