Number 73

Maidstone United  0  Bromley  2

Friendly

“Hey you, get ready, get on your feet. Get into gear and hit this street. Hey you, get moving – it’s not too far, you’re looking good so come as you are. Hey you, you never know what you’ll see when it’s through that door with the 73…”

Yes, 1980’s kids Saturday morning TV heaven, Sandi Toksvig and Neil Buchnanan starred on ITV’s rival to Saturday Superstore, Number 73, and apart from the usual japes, games and features, the thing I remember about it most was the fact it was filmed and produced in Maidstone!

Yes, the new TVS studios in the Kent town were the home of many programmes, but this was one of the first to be produced from the location, and all these years later, nearly forty of them in fact, I still remember that!

I was telling Derek about it as we drove along the M20 on Saturday, he was non-plussed, despite having been a resident in the town for a few years in the late Eighties and early Nineties. The look he gave me as I was describing it, suggested I’d moved up a couple of notches on his spectrum of weirdness.

Anyway, I’ve wanted to go to Maidstone United for a few years now, but I’ve never been because it seemed a long way. That was until I realised it was as quick to get to as pretty much anywhere South of Heathrow on the M25, or, along the Southend Arterial Road. Derek, who at one point during the clubs glory years of playing in the Football League at Dartford, was a Vice-President, has also never been to the new ground either, nor having seen a game since the club re-formed, was equally keen on a visit.

So we simply had to go, and with some friendlies in mind, we hatched a plan.

A 10am start saw us chugging over the Dartford Crossing in good time, and shortly before 1pm we were parked up in Bearsted looking at what used to be the wine shop that Derek used to be the manager of. It’s now a Costa Coffee. It was nice for Derek to go back and look at a place that used to mean so much to him, so with my Care In The Community bit done, it was time to head in the general direction of the ground.

Bearsted sits to the South of Maidstone, so we simply headed North, passing the sign for the TV Studio’s, which apparently was also the place where Catchphrase was filmed, and Roy Walker once bought a stash of booze from Derek as he was hosting a party for the staff! Very nice man by all accounts….

Anyway, we traversed the one way system and soon found ourselves trundling along the side of the local prison (where scenes from Birds of a Feather were filmed), and found the car park at Maidstone East Station, just as a car load of Bromley fans were arriving.

Now then, Maidstone United, that is a story, one that I will try and do justice to in a few short paragraphs.

Non-League giants, they moved from the Isthmian amateur regime to the professional ranks of the Southern League in the seventies, before becoming founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979.

A league title followed in 1984, but in the days of re-election it came as no surprise that they weren’t elected to the Football League. However, a repeat came in 1989 and this time promotion was automatic, but it came at a cost. The Athletic Ground on London Road did not meet FL requirements so a ground share was agreed at Dartford, while the old stadium was sold to MFI.

The first season in the Fourth Division saw them lose to Cambridge United in the Play Offs, but by now the move was taking it’s toll financially as crowds dropped. Two more seasons of Football League struggle followed until the club went pop on the eve of the 92-93 season, having already been included in the fixtures.

A junior club called Maidstone Invicta became the vehicle that the supporters climbed on board as they sought to bring senior football back to the town. The name was changed to United after a few seasons and thanks to various ground shares they fought their way back up the pyramid to the Isthmian League, which was achieved in 2006.

In 2012-13 the club’s dream of a return to the town came to fruition when they moved into the Gallagher Stadium, and this coincided with a promotion to the Premier Division of the Isthmian.

By 2015, with large crowds and momentum behind them they made it to the Conference South, which turned out to be just a one year tenure as a Play Off Final victory over neighbouring Ebbsfleet United saw them back in the top flight of non-league football for the first time since 1989.

Their spell in the top flight lasted three years before a bottom spot last season saw them return to tier two, where they have high hopes this campaign of a swift return.

The Gallagher Stadium is unusual in a sense that it’s very rare you see a club develop a new stadium in such proximity to the town centre, because ordinarily the best you could hope for is an out of town site with little or nothing surrounding it.

Located just over half a mile North of the town centre, just off the main route that leads to the M20, the ground sits in a dip between the main road and the River Medway. I guess one of the reasons they did get permission is that unless you knew the ground was there, you probably wouldn’t notice it, plus the fact that it does look like the area is seeing quite a bit of redevelopment with apartments and a library having been built.

It’s a cracking stadium, and one the long suffering fans of the Stones must be both delighted and immensely proud of. Access is behind the goal, where the large Spitfire Lounge sits, a spacious and comfortable clubhouse, with offices and dressing rooms flanking either end.

The large main stand dominates the East side of the ground, and being built into the natural bank, it offers a superb elevated view of the pitch. At the top of the stand are glass fronted executive areas.

A recent development is a huge covered terrace behind the North goal, an imposing but necessary structure given the fact crowds average over 2000 and the ground was in desperate need of more elevation. The West side is flat standing while at the South end is a much smaller covered terrace of the Atcost variety. Behind the South end is the club shop, and various catering outlets.

The pitch is 4G, and of course that did create some debate when they won promotion to the top flight because as it stood, and still does, they would not be allowed back in the Football League with it.

A crowd of over 700 rocked up on a lovely day to watch an entertaining game that in all fairness was won relatively comfortably by Bromley courtesy of two second half goals. The Stones, in their fantastic new retro style kit, battled hard but lacked invention and potency.

So, that was it, a superb day out. Derek made it back after all these years, I finally ticked off one that I’ve had on the radar for years, and Maidstone TV Studios continues to keep us entertained, despite the fact the halcyon days of Saturday morning kids TV are just a distant memory for all of us forty somethings nowadays!