We have not broken the bank to land Hockton, says Hume

Despite Maidstone United being cash-strapped, Hume, who broke the news to www.kentishfootball.co.uk this lunchtime, insists the club has not broken the bank to land the striker.

“He’s someone who we tried to get a couple of years ago, but he was miles out of our range if I’m honest,” said Hume.

“We’ve always kept tabs on him, we’ve always spoke to him.  We knew he may become available and there’s been lots of other clubs that have found out (about his availability) this week and have been chasing him.

“But we’re absolutely delighted to announce that he’s signed now and he’ll be available to play tomorrow.”

Hockton will make his Maidstone United debut in the FA Carlsberg Trophy third qualifying round tie at Blue Square South side Bromley tomorrow – and according to Hume, Hockton was close to re-signing for Mark Goldberg’s side.

“One of his former clubs tomorrow, is one of the clubs that tried to sign him this week,” added Hume.

But Hume, a managing director during the working week, has used his networking talents to persuade Hockton to put pen to paper for the Stones.

“He hasn’t come for huge amounts of money,” revealed the joint-manager.

“He’s come, as a lot of the players do, to enjoy their football and to be in love with that.

“I have to say that we’ve got him and a big part of us getting him were the senior players that we’ve got in the squad, who have played with him before, that are playing for less money now that they’ve ever played for and are really enjoying their football more than they have and I’m talking about Jay Saunders, Pinno (Pinnock) and Roland Edge.

“He’s played with Margate and other clubs with Jay, they know him really well, which has helped.

“Let’s be clear, a club at our level offered Jay Saunders £200 more than he gets playing for us, but the most important thing for him is he’s enjoying his football and that helped us signing Danny Hockton.

“A lot of clubs offered him (Hockton) a lot more money than we have, and substantially more!”

Hume has set Hockton a 15-goal target, starting with getting the club into the first round proper of the FA Carlsberg Trophy tomorrow.

“He scores goals, and let’s not forget his most prolific season ever was one when he partnered James Pinnock up front,” added Hume.

“That was not in my mind when we signed him.

“He lives in Orpington, which is very local to us, very close to Jamie Turner, our keeper, he’s a great signing.

“Every time we’ve done well we’ve signed people who can score goals.  He’s not got the work-rate as James Pinnock, he’s always in the right place at the right time and gets on the scoresheet.

“I don’t want to heap too much pressure on Danny, I want him to score at least fifteen goals this season. 

“If he started the season with us, he’d get 25 goals, which is what you need at this level – a striker who can get 25 goals.”

Hockton began his career with Millwall and scored seven goals in 44 appearances (31 of those as a substitute) between 1996-2000.

He joined Conference side Stevenage Borough in January 2000, scoring six goals in 22 appearances, before transferring to fellow Conference club Dover Athletic in December 2000 for a transfer fee of £7,500.

He scored 10 goals in 17 appearances during the remainder of the 2000-01 season at Crabble.
However, when Gary Bellamy took over as Dover manager in the summer of 2001, Hockton was one of the first players to be moved out of the club.

Hockton moved down a level to then Southern League club Chelmsford City in August 2001.


He had one season there and scored 16 goals, before signing for fellow Southern League side Crawley Town for the start of the 2002-03 season. He proceeded to score 15 goals during a season-long spell.

Hockton moved to Ryman League club Billericay Town in the summer of 2003. He went on to score 52 goals in 75 appearances for the club, despite suffering a knee injury that sidelined him for a large part of the 2004-05 season.

In January 2006, Hockton switched to his second Kent club, Margate, for an undisclosed fee.
He won the club's Golden Boot award for the 2005-06 season, scoring 16 goals in 18 league appearances, for the Ryman Premier League side.

Hockton was in lethal scoring form in the 2006-07 season. He won the Ryman League Golden Boot award, the Margate Golden Boot award and the Margate Supporters' Player of the Year award, after scoring 36 league goals in 40 appearances, but left to join Bromley for another undisclosed fee in June 2007.

He then moved on to Braintree Town in September 2008 for an undisclosed fee, before leaving in April 2009.

On 25 June 2009, Hockton rejoined Chelmsford City. This is his second stint with the Essex club, but was released by the club last night.

According to the Essex club’s website, www.chelmsfordcityfootballclub.co.uk,  the striker has struggled with fitness this season and has been allowed to start afresh elsewhere now he is no longer a part of Glenn Pennyfather’s plans.

The Chelmsford City head coach said, “We obviously wish Danny all the best in the future, but things move on in football and this releases money in our budget, which I can allocated in other areas.”

Hockton made 13 appearances for Chelmsford City this season, scoring five goals, which included three in the opening trio of matches, and Chelmsford’s statement added, “though recent knocks took their toll on his condition and Pennyfather felt the time was right for a parting of ways.”

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