Maidstone United F.C.
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Template:Football club infobox Maidstone United F.C. are an English football team from Maidstone, Kent. They currently play in the Kent League.
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History
The original Maidstone United club was formed in 1897 and played in various local leagues before joining the Southern League, the major semi-professional league in southern England, in 1970. They were founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference) in 1979, and won the league title twice, in 1984 and 1989. At the time of their first championship, Maidstone failed to gain promotion to the Football League because they lost out in the elections. But by the time they won the Conference again in 1989, automatic promotion had been introduced and Maidstone were now members of the Football League Fourth Division. Two years earlier, they had left their ground in Maidstone and switched to Dartford for their home matches. In their first season in the Fourth Division (1989-90) they reached the promotion playoffs but lost to eventual winners Cambridge United in the semi finals. Their form in the next two seasons (1990-91 and 1991-92) was less impressive and they finished in the bottom half of the division on both occasions. More conceringly, Maidstone United owed debts of hundreds of thousands of pounds to creditors and had their first game of the new Division Three cancelled at the start of 1992-93. They were given 48 hours to guarantee that they would be able to complete the season's fixtures. Unable to come up with the necessary backing, the club resigned from the Football League and went into liquidation.
Rising from the ashes
A new club, Maidstone Invicta, was formed within days, and joined the Fourth Division of the Kent County League for the 1993-94 season. In 1996 the original Maidstone United name was introduced, and in 2001 Maidstone won promotion to the Kent County Premier League. They have finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in the last three seasons, and good form this season could see Maidstone in the Southern League Division One for the 2005-06 season. The earliest possible date that Maidstone could win promotion to the Football League is 2009.
Famous ex-players
Warren Barton - pacey full-back who in 1990 was sold to top-flight Wimbledon F.C. (now Milton Keynes Dons) for a club record £300,000. In 1995, following a call up to the England national team, he was sold to Newcastle United for £4,000,000.
Mark Beeney - ex-Gillingham F.C. goalkeeper who went on to play for Leeds United.
Stadium
Maidstone current play their home games in Sittingbourne, but in November 2004 were granted planning permission to build a new stadium on Whatman Way in Maidstone town centre, on the banks of the River Medway. The ground is expected to be completed in time for the 2006/2007 season, which will mark the first time that the club have played a home game at a ground they own within the town since selling their London Road ground in 1988.
External links
- Maidstone United Official Website (http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk)
- Show Me The Way To Go Home - an unofficial Maidstone United fanzine (http://www.smtwtgh.co.uk)