Kentish Football 
My ambition is for the Stones to play in Maidstone - Oliver Ash
Friday 08th October 2010
MAIDSTONE UNITED have confirmed at four o’clock this afternoon that it’s under new ownership.
Shareholder Oliver Ash and local businessman Terry Casey took full control of the club today from outgoing chairman Paul Bowden-Brown.
They will own the club 50-50 and direct it as a trio together with Bill Williams, who becomes chief executive.
Ash and Casey met several months ago and have decided to work together to ensure the club's survival and long-term growth, which includes delivering the new stadium by the end of next year.
The new owners' priority is to bring financial stability back to the club before taking the challenge to Maidstone's residents and business community to bring The Stones home after an absence of more than 20 years.
Ash, who originally bought a 25% stake in the club in February 2008 and invested £120,000, said in a statement issued to www.maidstoneunited.co.uk: "It is an honour for me to take charge at Maidstone United and in particular to do so together with Terry Casey and Bill Williams. We all share the same ambition, which is to get the club playing (and winning) at our own ground as soon as possible.
"At the same time I cannot forget that we are taking over from Paul Bowden-Brown, who has been totally dedicated to the club over many years. He has been synonymous with Maidstone United.
"He ensured its survival when needed and then took it forward with passion. Now however it's up to us to try and rebuild again."
Mr Casey, who has been a life-long supporter, added: "I believe strongly that the only way for the club to survive and prosper is to return to play at our new ground in Maidstone as quickly as possible.
"To achieve that target the club will, in addition to our own financial contributions, need to attract new investment. We are confident we can attract good people to join us as partners to help make that ambition a reality."
The new owners will elaborate on the details of this project over the next few weeks. Already they are working on new designs and costings for the ground at James Whatman Way and acknowledge they will have to pay off as much inherited debt as possible in order to make the business a more attractive proposition for new investors.
In the next few weeks, they will produce a business plan demonstrating how, with a new ground in the town, the club can be run efficiently and successfully on and off the field. They will then market this plan to potential new investors.
The objective is to get the new ground up and running at the latest by the end of 2011.
Ash added: "Terry, Bill and I want to put the club on a solid footing once again. The only way to achieve this will be to get back playing in the town. We are confident we will be able to attract further investment in our project and indeed some people have already come forward.
"The club is lucky to have fantastic supporters and we believe the supporters have to get involved directly in its future. We are intending to reduce our shareholdings in due course to bring new people on board, supporters and local business people with ideas, passion and, of course, some capital. As soon as possible we must get to a situation where the club's regular income matches its costs."
With this in mind it is intended to put in place a new commercial plan to attract partners and sponsors back to the club and also to increase transparency so that the club's website becomes a real market-place of information.
Casey added: "It's up to the supporters to continue to show their support for these initiatives. We need them to come along in great numbers, not only when we open the new ground but also now, over the next few months, when we are still at Ashford and it remains tough on the field.
“We are going to have to invest a lot of money so we need an increase in support to alleviate and share the burden."
The owners will announce the make-up of an executive management committee that will be running the club on a day-to-day basis next week.
Williams added: “This will herald the start of a new chapter for the club.
“After a nineteen-year tenure Paul Bowden-Brown will step aside. I would like to thank him on behalf of everyone connected with the club for all that he has done and achieved over those years.”
The Stones are currently languishing at the foot of the Ryman Premier League table, having collected only five points from their first 10 games.
Article courtesy of www.maidstoneunited.co.uk
Maidstone United v Aveley
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 9th October 2010
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Homelands Stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd