Defenders Davis and Cleary return to Stones

MAIDSTONE UNITED manager Peter Nott has today strengthened his defence by persuading pair Nick Davis and Marc Cleary to return to the club, writes Stephen McCartney.

Davis, 28, arrives from Tonbridge Angels, where he spent a frustrating season recovering from a tendon operation, which restricted his first team appearances to a solitary game towards the end of the campaign, however the former Ramsgate defender is now fully fit and raring to go again.

He previously played for the Stones back in their Kent League days under Jim Ward and left to join Fisher Athletic, where he was an integral player in both their double and treble winning teams which saw them capture the Ryman League Division One South and Ryman Premier League titles along the way.

Davis then signed full time for Fisher as they gained promotion into the Conference but was forced to leave due to their financial demise and he linked up again with Jim Ward at Ramsgate before being enticed over to Tonbridge Angels at the start of last season.

"Nick has that winning mentality and brings a vast amount of experience to the team and also possesses an excellent goal scoring record for a central defender where he is a constant threat at set pieces," Nott told www.maidstoneunited.co.uk.

Cleary, meanwhile, joins the club from troubled Essex club Grays Athletic, where he was an ever present for them in their Blue Square Premier campaign after signing from Waltham Forest in February.

The Essex based 22-year-old central defender reluctantly left the Stones at the end of the 2007/08 season so he is extremely pleased to be back and can't wait for the season to start. Marc has also previously played for Billericay and Maldon Town.

Nott said: "Nick and Marc will now link up with our other new signings Simon Petit (Ramsgate) and Colin Richmond (Sittingbourne) and discussions are also progressing well with a couple of other targetted players so watch this space.

"We have also invited a few players along to pre-season training so we can take a closer look at them and they all have experience at Rymans level or above.

"We have also been busy in speaking to all of last season’s squad and at this stage we also pleased to report that the following players have all put pen to paper: Andy Walker, James Peacock, Tom Parkinson, Butch Ulph, Ant Bodle, Antonio Gonnella, Keelan Mooney, Adrian Stone and Danny Hockton (who has a remaining year left on the contract he signed on joining).

"In addition we will also be signing many of our promising successful Reserve/Ryman (youth) team players and they will be given the opportunity to impress and stake a place in the squad.

"As previously reported Peter Hawkins, Roland Edge and Lynden Rowland have all left the club whilst Nathan Paul, Jermaine Darlington, Mark Corneille and Chris Saunders are still considering their options.

"We will invite all four along to pre-season training but it is important to remember that we are working to a significantly reduced budget this season so we will not have the resource available to accommodate them all.

"We report back for pre-season training at Cobdown on Tuesday 6th July and myself, Tony (Cornwell) and our new coach Steve Nolan are busy finalising a programme to ensure we get the players to peak fitness during this period whilst at the same time making it enjoyable.

"We have to date arranged 8 pre-season games and have one more to finalise on the 24th July, however you will have probably have noticed that they are all away games as we have so far been unable to obtain any dates for home fixtures which sadly means we will not generate any income that comes your way when playing against high profile clubs at home.

"Looking ahead we are also pleased to confirm that we have secured training facilities for every Tuesday night and Thursday night during the season, although it is disappointing that we have to travel to the Gillingham and Gravesend area's to find these facilities as unfortunately there are not any venues suitable or available in Maidstone!"

Visit Maidstone United’s website: www.maidstoneunited.co.uk