The weather has hit us hard, says concerned Stones chairman

Monday 21st December 2009

MAIDSTONE UNITED chairman Paul Bowden-Brown has issued a rallying cry ahead of their Boxing Day cash bonanza with Kent rivals Margate, writes Stephen McCartney.

A higher-than-normal attendance is expected at Homelands Stadium in Ashford on Saturday for the Ryman Premier League clash, but the chairman is ruing the postponement of their FA Carlsberg Trophy first round clash against Blue Square Premier side Histon tomorrow night.

The current cold snap, which postponed every game in Kent at the weekend, other than Gillingham and Dover Athletic (who had covered their pitches), has also caused travel chaos and Mr Bowden-Brown, who was speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk this morning, expects tomorrow’s Trophy tie to be called off for the third time.

“I’ve just spoken to the groundsman and they’ve just had a two hour snowstorm down there,” he said disappointingly.

“There’s two or three inches on the ground and the pitch is frozen so I would say it’s off but naturally I’ve got to do what the FA are saying, get people out there to check it, more expense, just to say it’s off, but yes, I would say it’s definitely off!”

The club must pay the travelling expenses of a qualified referee to inspect the pitch, either today or tomorrow.

And the chairman added: “I tell you this now, there’s no way football is being played on that pitch tomorrow night!”

The state of the Homelands pitch is, however, causing headaches for both landlords Ashford Town and The Stones, two cash-strapped clubs.

Since the end of September, a total number of 969 fans have watched their home games against Waltham Forest, Kingstonian, Sutton United and Canvey Island and the club are struggling to make ends meet.

And the chairman said: “Since the end of September we’ve had four home matches there and we’re very much like Ashford, so both Don Crosby (Ashford Town’s chairman) and I are pulling our hair out because he’s got added problems with his overheads with the stadium and I’ve got the added problems with no gate revenue but the players still need paying.

“It’s hit the club very hard but we’ve got to be positive and we’ve just got to keep going.”

The Boxing Day programme is always very lucrative for football clubs up and down the country and the chairman hopes both sets of supporters make it to Ashford, if the game does beat the weather and goes ahead.

“Yes, it will be nice to have a bumper crowd there,” Mr Bowden-Brown said. “It’s a Boxing Day game that we don’t have very often, especially when we were at Sittingbourne, so it would be nice for everybody to come out and enjoy themselves after a very enjoyable Christmas and support both clubs because we certainly need it and I’d appreciate it very much.”

Since moving out of Bourne Park, Sittingbourne to Homelands Stadium in Ashford, crowds have dropped like a stone, as fans find the accessibility (it costs over £16 return to catch a cab from the train station to the ground) of their present venue difficult.

The chairman added: “Let’s be quite honest about it, I made the decision in May this year to move out of Sittingbourne. I thought at that time it would be very beneficial. It had 90% of the time with the facilities and the working relationship we’ve got with Ashford.

“The problem I’ve got is the economic climate and what’s hit us that we didn’t think would hit us that hard was the extra difference in mileage for travelling, of course that’s hit us.”

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

UPDATE

Tomorrow's game against Histon has been postponed - and has been re-arranged for Tuesday, 5th January 2010 - hopefully played at the fourth time of asking!

Maidstone United v Margate

Ryman Premier League

Boxing Day, Saturday 26th December 2009

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Homelands Stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ