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| Full name | Maidstone United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Stones | ||
| Founded | 1992 as Maidstone Invicta | ||
| Ground | Gallagher Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 4,200 (792 seated) | ||
| Owners | Terry Casey & Oliver Ash | ||
| Chief Executive | Bill Williams | ||
| Manager | George Elokobi | ||
| League | National League South | ||
| 2023–24 | National League South, 4th of 24 | ||
| Website | http://www.maidstoneunited.co.uk/ | ||
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Maidstone United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team competes in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. The club's nickname is "The Stones" and they play in black and amber.
Maidstone United was a member of The Football League between 1989 and 1992. That club was forced out of the league following bankruptcy, but the nucleus of a new club was built around the youth squad, Maidstone Invicta, which made the step up to adult football in 1992 after being elected to the Kent County League Fourth Division in 1993 and subsequently progressed through the non-League pyramid. They changed their name to Maidstone United in 1995. They played in the Isthmian League Premier Division from 2013, having been promoted from the Isthmian League Division One South, and won the league in the 2014–15 season to gain promotion to the National League South (formerly the Conference South) for the 2015–16 season.
Maidstone gained a second successive promotion to the National League in 2016, bringing fifth-tier football back to the town for the first time since the old club was promoted to the Football League in 1989. Maidstone were relegated in 2019, before winning the National League South title in 2022 and promotion back to the National League. However, they could not consolidate this position and were relegated the following season. In 2023–24, Maidstone reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time, becoming the first team outside of the top five divisions to reach this stage since 1977–78. Maidstone were without a stadium of their own from their creation until 2012 when the Gallagher Stadium near Maidstone town centre opened at the start of the 2012–13 season.[1]
- ^ Hoad, Alex (31 March 2011). "Maidstone United reach £1m barrier in quest to raise finance for new stadium". Kent Messenger. KM Group. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2011.