Full League History (08) : Maidstone United

Maidstone was a sorry tale. The club had knocked around the amateur leagues for years, without too much success, before turning pro and joining the Southern League in the early 1970s. They then made rapid progress under chairman Jim Thompson - later to become a big wig in the APL/Conference if I'm not mistaken - and became founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979.

Around this time they first reached the 3rd Round of the FA Cup - beating Exeter on the way - where they faced Charlton in a game best remembered for Charlton's Hales and Flanagan getting sent off for fighting each other. For much of the 1980s Maidstone were non-league top dogs: four more appearances in the 3rd Round of the cup and two Conference championships in 1984 and 1989. They duly entered the FL after the second of their championships and were looked upon as a beacon of change and dynamism.

Then, at the moment of their greatest triumph, things went desperately wrong. London Road, their old ground in Maidstone (I went there once for an FA Cup qualifier), was flogged off and they never found a replacement. This meant they had to play Football League games at Watling Street, Dartford. I can't remember exactly what happened but Maidstone racked up enormous debts and took their landlords, Dartford, down the plug hole with them. Jim Thompson, one of the best-known chairmen at that level, didn't come out of it particularly well from memory.

Then, right at the death - the club went out of business at the start of 1992/93 - there was a bizarre scheme to re-locate the club to Tyneside under the name Newcastle Browns (I kid you not).

As you say, BBC, a new club was formed and now, after reasonable progress, is in the Isthmian Premier playing home games at Sittingbourne. Apparently they took 500 fans to Dover for the Christmas fixture, this being a higher figure than their average "home" crowd. You suspect they need to return to Maidstone to make real progress.

I saw two of our three games at Watling Street, my main memory being Phil Lloyd breaking his leg which effectively ended his Torquay United career.

I was there when Phil Lloyd broke his leg...or rather had it broken for him by a disgraceful tackle by Mark Gall (I think).

Absolute shocker of a challenge!

Indeed, and such a sad way for a fine player (and a genuinely nice bloke) to end his career.

Cheers for that one Barton. I must get myself along to Sittingbourne sooner rather than later.

I went to Maidstone for the cup defeat and that game when Gall virtually ended Lloyds career with that shocking tackle.

One of the worst grounds I have been to see league football with nothing behind one goal except houses and the only other highlight nearby was the cemetery!

The main stand at the now-demolished Watling Street ground, Dartford, where Maidstone United played in the Football League:



Kerry Miller's book 1996