AI Experiment - Rolling Stones

So, after reading some of the experiments that have been run over the past months/years on here, I finally decided that I’d have a go at one myself. I’ve always been interested in running scenarios on FM and every year the new version makes it more realistic and more entertaining.

Predominantly (no surprise here) I’ve been influenced by the master of the experiment, Kipfizh. The Bandits threads of the last three years or so have probably been some of the most interesting reading I’ve ever come across, so I’d like to offer thanks to him for the sheer entertainment he’s given me and also thank him for doing all the groundwork in respect to exactly how to report findings and what information to include, etc.

My experiment differs significantly, however, in that I wanted to test a much smaller part of the game. The thing I am most interested in is the impact of money on a club. While there’s been no shortage of real life examples of just how much difference a windfall can make to a football club, I wanted to see how well FM can display it.

With that in mind, here’s what I did to set the game world up.

First, I started a new game with every European nation active, running the top division in each only, with the exception of England, where I have all available leagues active, giving a total of 40 active leagues. Adding a manager “Mister Nobody” as simply a spectator, I turned the detail levels down to minimum and ran the game on holiday mode through to June 19th 2009, just at the point where the game is ready to promote new clubs into the Conference leagues. I then saved the game, and continually reloaded and advanced the game until the club I wanted to monitor became active. I was waiting for ‘Maidstone United’ to get promoted, purely because they are just up the road from me and It’d be fun to maybe see them dominate European football some time in the distant future.

Anyway, eventually they popped up and I resaved the game, ready to begin.

But before I could start, I needed to set the field. First detail levels needed to be cranked up to maximum, so that the game will process everything more accurately. (For full explanation of the importance of detail level, you really should read the early posts of Kipfizh’s Bandits thread. While you’re there, why not read it all? You won’t regret it!)

Next I needed to give Maidstone some cash to play with. Using FMRTE (Excellent save game editor), I altered their bank balance, giving them a nice round £20M to play with. (Should be enough for now!)

Also, in order to try to ensure that they make best use of the money, I thought it worthwhile to tweak the Chairman a little, giving him exceptional business skills and cranking up his loyalty to max and also giving him a good level of ambition (15). Hopefully that way he’ll do his best to make the club successful and won’t allow the club to stagnate, yet is not so ambitious that he won’t give the manager a chance to improve the club steadily.

Also, for personal preference, as much as anything, I decided to change the club’s status to ‘professional’, hopefully allowing them to attract better players/staff/sponsorship in the early years and also gave them brand new state-of-the-art training facilities and a shiny new youth academy.

Otherwise, everything else has been left exactly as I found it. The club begins it’s life with no playing staff, no manager and no coaches. They have been given a Physio and a Scout, however and I’ve left them for the manager and Chairman to do with as they see fit.

Reporting

I will aim to report as often as I can. Currently I am recovering from a broken leg and spend most of my time just sitting around, since I can’t get up and do anything, so I’ve got a lot of time to progress this over the next few weeks. Obviously, the frequency of the reports will also be influenced by the interest it generates. If no-one wants to read them, there seems little point in posting them. We’ll see how that goes.

In respect to the tools I’ll be using, most of the information will be gathered using FMGenieScout and from FM itself. It’s still a little work-in-progress, so there’s every chance that as the seasons go by, I’ll either add sections that I’d not thought about before (feel free to suggest anything that you’d like to see) or maybe drop sections that don’t work.

I completed the first season in advance and have written a full report for it already, so I’ve got plenty to post which will stretch over numerous separate postings, however, I’m thinking that I might create a PDF document of each complete season and add links on the first page, for those that just want to take it away and read each season as it becomes available.

Feedback

I openly encourage any kind of feedback you have to offer. Whether it be good or bad I still want to hear it. I’m hoping that there’ll be numerous suggestions for new sections. I’m happy to add whatever info you want to see.

Anyway, here goes...

Links to Season update PDF files

Season 1 PDF

Season 2 PDF

Season 3 PDF

Season 4 PDF

Season 5 PDF

Blue Square South – Clubs By Reputation (as at start of season)

Forest Green - 1731

AFC Wimbledon - 1475

Chelmsford - 1418

Team Bath - 1413

Eastbourne Boro - 1406

Lewes - 1399

Hampton & Richmond - 1303

Welling - 1269

Hayes & Yeading - 1261

Maidenhead - 1251

Staines - 1246

Farnborough - 1245

Weston-Super-Mare - 1218

Bishop’s Stortford - 1214

St. Albans - 1196

Newport County - 1167

Basingstoke - 1162

Dorchester - 1157

Maidstone - 1143

Tiverton - 1097

Bognor Regis - 1045

Thurrock - 1018

Maidstone Utd – Summer Transfers

The Chairman wasted no time in installing a new manager upon Maidstone’s appointment to the conference leagues and the man he chose to do the job was Garry Haylock, a 38 year old who had played 183 times in his career for a variety of non-league clubs, Irish league clubs, Panionios of the Greek Superleague and, way back in the 90’s, Huddersfield town. Since retiring as a player, he had taken the reigns at Hayes & Yeading, where he’d been for the last two seasons, finishing mid table in the Blue Square South in both seasons. The chairman obviously saw something he liked in him and Haylock saw something in Maidstone that attracted him and so the deal was done.

With a totally bare squad, the newly installed manager had some work to do in order to put together a squad in time for kick off. Immediately he started making calls and his first deal was to bring in a young Nathan Clyne on loan from Crystal Palace. The 18 year old right full back may well be inexperienced, but looks more than capable of becoming a decent player, with a PA of 132.

Next came another loan signing, Clark Masters joining from Southend. The 22 year old keeper also has some potential, with a PA of 112 and since we currently don’t have any keepers on the books, you’d imagine that he’ll be getting plenty of games here.

Another seven players were to join the club on free transfers within the short time available to the manager, desperately trying to put together a starting eleven in time for the season’s opener.

21 year old (D RC) Theo Streete joined from Solihull Motors. (CA 33 – PA 80). Not gifted by any means, but young and with plenty of scope to improve.

26 year old (D/WB/M L) Matty McGinn joined from Southport. (CA 38 – PA 56). Not much potential for the future, but beggars can’t be choosers at this stage

.

20 year old (D/M L) Adam Shepherd joined from Eastleigh. (CA 36 – PA 45). Another squad player for the time being. Already he’s about as good as he’s ever likely to get.

23 year old (D/WB R, M C) Ross Greenwood joined from Gainsborough. (CA 47 – PA 69). A little better than most others at the club, hopefully his ability and potential will be good enough.

22 year old (D R) James Blake joined from Redditch. (CA 36 – PA 61). Yet another average player and yet another defensive purchase. I’m guessing that ‘The Stones’ won’t be a major attacking force then.

Strangely, the final two that the manager picked up were probably the best of the bunch. Both were without clubs, so he’s done well to get them ahead of other interested parties. Sadly though, since they both play on the left wing, they’ll spend the season competing between themselves rather than filling two slots on the team. They are Aymen Tahar (age 19, CA 60 – PA 112) and Jamie Mullan (age 21, CA 65 – PA 109). Hopefully one or the other can play out of position. It’s looking like there’ll be a need for it.

With only four youth players on the books, the squad is very thin. A total of 13 players make up the entire squad. Of these, way too many are left sided and our only strikers are untried 16 year olds, with very poor ability. In summary, it’s going to be a struggle.

Maidstone Utd - Playing Staff

Name, Age, Pos, CA-PA

Clyne, 18, DR, 82-132

Masters, 22, GK, 63-112

Tahar, 19, AML, 60-112

Mullan, 21, AML, 65-109

Streete, 21, DRC, 33-80

Greenwood, 23, D/WB R, M C, 47-69

Blake, 22, DR, 36-61

Hewitson, 16, ST, 15-57

McGinn, 26, D/WB/ML, 38-56

Shepherd, 20, D/ML, 36-45

Turnbull, 16, ST, 15-17

Dootson, 16, DLC, ML, 15-16

Hateley, 16, MRC, 15-15

Blue Square South – Top 20 Players by CA

Barnes (Tiverton, 19, 90-94)

Bolasie (Forest Green, 20, 88-125)

Clyne (Maidstone, 18, 82-132)

Clarke (Farnborough, 19, 80-112)

Ravenhill (Staines, 28, 75-90)

Dayton (Staines, 20, 73-158)

Compton (Welling, 20, 73-78)

Robinson (Forest Green, 26, 72-99)

Mangan (Forest Green, 23, 70-97)

Robertson (Dorchester, 23, 70-81)

Saunders (Farnborough, 26, 69-76)

Mason (Dorchester, 18, 68-139)

Annerson (AFC Wimbledon, 21, 68-111)

Ngala (Chelmsford, 19, 68-110)

Ashton (Maidenhead, 24, 68-83)

Brown (Hampton & Richmond, 26, 67-100)

Stewart (Dorchester, 29, 66-115)

Howard (Forest Green, 30, 66-83)

Standing (Lewes, 28, 65-115)

Holmes (Chelmsford, 21, 65-110)

Only Clyne is good enough to compete with the best in the division, so it’s looking like the first season may be a long battle. Also, with the majority of our players having CA in the 30’s at best, there’s every chance that we will be unable to compete at all. Just have to hope that there are teams in a worse position that us and that future transfers can be arranged to improve our fortunes in the second half of the campaign.

Season Summary

August

With such a light squad, the near future could easily be grim for the stones. However, after half a dozen friendlies against fairly even opposition, they more than held their own and even managed to score a few goals, losing only once to Bognor Regis by the odd goal, away from home.

The season opener saw a repeat of that fixture and you’d be forgiven for expecting the same outcome. The reality, however, was far different. The Stones kept Bognor quiet and created a few chances of their own. Masters was solid in goal, as expected, but no prizes for guessing who the star performer was. Clyne was outstanding, bossing the game from start to finish and even managed to get himself on the score sheet. A goal from another defender, Dootson, saw Maidstone secure a good 2-0 win.

Three draws followed against Staines (home, 1-1), a very strong AFC Wimbledon (away, 1-1) and than a bore draw with Basingstoke at home, before The Stones earned themselves their first win in front of their home crowd, beating league favourites Forest Green by a goal to nil, young Ryan Turnbull firing home his first ever goal since graduating from the academy.

Going into September, unbelievably, The Stones are unbeaten and more than holding their own, with 9 points from a possible 15 and sitting in a respectable 7th place. Could it be that the new manager has what it takes to turn this shabby bunch into a side capable of challenging in their first season?

September

Next up was a trip to Welling in the Setanta Shield, Turnbull again hitting the net, but it was not enough, Teddy Sheringham’s son Charlie bagging himself a brace and sending us out of the cup at the first round.

Back to the league and a 1-1 draw at Eastbourne Borough continued our unbeaten run, before a rampant Farnborough (away, 0-3) brought us crashing down to earth. We recovered quickly though, getting another three points on the board, courtesy of Thurrock (home, 2-1), before beating lowly Harrow (home, 2-0) in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying round, a bumper crowd of 1343 turning out to witness the greatness.

The final fixture of September saw the visit of Bishop’s Stortford and it seemed it was just one of those days. We created little throughout the match and although our defence was solid, the visitors managed to find an opening and took the points with a single goal. Our first home defeat, hopefully not the first of many.

Only 4 points from 12 in September saw us slip to 11th place. Still respectable and easily recoverable, but we need to pick up points in October to mount any sort of challenge.

October - Transfers

It seems that the manager is not happy with 11th place and is still doing everything he can to bring in more players. Another five players joined the club throughout October, filling some crucial roles and adding some much needed depth to the frail squad.

Right back and/or central midfield Andy Geggan (50-100) was first to sign, the 22 year old joining from Dumbarton. With a decent potential, hopefully he’ll be one for the future.

Next was some sorely needed cover in between the sticks. Signed from Hampton & Richmond Joe Talbot will only ever act as back up, but should we need to call on him, we’ll grateful he’s there. Although young (19) and with little real ability or potential (30-55), there’s no doubt that we’ll be better off with a second keeper even of this calibre than without. He was soon to be joined on the books by Sam Tucknott (21, 28-44) who had been without a club. Although he is able to play on the left wing, since we already have five others who play there, I have to imagine that the boss signed him because he also plays as striker. He’s no firestarter, but again, we need the cover.

Two more were to join, both of whom are at best average, but provide essential cover in positions where we are very weak. Josh Aston (20, ST, 44-87) signed from Droylsden and Dominic Krief (26, MC, 34-56) was formerly a free agent. Let’s hope that they can do a job for the guvnor.

October - Fixtures

Back out on the pitch, the first game of the month saw us travel to take on Hampton & Richmond and a decent performance produced a decent result (2-1), before the trip to Guiseley for the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round. Poor finishing from our strikers and a string of saves from their keeper meant that even with 12 shots, 7 of which were on target, we drew a blank and just a single (lucky) goal was enough to send Guiseley through and eject us from our second competition already.

A week later and we were clearly over the disappointment, turning over Dorchester (2-0) on our own patch. For the remaining games of October though, we couldn’t seem to string together anything like winning form. Defeat at Tiverton (0-3) was followed by a hard fought win at home to Maidenhead (3-2) and then another thumping at Hayes & Yeading (0-3). While we’re starting to play well at home, away form is downright embarrassing. Rather than pushing back up the table, October saw us slip one place further down, to 12th. It’s going to take a huge run up to Christmas to give us anything like a chance at promotion. Maybe mid table obscurity will have to suffice

November

No league fixtures at all scheduled for November but, after a few weeks rest we were back in action away to Hillingdon in the FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round. Hewitson made it look as though we were going to walk it, with a goal in the opening minute. Lowly Hillingdon, however, had other ideas and managed to keep us under control and even equalise 25 minutes later. For the remainder of the match, the underdogs fought hard and can be very proud to have earned themselves a replay.

Back at our place, though, where our current form has been strong, we had to be favourites to go through and we just proved to be too strong for our opponents, running out comfortable 2-0 winners, Krief and Tucknott the scorers, both bagging their first goals for the club and sending us to the 1st Round proper.

December

First to visit were Team Bath and they came with a sting in their tail, overcoming an early goal from Tucknott to finish 2-1 winners. Another home game versus St Albans also produced a disappointing scoreline (1-1), meaning that even our home form seems to be waining.

Maybe then it was a good thing that our next fixture was away to local rivals Ebbsfleet in the FA Trophy. Although we were playing a solid team from the BSP, we did a lot to our credit in the match, but were unable to seal the victory after coming back from two goals down, to finish level at 2-2. Another replay meant that just four days later ‘The Fleet’ were at Bourne Park and they’d brought their A game. Nothing we could do went right and the visitors inevitably capitalised, coasting through with two unanswered goals. So no cup run for Maidstone this season.

Still smarting from recent results, Weston-Super-Mare had stuck two past us before we’d even laced up our boots. With a mountain to climb, the boys showed that have some fight in them though and gave it their all. A cracking goal from Clyne gave us a chance, but it was not to be. (1-2)

A clean sheet was what we needed and what we got next from the visit of Chelmsford, with goals from Tucknott and Aston securing a good win (2-0) and what seems like the first in ages on Boxing day. The final fixture of the year at Welling could, and perhaps should, have closed out 2009 on a high. Once again though Charlie Sheringham was deadly (Teddy has a lot to answer for) while our own forwards struggled to do anything but hit the keeper (0-1).

With the year over we currently sit in a poor 14th spot, 9 points from the playoffs, yet only 7 points from the trapdoor. In our favour we have only played 19 of our 42 matches as yet, while the majority of teams have played one more. The second half of the season needs to be much stronger than the first. Let’s hope that the manager can add a few stars to the squad with the ability to start the climb.

January – Transfers

It’s clear that the manager is not content with his squad and has been sending his scouts out in search of some real talent. No less than 12 players were to join in the month of January and every one of them adds something to the bunch. Several of them look to be destined for great things, assuming that the club can keep them. I’ll list them here briefly and you can see for yourself.

Seven of those players have a PA of over 100, although admittedly two of them are clearly on the wane. The talent at the club now must surely be good enough to push the club forward and the experience of Ben Thatcher and Stephen Clemence can only help to steady the ship. While all of the players signed last year were free transfers, pretty much all of these latest signings commanded some kind of fee, with a total spend of 675K, Shepherd (200K) and Mahon (325K) being the biggest slice of that. Their potentials look to worth the money. We’ll see if they have the character to ever reach their peak.

January – Fixtures

January started with three consecutive home games and we took maximum points. Newport County (2-1), Bognor Regis (4-1) and AFC Wimbledon (3-0). All three matches were well won and saw exactly what our new look team was capable of.

After so many home matches inevitably comes a long stint on the road and here would be the real test. Back-to-back 1-1 draws at both Lewes and Basingstoke may have looked more promising that the recent tonkings we’d had on our travels, but it didn’t last as we went down to both Staines (0-2) and the mighty Forest Green (1-2), who are sitting pretty at the top of the tree.

This mixed bag of results has been enough though to push us a little closer to the playoffs. The gap is now down to just 5 points and Maidstone are now slap bang centre of the table at 11th. At least we’re heading in the right direction.

Unfortunately the injuries might become a factor in the near future with Masters (our only decent goalkeeper), Aston, York and Mahon (all strikers) out injured for at least 3 weeks. Also, curiously, Stephen Hindmarch is ineligible to play for us at all this season as he has already played for two other clubs this season (Tranmere and Shrewsbury). This rule is a new one on me, but I guess there’s nothing can be done about it. It means though that we’re back to relying on either the youths or makeshift strikers for at least the next three or four games.

February

Again it would seem that the manager has his finger on the pulse. As soon as he received word from the treatment table regarding his front men, the cheque book was out again to deal with the problem, the small amount of 85K being paid to Chelsea for Shaun Cummings. The 21 year old is comfortable at right back and also up front, but first impressions are that with a CA of only 85 and very little room for improvement in the future (PA 93), the price may be a little high. He was very soon going to quiet his doubters, however. With the lack of options in attack, Cummings was called on immediately and went straight into the starting eleven for the next game.

He made a name for himself straight away by getting the opening goal in a stunning 4-0 demolition of Eastbourne. He then went on the open the scoring away to Bishop’s Stortford as the Stones powered on to a 3-0 win. Another 3-0 win followed at home to Farnborough and saw Cummings score for his third consecutive match. The fans were loving this.

The final fixture of February saw us travel to Thurrock. The magic didn’t quite happen and we had to be happy with a point (1-1), Cummings failing to find the target for the first time.

10 Points, 11 goals and only a single goal conceded was a fantastic return for the month and deservedly pushed the club up the league to 6th place and within touching distance of the playoffs. With a dozen matches remaining and undoubtedly high morale in the camp, anything must be possible from here on in.

March

It looked as though we were fated to slip up on the last stretch as we failed to beat Hampton & Richmond (Home, 1-1), were well beaten by Dorchester (Away, 1-2) and then were pipped by Maidenhead (Away, 0-1). So many points dropped at this stage could prove crucial.

The next match though was a cracker. Tiverton came to visit and thought they could capitalise on our lack of form by scoring early on. Our boys showed remarkable bouncebackability though and started to lay siege to the visitors goal. With the chances piling up it was inevitable that we’d get the breakthrough. Having not scored for a few games, Cummings was obviously champing at the bit and in the space of 25 minutes, he’d hit the back of the net three times. His superb hattrick closed out the half with Maidstone firmly in control at 3-1. The second half was taken more leisurely and we seemed to be coasting along nicely until Ben Thatcher was sent from the field for a clumsy challenge just outside the area and the resulting free kick was tucked away. 3-2 now and Tiverton started to turn the screw. With only ten men the cracks began to appear, but we hung on (just) and ended victorious. A great game and, more importantly, three more points.

A week later it was Hayes & Yeading that were visiting and we just proved to be too strong for them all over the park. It could and perhaps should have been a rout, but 3-1 is still a good result.

So March has been and gone and despite the shaky form, we still sit in 6th place, just a single point behind AFC Wimbledon. Can we string together some form and push past them? Seven games left means it’s in our hands. Let’s see if we’ve got the character...

League table as it stands at end of March 2010

April

Off to St Albans for our first fixture, we were hoping to start picking up some points away from home, something we haven’t managed too often of late. It was one of those dull games that everyone will quickly forget, finishing 0-0 and with no events of note from start to finish. Still we earned a point and that’s all that matters. Team Bath were the hosts for the next one and with young Craig Mahon in scintilating form, he single-handedly earned us the points, scoring both goals of the match.

Back home, Lewes came calling and maybe wished they hadn’t met us at a time when we are seemingly at our strongest. 4-0 was the score and it could easily have been more, with four different strikers getting a goal apiece (York, Mahon, Cummings & Shepherd) and maybe now we have too many options up front. The manager could have some selection headaches in picking the best of this bunch.

Three days later, we could be forgiven for expecting to get a victory at Chelmsford, even though they had occupied 2nd place in the league for some while and were almost assured a playoff spot already. They had other ideas, though and maybe we were guilty of complacency, as we caved in and were beaten 2-0. With only three matches remaining, we had yet to do enough to move up that one place that would make the difference, but with two home games nest, both of which against teams that had nothing to play for (Welling having to accept a mid table finish and Weston-Super-Mare already relegated) the ball was in our court.

We turned on the style in both matches and hit a total of seven goals without reply (3-0 and 4-0 respectively), to finish the month strongly and give ourselves every chance. Amazingly, with results around us, it still wasn’t enough and we remained 6th. The good new though, was that there was now only a single point between third place and sixth, so if we could win our final match, surely one of the teams above us would slip up and let us in. Wouldn’t they?

May

And so, the final fixture. Not the best way to end the season, needing nothing less that a win, against a very strong and currently 3rd placed Newport County on their patch. The upside of this, of course, is that, should we beat them, we would be guaranteed to go above them and finish in the playoff zone, right where we dreamed of being.

The game kicked off and was understandably a little stagnant for a while, right up until Centre Back Chris Giles met an inswinging corner, right on the stoke of half time and sent us into the interval a goal to the good.

Newport responded brilliantly and levelled things up no more than a minute after the restart, returning the game to the cautious midfield battle it had started out as. The chances were still coming every so often, but it seemed that both defences were more than capable of dealing with them and very few shots ever hit the target and it took a late flash of genius to divide the teams and fortunately it came from a man in a white shirt, namely young Lee York who scored us the winning goal with 25 minutes to play. It proved to be almost the last real chance of the match as we kept good possession and defended well enough to run the clock out and take the points. Those points were not only enough to lift us into the playoffs, but due to other results, they catapulted us right up to a staggering third place! Only a few short months before we had been languishing in 11th. Regardless of what happens in the playoffs, we can be rightly proud to have climbed so far. Either way, it must bode well for next season.

With the hard work done for the moment, the manager returned his focus once more to the transfer market, completing the signing of promising 20 year old keeper Simon Eastwood (80-115) from Workington for 110K, just three days after the season was done.

So the playoffs rolled around and we were due to play Newport twice more in the semis, after that great result on the final day. The first leg was to be played at Newport and it seemed that they were out for revenge and who can blame them. They started the game brightly and it was a completely different occasion to the previous meeting.

Although a reasonably even battle on paper, the chances we created (not many) were no more than half-chances at best, while Newport’s strikers were deadly. It was only thanks to new signing Simon Eastwood pulling off a few decent saves that kept the score down to just 2-0. A major setback, but it could so easily have been worse. We’d just have to give it everything in the return leg.

When that second leg kicked off, it took no more than eight minutes for Newport to seemingly have done enough to shatter our dreams, going 1-0 up and 3-0 on aggregate. It would take a Herculean effort to come back from this.

Within just six minutes though, the dream started to become a possibility as we hit the net not once, but twice in quick succession (Lee York and Stephen Clemence with the goals) to bring us to just a goal behind and it wasn’t to stop there. On 24 minutes Craig Mahon did it again, managing to slot one past the keeper and incredibly level everything up at 3-3. We’d need another, but we’d left ourselves plenty of time to go on and get it and the confidence was immense. From that moment on we bossed the whole field and dominated possession (we finished the match having had an impressive 62% of the ball against a team that could not be described as pushovers) and although it took a while, it was almost written in the script that we would go on and win the match. Once again Mahon was the man of the hour, finding the net again in the 62nd minute, sending Maidstone to the final and earning himself a bottle of Champagne in the process.

Having crushed Chelmsford in their Semi-Final, our opponents in the finale were Eastbourne, a fellow Kentish side and a side that had finished second only to Forest Green in the league. It was never going to be easy, but in front of a bumper crowd of 3207, we took the lead right on the half time whistle, a headed goal from a corner, courtesy of 19 year old Conrad Balatoni. By the 49th minute, captain Stephen Clemence made things a little tricky for us, picking up his second yellow card and being asked to leave the field, due to some overzealous tackling. With ten men, it should have been tough, but somehow the boys found another gear and continued to pressurise the Eastbourne defence, eventually finding the opening they needed on 73 minutes, Cummings being in the right place at the right time to slot home and give us the cushion we needed to calm things down. And that’s the way the match finished. 2-0 to the Stones and promotion to the Blue Square Premier well and truly earned. Let’s hope that the manager can get us ready for the challenge and we can hit the ground running next year. It’s very exciting leaving it until the last minute to mount a challenge, but not good for the heart!

Top 20 players by CA

Name, Age, CA-PA

Clemence, 32, 100-135

Thatcher, 34, 97-145

Cummings, 21, 86-93

Eastwood, 20, 80-115

Mahon, 20, 80-130

Hindmarch, 20, 76-123

Balatoni, 19, 74-119

Giles, 28, 74-85

Stephens, 22, 69-99

Mullan, 22, 66-109 (+1)

Shepherd L, 20, 65-113

Hardiker, 27, 63-80

Tahar, 20, 62-112 (+2)

York, 19, 54-122

Geggan, 23, 51-100

Greenwood, 24, 51-69 (+4)

Parkinson, 19, 51-75

Aston, 20, 45-87

Green, 23, 41-70

McGinn, 26, 40-56 (+2)

There’s a huge amount of future talent in this squad now and with a little help developing, they could form the backbone of a strong team for a few years to come. The manager has signed some real class. Doubtless he will want to add to what he’s got before the new campaign and a few may be released to give us room to improve. It’s looking positive though.

CA of x or above

190 0

180 0

170 0

160 0

150 0

140 0

130 0

120 0

110 0

100 1

090 1

080 3

070 3

060 5

050 4

040 3

030 5

020 2

010 3

000 0

Total 30

Club Honours

Winners – Blue Square South Playoffs 2009/10

Season Summary

2009/10

Blue Square South: (Pos 3), P 42, W 20, D 10, L 12, F 66, A 42, GD +24, Pts 70

FA Cup: 3rd Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: 1st Round

Setanta Shield: 1st Round

Squad Summary

Squad Stats

Best Player: Cummings 7.22 (19 apps)

Top Goalscorer: Mahon & Cummings (10)

Worst Player: Streete 5.87 (21 apps)

Manager Roundup

Current manager: Garry Haylock (Current rep: 2182)

Maidstone Stats: P 52, W 24, D 12, L 16, F 80, A 53, GD +27

Previous Managers: None

Great work Betterspud. Thouroughly good read and i will be following this closely. If i cold say one thing as constructive criticism though, it would be that i was disappointed after reading through the monthly updates for fifteen minutes to find that you had posted a screenshot of the final league table which showed a "P" beside Maidstone before i had got round to reading the playoff report. Still excellent work and looking forward to next seasons report. Thanks for the effort.

Great work Betterspud. Thouroughly good read and i will be following this closely. If i cold say one thing as constructive criticism though, it would be that i was disappointed after reading through the monthly updates for fifteen minutes to find that you had posted a screenshot of the final league table which showed a "P" beside Maidstone before i had got round to reading the playoff report. Still excellent work and looking forward to next seasons report. Thanks for the effort.

Thanks for the support.

Also, apologies for spoiling the outcome. I've moved the offending spoiler, so as not to do the same for others.

Have started the next season and will aim to update tomorrow (or possibly earlier if I have time).

Thanks again

Good luck betterspud

I always like to see more AI experiments on here . Remember its tough to follow these things through particularly if feedback is too thin on the ground but all in all just keep the faith, you'll get the readers! Impressed Maidstone went straight up as well!

nice read m8, and best of luck to your maidstone

Season 2 - Maidstone United FC 2010-11

Youth Players Promoted

Simon Abbott (D RL, 42-89)

Nigel Skelton (ST, 25-32)

Blair Cuthbert (D RC 34-93)

Dean Mills (DC, DM, 48-120)

Another batch of kids from the academy and not a bad bunch at all for this level. With the exception of Skelton, they’ve all got potential and I’d expect them to go on and make reasonable careers for themselves, probably at football league clubs. Mills, however, has some real talent. A PA of 120 means that he’s one to hold on to.

Transfers In

Clarke Ryan (28, GK, 75-105) Salisbury, FREE

Tom McCready (19, M RC, 51-122) No Club, FREE

Conall Murtagh (25, M C, 59-97) Neath, FREE

Hope Akpan (18, M C, 57-94) No Club, FREE

Cameron Belford (21, GK, 55-113) Welshpool, FREE

No stunning signings this time around, but there’s some youth prospect there in McCready and Belford, plus the manager has obviously aimed to give us the depth we lack in crucial positions. With what we have already, they should compliment the squad and allow us to compete, at the very least.

Transfers Out

Cameron Belford (Welling, Loan)

Conrad Balatoni (Redditch, 4k)

Theo Streete (Camarthen, FREE)

Aymen Tahar (Valur, FREE)

Joe Talbot (Released)

James Blake (Released)

Matty McGinn (Released)

Dominic Krief (Released)

Dale Stephens (Released)

Sam Tucknott (Released)

No big surprises with those that the manager has let go. The majority of these players were brought in last season at short notice, to do a job and they did it. It’s unlikely that they would be able to do the same again though, one step further up the league structure and so they moved on. Perhaps Tahar and Stephens, with youth on their side, could have gone on to do something for us, but that’s football. Either the coach wanted to use other options or the players just wanted away. Either way, there’s no point in looking back.

Blue Square Premier – Clubs sorted by Rep

Mansfield 2319

Oxford 2232

Cambridge 2206

Kidderminster 2158

Torquay 2143

York 2064

Macclesfield 2046

Dag & Red 2025

Stevenage 2023

Accrington 2000

Crawley 1959

Northwich 1900

Forest Green 1840

Woking 1840

Kettering 1833

Weymouth 1793

Histon 1768

Salisbury 1750

Grays 1727

Tamworth 1715

Barrow 1682

Maidstone 1565

Eastleigh 1548

Ilkeston 1375

Once again, we are a long way from favourites in this league, with virtually all of our opponents starting stronger than us. Media prediction is 22nd. Let’s hope that there are enough performers in the side to better that.

Top 20 Players in Blue Square Premier – Sorted by CA

Name, Club, CA-PA

Bruna, Accrington, 102-159

Clemence, Maidstone, 98-135

Ameobi, Macclesfield, 97-112

Potts, Kidderminster, 96-153

Butler, Mansfield, 95-100

Thatcher, Maidstone, 94-145

Yussuff, Grays, 92-113

Griffiths, Dag & Red, 89-110

Dunfield, Macclesfield, 88-95

White, Salisbury, 87-115

Cummings, Maidstone, 86-93

Perry, Dag & Red, 86-95

Cadamarteri, Oxford, 85-120

Feeney, Salisbury, 85-101

Carayol, Torquay, 83-97

McLaren, Mansfield, 83-115

Rents, Crawley, 83-96

Webb, Weymouth, 83-108

Mahon, Maidstone, 82-131

Potter, Cambridge, 82-85

Four players in the top 20 is very respectable. While Clemence and Thatcher are on the decline, they clearly still have the ability necessary to compete at this level. Cummings and Mahon already started to show their credentials last term. We’ll see how that compare to the improved opposition.

Maidstone United - Top 20 Players sorted by CA

Name Age Pos CA-PA +/-

Clemence 32 M C 98-135 -5

Thatcher 34 D L 94-145 -5

Cummings 21 D R, ST 86-93

Mahon 21 ST 82-131 +5

Eastwood 21 GK 80-115

Hindmarch 20 AM RC, F C 77-123 +1

Clarke 28 GK 75-105

Giles 28 D C 74-85 -

Mullan 22 AM RL 66-109 -

Shepherd L 20 AM RL 65-113 +3

Hardiker 28 D RC 63-80 +1

Murtagh 25 M C 59-97

Akpan 18 M C 57-94

York 19 ST 55-122 +3

Belford 21 GK 55-113

Parkinson 19 D C, M C 53-75 +5

McCready 19 M RC 51-122

Greenwood 24 D/WB R, M C 51-69 +1

Geggan 23 D R, M RC 51-100 -

Mills 16 D C, DM 48-120

Not much improvement throughout the squad in terms of development, probably due to the fact that, although the club has plenty of cash and excellent training facilities, the management team has decided not to hire any coaches as yet. The manager’s obviously happy to take it on single-handedly.

August Fixtures

So it’s time for the new season to begin and with the majority of the team that finished last season staying on, there must be still a lot of optimism among the players.

Everyone always hopes for a good start and it was duly delivered, away at Barrow. It took the whole of the first half before the team had started to settle, but then they got into their stride and dealt comfortably with their hosts. Within ten minutes of the restart, both Hindmarch and Shepherd had found the net and it was enough to secure the points. A rare away win. Perhaps they’ve finally banished the curse on the road. Another away match followed at Northwich and put a stop to those kind of thoughts straight away, 1-0 being enough for the hosts to take three points. Back to the drawing board?

Back on our turf, we demonstrated some character, the previous defeat obviously not weighing on their minds and romped home 3-0, Salisbury going home with their tails between their legs.

The legend that is Accrington Stanley were next to experience our hospitality and it seemed as though they might leave with a share of the points after an exciting end-to-end battle left us locked at 2-2 with just ten minutes left on the clock. A rash challenge from Accrington’s Craig Braham-Barett, however left them short of cover and gave us the impetus to push on. A minute from time, up popped veteran Stephen Clemence with the goal. Nothing spectacular, but he kept calm under pressure to take the chance presented to him and bag the points.

A trip to Woking next and it seemed that we still couldn’t break the pattern. We seem to be unstoppable at home, free scoring and confident, yet we continually roll over on our travels. The match ended a disappointing 2-0 to the home side and there was little resistance from us throughout.

Back home again on August 28th, It seemed early on that Stevenage may be able to contain our dominance at home, leveling the score not once, but twice in only 16 minutes. Two further goals before the interval however left them with no reply. Six goals in the first half and the fans were expecting a cricket score. It wasn’t to be though and it finished 4-2. Clearly a game of two halves. Pleasingly, goals from Forwards Hindmarch (2), Mahon and Cummings (currently playing at right back) showed that we don’t lack confidence in front of goal. If only we could control the centre of the field better when we’re on our travels, we’d be formidable.

So four wins and two defeats from August. A great start and enough to see us occupying a fantastic 2nd place, just one point from leaders Macclesfield. It’s early days, but could this lowly club really be challenging to enter the Football League after only two seasons?

September Fixtures

Where August was a fantastic month, September turned out to be the exact opposite. We failed to win a single match and this was probably mostly due to our defence failing to keep a single clean sheet. We began by taking a point from each of the first two fixtures versus Cambridge (home, 1-1) and title challengers Macclesfield (away, 1-1), before the problem distinctly worsened. Successive defeats to Mansfield (away, 2-3), Kettering (home, 1-3) and Kidderminster (away, 0-2) were only slightly improved with the visit of Forest Green, when we managed to scrap our way to another 1-1 draw. At the end of this month, we had earned just three points from a possible 18 and had plummeted from 2nd place all the way down to 15th. All our good work of the opening weeks had been for nothing.

October Fixtures

October started where September had left off and an away draw (1-1) with lowly Ilkeston really wasn’t good enough. Next up was a chance for the manager to get one over his former club as we were to play Hayes & Yeading in the Setanta Shield 2nd Round. Drawn away from home and in such poor form, we certainly were not in any way favourites to go through, yet when Thatcher gave us the lead on 77 minutes, we probably felt that we could relax. Unfortunately, maybe we relaxed a little too much and our hosts came back at us, leveling the match with just 4 minutes remaining. Neither side could break the deadlock, either in regular time or extra time and so it fell to spot kicks. A few months ago, when our attackers were scoring for fun, this would have been a formality, yet now they were all a little edgy and it showed. Hayes tucked away their first before Mr dependable, Stephen Clemence stepped up. It may have been the pressure or just one of those things, but the unthinkable happened and he missed the target altogether, immediately multiplying the pressure on our kick takers.

Confidently, Hayes stroked in their second. Chris Giles stepped up for ours and defiantly tucked it away, giving us hope, before Hayes scored their third. You’d have put money on Shaun Cummings hitting the net and he struck it well, yet too close to the keeper and saw his shot saved, leaving us trailing 3-1, with only two attempts each remaining. We’d need a miracle from here on in and it would seem that we were not due one today, when Hayes’ Nevin Saroya calmly slotted in their fourth and sent them through to the next round. Another early exit for Maidstone.

Back in the league, we were to play three matches in eight days and we responded very positively after our cup exit, beating Crawley on their own park (2-1), Tamworth at home by the same scoreline and then, again at Bourne Park, Eastleigh 2-0, to regain a measure of our pride and climb four places up the league to the comfort of 11th place. It would still take a massive effort to make the season as successful as it might once have promised, but at least we no longer had one foot on the trapdoor.

Before the end of the month, Bath were to visit for an FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round tie and we made hard work of it, taking an early lead, then falling behind, before fighting back to 2-2 and earning a replay at Bath. We played the match three days later and this time made absolutely sure we would progress, winning 2-0, both goals from the back-in-form Hindmarch.

November Fixtures

When the FA Cup 1st Round was made, we were very excited to have been given a home draw against Rochdale. It would be our first chance to test ourselves against Football League opposition and we couldn’t wait.

With no league fixture the following weekend, we had ten days to prepare for Rochdale, so we started the match brightly. In front of a record crowd of 2860, incredibly Maidstone took a very early lead, through Hindmarch. Apparently, this did nothing more than inspire our visiting opponents as they put us in our place, scoring not one or two, or even three, but four goals before the interval, breaking our spirit and crushing any chance of progression. They scored again (just once) in the second period to bring the final score to 5-1. A record defeat. Another cup run that was over before it began.

A win and three draws followed, making us undefeated for the month, yet still without a decent haul of points. The goals flowed a little better, but the clean sheets still weren’t happening as we shipped three at Dagenham (3-3), won 2-1 at home to York, 2-2 versus Histon (home) and finally a goal apiece at Grays.

Although we’d not been beaten, it wasn’t enough to stop us slipping another spot to 12th. With 20 matches played already it looks as though we’re going to have to battle our way through to January and then hope that the gaffer can do some inspired deals on the transfer market to give us some much needed inspiration.

December Fixtures

Unbeaten in November and with just a single away trip coming up this month in our four league fixtures and all against teams in the bottom half of the table, we had a chance to capitalise. Getting the away game out of the way first, we earned a good point at Oxford, to leave us a good run up to Christmas and beyond. Disappointingly, we didn’t have what it takes to beat Torquay, letting them take a 2-0 lead, one of which came from the penalty spot. We managed to claw back a single goal, but couldn’t finish the job. 2-1 to Torquay.

The first round of the FA Trophy gave us a little distraction where we met our fellow promotees Forest Green. A poor turnout of just 420 spectators witnessed a bizarre match at Bourne Park as we first took the lead, before having both Cummings and McCready sent off for two bookable offenses each. Usually, being reduced to just nine men would be disastrous, but due to the terrible discipline demonstrated by both sides, we managed to get a second as Mahon was pulled down in the area and he dutifully dispatched the resulting penalty kick. With only seven minutes left on the clock, Forest Green finally started to use their superiority of numbers and poured forward at every opportunity. It was only due to luck and the final whistle, that they didn’t manage to get back into the game though, managing to get only a single goal from the onslaught. A lucky result, but we’ll take it.

Another home match, versus Weymouth next on Boxing Day and again, we just didn’t have enough to take the points, going a goal up, but conceding two soon after. Even when they had a man sent off, we still couldn’t find the opening we needed and so ended the match. Our second consecutive 2-1 defeat in front of our home support. Two days later, however we found that extra bit and managed to come away with a good 2-0 win over Northwich, to finish the year on a high. Once again, though, we’d finished the month a position lower in the table than we’d been when the month came in. 13th place and slowly sliding. Not comfortable, yet bizarrely only five points from a playoff slot and only eight points from Macclefield at the top of the pile. Here’s hoping Haylock can make some shrewd additions in January and start to reverse the decline.

Nice update. Be careful not to burn yourself out by writing too much for each month of fixtures. you have an excellent writing style and you keep things interesting, but longevity is important in an experiment like this. You should consider shortening the monthly fixtures reports (my opinion only, do whatever you are happy with in the end). I think shorter reports will keep it interesting for you, will allow you to report more often in the long run (When the legs better!!) and will attract more people to read them. This thread had great potential. Keep up the excellent work and feel free to ignore my advice. Like i say, its just an opinion, and i will continue to follow this either way.

Excellent read so far, will follow this with pleasure

Nice update. Be careful not to burn yourself out by writing too much for each month of fixtures. you have an excellent writing style and you keep things interesting, but longevity is important in an experiment like this. You should consider shortening the monthly fixtures reports (my opinion only, do whatever you are happy with in the end). I think shorter reports will keep it interesting for you, will allow you to report more often in the long run (When the legs better!!) and will attract more people to read them. This thread had great potential. Keep up the excellent work and feel free to ignore my advice. Like i say, its just an opinion, and i will continue to follow this either way.

What ever can you mean? That is the short version!!??!!

Seriously, though, you're absolutely right and I am very conscious of it. I did actually try to cut it down for season 2, but I kind of get carried away when I'm in full flow. Still, I hope that I won't get too bored, too soon. Mostly I am writing it for simply cos I enjoy the experience of writing.

I think I might re-read a few seasons of the Bandits thread and take some pointers from the master, regarding trimming down and making it more accessible to those that get turned off by yards of commentary though. I know for myself that I find it hard to commit to anything that is too long, until I know that it is worth the read.

Thanks for the input. It's all appreciated. :0)

I think I might re-read a few seasons of the Bandits thread and take some pointers from the master, regarding trimming down and making it more accessible to those that get turned off by yards of commentary though. I know for myself that I find it hard to commit to anything that is too long, until I know that it is worth the read.

No better thread to learn from. Still an excellent start to this thread though. Im eagerly looking forward to a surge of form in the second half of the season that will see us clinch a playoff slot. Depends on the signings in January

January Transfers

Curiously, where Haylock had been happy to bring in fresh faces regularly to improve the squad, he either couldn’t finalise the deals to do so or simply felt that it wasn’t necessary. Not a single player signed nor sold, the club prepared itself for a new year.

January Fixtures

A bad start saw us beaten heavily in the opening match (0-3) and then only earn a point at home to Barrow (1-1), before it was time for the distraction of the FA Trophy again. We played just well enough in the away draw at Hednesford to slip through 2-1 from a frankly pedestrian and dull match. Another draw followed in the league, before taking maximum points from Woking (1-0) and Stevenage (2-0) and just about rescuing January from being a disaster. One solitary place gained, we move to 12th.

Just before tearing another page from the calendar, though, we had our next FA Trophy fixture, at home to Grays. Yet another dismal match for the supporter, we were lucky to emerge victors, a single goal from Aston being the only highlight from the ninety minutes. Still it was enough to put us through to the 4th Round and we’d glady have taken it at the start of the season.

February Fixtures

Before we were to meet Accrington in the FA Trophy, we had to get through three league fixtures. I’m not sure that one win, one draw and one defeat was what we deserved, nor wanted, but it’s what we got and did nothing to aid our march up the table.

Yet another dull cup match at Accrington saw us take the lead mid way through the first period, only for it to be cancelled out on the stroke of half time. Nothing more than half chances came in the second half and it would take a replay to settle the game.

The replay, on our own turf, was slightly better, with at least a few good chances and we only needed to take one of them get us into the hat for the Semi Final Draw, Mahon with a decent solo effort.

We rounded out the month with a ground out 1-0 win at Kettering, bagging us the points to propel us to the lofty heights of 11th. It’s a painfully slow ascent, but I guess we should be grateful we’re moving in the right direction.

March Fixtures

A blistering start to the month, we took on and beat Forest Green (1-0), Kidderminster (2-0) and Ilkeston (2-0) in quick succession, starting to show the form we know that we are capable of. Unbelievably, just those three matches had shot us from 11th up to an amazing 4th place. With still 10 matches left and a host of teams in the running for the promotion berths, it’s too early to say we’d done it, but we’d given ourselves every chance now, surely?

The 1st Leg of the FA Trophy Semi Final versus Stafford was next on the schedule and we had our home leg first, allowing us the chance to build a lead. We took the chance with both hands and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners, back-in-form-again Mahon and Hindmarch with the goals. Incredibly this was our sixth consecutive win (in all competitions) and we had won them all without allowing a single goal against us.

Away to Eastleigh next in the league that run was to end as we came away with no points in what had been a very even match. Still, we were never going to win them all, we just needed to pick ourselves up and carry on as we had been.

Back in action in the FA Trophy Semi again, we continued where we had left off, despatching Stafford by a healthy aggregate of four goals to nil, booking ourselves a place in the Final. Imagine. Lowly Maidstone United at Wembley. The ambition of every one of these players was to come true and could only be bettered by lifting the trophy. For now though, they needed to put all of that out of their minds and concentrate on giving everything they had in the league.

From the two remaining matches of March, we scraped a 1-0 victory at York, to lift ourselves back into 4th place, before letting ten-man Crawley steal the points from us on our own patch (1-2). Having been a goal up in the match, it was a major disappointment to let it slip away and it meant we enter April outside the playoff places, in 7th.

April Fixtures

There is little point in going into detail regarding April’s results. They started out badly and never really got better. Over seven matches, we scored just four, conceded ten and earned a net haul of just two points. So much hard work throughout the early months of 2011 seems to have been wasted. Hard work that i the end was worthy of nothing better than a 15th place finish .Having so recently occupied fourth spot, the fans must be wondering how it could be possible for that same club to just roll over and die when it mattered most. It would take them a while before the optimism started to return.

May Fixture

FA Trophy Final

Wembley Stadium

7th May 2011

Oxford United Vs Maidstone United

Attendance: 29,432

A first ever visit to the new Wembley for both teams and it started very brightly. Both sets of fans were to be treated to an attractive and attacking display, played out in the spirit of the game.

With only six minutes gone the excellent Lee York broke free of the defence and stormed toward the goal. With the keeper covering the angle and leaving him little chance of a shot, he unselfishly knocked the ball to the advancing Mahon, who calmly tucked it away. 1-0 Maidstone!

The celebrations began, but were short lived as veteran striker Danny Cadamarteri powered in the equaliser just five minutes later and then the lead was reversed with just 16 minutes on the watch as Midfielders Noble and Dorney combined brilliantly, Dorney applying the finish. 2-1 Oxford.

With their noses in front Oxford decided that caution was prudent and seemed content to try and contain us, rather than go for the killing blow. Half time came and went without further incident, but Haylock had obviously said enough in the dressing room to spur The Stones on and they came out fully intent on attacking Oxford’s goal, creating a good number of chances. Michael Jordan in the Oxford goal had a lot to do, but was equal to it as we fired shots in from everywhere. Lee York, in particular was intent on getting his name on the scoresheet, trying all manner of tricks to beat Jordan. Alas, it was not to be. Despite being by far the batter team on the day, it was Oxford who made the long climb up the steps at five O’clock, to claim their trophy.

Even with the disappointment in the league, it was hard to count being runners up in this competition as anything other than a triumph. We may not have our names on any silverware as yet, but it must bode well for the future. There’s always next year...

End of Season Roundup

Top 20 players by CA

Name, Age, CA-PA

Cummings, 22, 88-93 (+2)

Clemence, 33, 85-135 (-15)

Mahon, 22, 84-130 (+4)

Thatcher, 35, 84-145 (-13)

Eastwood, 22, 81-115 (+1)

Hindmarch, 21, 78-123 (+2)

Clarke, 29, 75-105 (New Signing)

Giles, 29, 75-85 (+1)

Shepherd L, 21, 72-113 (+7)

Mullan, 23, 68-109 (+2)

York, 20, 67-122 (+13)

Akpan, 19, 66-94 (New signing)

Murtagh, 26, 65-97 (New signing)

Hardiker, 28, 63-80 (-)

Mills, 17, 61-120 (+13)

Belford, 22, 60-113 (+5)

McCready, 20, 59-122 (+8)

Parkinson, 20, 55-75 (+4)

Pearson, 23, 55-86 (New signing)

Aston, 21, 53-87 (+8)

Clemence and Thatcher are clearly nearing the end of their usefulness. Expect them to be offloaded or offered coaching contracts in the near future. A number of players made decent improvement, notably York, thanks to the number of appearances he made last term and the excellent Mills, who at only 17 could start to stake a claim for a place in the team. Failing that, let’s hope the manager can get him out on loan to maximise his development.

CA of x or above

190 : 00, 00

180 : 00, 00

170 : 00, 00

160 : 00, 00

150 : 00, 00

140 : 00, 00

130 : 00, 00

120 : 00, 00

110 : 00, 00

100 : 01, 00

090 : 01, 00

080 : 03, 05

070 : 03, 04

060 : 05, 07

050 : 04, 07

040 : 03, 03

030 : 05, 03

020 : 02, 04

010 : 03, 03

000 : 00, 00

Total : 30, 36

With the rapid decline of Clemence and Thatcher, our highest rated player is now Cummings with a CA of 88. Other than that, there is little difference in the pool of ability we have compared to last year. With the manager not strengthening the squad, it’s only the development of existing players that has changed the profile at all. There are, however, a number of these players that still have a vast potential to realise, so they should continue to improve the pool year-on-year for a little while longer.

Club Honours

Winners – Blue Square South Playoffs 2009/10

Runners-up – FA Trophy 2011

Season Summary

2009/10

Blue Square South: (Pos 3), P 42, W 20, D 10, L 12, F 66, A 42, GD +24, Pts 70

FA Cup: 3rd Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: 1st Round

Setanta Shield: 1st Round

2010/11

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 15), P 46, W 17, D 13, L 16, F 61, A 56, GD +5, Pts 64

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Runner Up

Setanta Shield: 2nd Round

Squad Summary

Squad Stats

Best Player: Hindmarch 6.84 (45 apps)

Top Goalscorer: Hindmarch 21

Worst Player: Parkinson 5.72 (33 apps)

Manager Roundup

Current manager: Garry Haylock, Current rep: 2882 (+700)

Maidstone Stats: P 110, W 48, D 28, L 34, F 159, A 122, GD +37

Previous Managers: None

nice one, well written, KUTGW betterspud

Very well written. Will follow this closely!

Very well written. Will follow this closely!

WHS

Excellent update. Need some big signings for next season if we are to progress. So inconsistant this year. Maybe time for a new manager? Looking forward to the next installment. KUTGW

Season 3 - Maidstone United FC 2011-12

Youth Players Promoted

Paul Smith (DC DM, 40-66)

Jamie Charlton (GK, 38-62)

James Thomas (ST, 52-113)

Paul Willis (AM C, 26-44)

Simon Hartley (AM L, 25-62)

Average talent pool this year. Thomas looks to be the only prospect worth developing. Expect to see the others leave the club soon.

Transfers In

Domaine Rouse (22, ST, 63-97) Connah’s Quay, FREE

Ross Atkins (21, GK, 77-119) Ilkeston, 130K

Tommy Tejan-Sie (22, DM M RC, 55-70) No club, FREE

Ryan Crowther (22, AM R, 75-103) Bray Wanderers, 1K

Chris Westwood (34, SW DC, 75-107) No club, FREE

Joe McCann (18, AM LC, 91-147) Leeds, 375K

Matt Oakley (34, M RC, 81-138) No club, FREE

A couple more old duffers in (Westwwod and Oakley). It’s unlikely that they’ll be much use, but they didn’t cost anything, so maybe their experience will help out with the huge number of inexperienced players we’ve got on the books. Atkins might get a few games and has room for development, but 130K seems a bit steep. McCann looks like an excellent prospect, with a PA of 147 and it would be nice if he can realise that. He could become one of the best at the club. Expect him to feature heavily. The others are nothing but bit-part players, but since they cost a total of nothing, they’re worth signing just as cover.

Transfers Out

Akpan (Keflavik, FREE)

Belford (Dover, FREE)

Greenwood (Released)

Pearson (Released)

Geggan (Released)

Aston (Released)

Green (Released)

Shepherd, A (Released)

Hewitson (Released)

Hateley (Released)

Turnbull (Released)

Clarke (Gillingham, FREE)

Shepherd, L (Released)

McCready (Released)

Nice to see the manager clearing out the dead wood again. Not so sure that we couldn’t have got a bit more out of a couple of those that went though. Belford could have made it (PA of 113) to become a decent keeper at this level, as could Liam Shepherd (PA 113). Most puzzling though is the release of McCready, who had a PA of 122. I can only guess that, since he only has a CA of 51, the gaffer couldn’t see him ever realising that and decided to cut him loose.

Blue Square Premier – Clubs sorted by Rep

Shrewsbury 2233

Mansfield 2134 (-185)

Cambridge 2109 (-97)

Torquay 2086 (-57)

Chester 2024

Oxford 2020 (-212)

Kidderminster 1989 (-169)

Crawley 1952 (-7)

Dag & Red 1935 (-90)

York 1917 (-147)

Stevenage 1916 (-107)

Salisbury 1828 (+78)

Woking 1815 (-25)

Kettering 1809 (-24)

Weymouth 1806 (+13)

Grays 1774 (+47)

Southport 1772

Histon 1767 (-1)

Tamwoth 1653 (-62)

Redditch 1643

Maidstone 1625 (+60)

AFC W’don 1621

Maidenhead 1532

Ilkeston 1462 (+87)

Pretty much as it was last term, with us still ranked behind almost all clubs in the league. The good news is that we were one of only a handful of teams that increased our reputation and the top clubs have all suffered a big drop in rep, which means that there’s not really going to be any great amount of dominance by anyone this year.

Top 20 Players in Blue Square Premier – Sorted by CA

Name, Club, CA-PA

Holt, Shrewsbury, 96-116

Butler, Mansfield, 95-100

Linwood, Chester, 95-125

Connell, Kidderminster, 94-112

Griffiths, Dag & Red, 94-110

Jones, Redditch, 93-150

Blizzard, Shrewsbury, 91-118

McCann, Maidstone, 91-147

Julian, Shrewsbury, 90-119

Perry, Dag & Red, 90-95

Casal, Shrewsbury, 89-118

Cummings, Maidstone, 89-93

Stanton, Shrewsbury, 89-110

Clarke, Redditch, 88-112

Feeney, Salisbury, 88-101

Bailey, Grays, 87-116

Carayol, Torquay, 87-97

Guy, Shrewsbury, 87-105

Turner, Woking, 87-130

Mitchell, Shrewsbury, 86-113

With the decline of Clemence and Thatcher and no similarly talented players in, only two Stones now are good enough to occupy a spot in the Top 20. New boy McCann jumps straight in, proving he’ll be one to watch and good old Cummings still holds his spot. He’s pretty much reached his potential now, so it’s only a matter of time before he either gets forced out by new signings or we reacha division where he just won’t cut it. Until then he’s the best we’ve got and is proving he’s good enough at this level. Would be nice to see some of our talents sneaking into the Top 20 next time.

[b]Maidstone United - Top 20 Players sorted by CA[/b]

Name		Age	Pos		CA-PA	+/-
McCann	        18	AM LC		91-147	New Signing
Cummings	22	D R, ST		89-93	+3
Mahon		22	ST		85-131	+3
Clemence	33	M C		83-135	-15
Eastwood	22	GK		81-115	+1
Oakley		34	M RC		81-134	New Signing
Thatcher	35	D L		81-145	-13
Hindmarch	21	AM RC, FC	78-123	+1
Atkins		21	GK		77-119	New Signing
Crowther	22	AM R		75-103	New Signing
Giles		29	D C		75-85	+1
Westwood	34	SW, D C		75-107	New Signing
York		21	ST		69-122	+14
Mullan		23	AM RL		68-109	+2
Mills		17	D C, DM	        66-120	+18
Murtagh	        26	M C		66-97	+7
Hardiker	29	D RC		63-80	-
Rouse		22	ST		63-97	New Signing
Parkinson	20	D C, M C	55-75	+2
Tejan-Sie	22	DM, M RC	55-70	New Signing

Some great improvement from youngsters York and Mills are the highlight of the season. They’re doing everything they can to get themselves into the starting eleven and keep up their development. Otherwise, only mild improvement. Maybe it’s time those in charge took the decision to hire a coach or two?

CA of x or above

190 : 00, 00, 00

180 : 00, 00, 00

170 : 00, 00, 00

160 : 00, 00, 00

150 : 00, 00, 00

140 : 00, 00, 00

130 : 00, 00, 00

120 : 00, 00, 00

110 : 00, 00, 00

100 : 01, 00, 00

090 : 01, 00, 01

080 : 03, 05, 06

070 : 03, 04, 05

060 : 05, 07, 06

050 : 04, 07, 03

040 : 03, 03, 02

030 : 05, 03, 02

020 : 02, 04, 03

010 : 03, 03, 01

000 : 00, 00, 00

Total : 30, 36, 29

A steady increase in 70 and 80 CA players, but not much else. Looks as though we need just a few more high CA players to give us a lift.

Season Summary – August to December

The first couple of months saw nothing more than average form from Maidstone, with quite a few draws and also a fair number of defeats, including the 4-0 tonking at Woking keeping us in the bottom half of the table.

A run of four straight wins at the start of October propelled us right up to a creditable fourth spot and, following a couple of draws, we were unbeaten in six and looking good. Amongst these were a good 2-1 win over Grays in the Forth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup and a 4-1 drubbing of Hampton & Richmond in the Setanta Shield 3rd Round.

The cup glory wasn’t to last though, as we crashed out of the FA Cup, beaten 1-0 by Rushden in the first round proper. Back in the league, we managed to maintain reasonable form, despite the end of our unbeaten phase and kept ourselves in the top half and we finished off the year in 8th, an excellent 4-0 win over Crawley and a hard fought 2-1 with Dagenham & Redbridge two of the highlights.

In the cups, it was to be another meeting with Grays, this time in the Setanta Shield and the result was the same, 2-1 to Maidstone and we were into the Quarter Final. In the FA Trophy, we began Round One against Hampton & Richmond. After sending them out of the Setanta Shield a few weeks earlier, we wasted no time in doing the same here, banging three past them unanswered.

January Transfers

Brett Solkhon (29, DC DM, 56-64) Finn Harps, FREE

Only a single signing, and not really an inspiring one. Yet another squad player, but it’s difficult to see why we needed him. He only just creeps into the Top 20 at the club and even then he’s still only the fifth best centre half we have.

No Players left the club.

Season Summary – January to May

More average form followed and we maintained our place just below the playoff slots for a while, before a few slip-ups and five games without a win dropped us all the way down to 15th. We didn’t panic though and managed to turn things around and go eight unbeaten to get ourselves all the way up to sixth by the time March ended, including our new record win, 5-0 at home to Cambridge.

The cups, as usual, offered mixed results. We crashed out of the Setanta Shield, going down 2-0 at Torquay in the Quarter Final and then struggled against lowly Workington in the FA Trophy, needing a replay, exta time and penalties to finally squeeze past them. Once they were done though, we made short work of Mansfield (2-0) to go into the hat for the Semi Final draw, where we were paired up with Stevenage.

With the Semi Final over two legs, the first of which was on our own park, we took full advantage and played exceptionally well to get a 3-0 lead. Maybe Stevenage just didn’t have an answer for us, but either way, we continued to dominate them in the away leg, finishing the tie 5-1 victors on aggregate and booking our second consecutive FA Trophy final.

Before that, though, we had a little matter of wrapping up the league. From sixth place at the end of March, we dipped to ninth after losing 3-2 to AFC Wimbledon, but then finished magnificently winning all of the five remaining matches and scoring eleven goals in the process, to snatch the last Playoff slot on the final day of the season.

The Playoff final versus 2nd place York City probably should have been tough, but we absolutely wiped the floor with them and ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. Incidentally, in the second leg, Mahon reached the milestone of 100 games for the club and also netted his 45th goal. At only 22 he’s still got plenty more to offer. Anyway, with Dagenham progressing in their Semi Final, it meant that we would be playing at Wembley twice this season and both times would be facing them.

First up...

2011 FA Trophy Final

Wembley Stadium

Att- 16,469

Right from the whistle, it looked as though we could have the upper hand in the game and we continually surged forward, letting off a number of shots. Unfortunately though, we just couldn’t hit the target and both the first and second halves passed without a bona fide scoring chance from either team.

Extra time continued much the same, except that Mahon hit one post and Cummings hit the other, maybe demonstrating that their targeting was improving. Again though the referee’s watch ran down before anyone could convert and we were left to face off in a shoot-out. Last time this had happened, we had missed the majority of our kicks. We had to hope it would be better this time.

When Mahon stepped up and hit the ball straight into the keeper’s arms, it was looking grim. Luckily the nerves must have affected the Dagenham players too, because Vincent shot well wide and we were able to breathe a small sigh of relief. Crowther (Maidstone), Robinson (Dag & Red) and Clemence all elected to aim for the bottom right corner and all struck well enough to beat the keepers, before Atkins, deputising for the injured Eastwood in our goal, pulled off a great save, stopping Griffiths’ power shot and giving us a 2-1 lead with only two round to go.

What happened next was exactly what we didn’t need. Giles must have been feeling the pressure on him and he managed to smash the ball well over the bar, allowing Dagenham the chance they needed and Cooke didn’t disappoint, slotting home in the far right corner. 2-2.

Fans’ favourite Cummings was the man to get the dubious honour of taking the fifth and possibly final kick and he proved he was more than capable, stroking the perfect penalty, just inside the right hand post. There was no way the keeper was ever going to reach that. 3-2.

Where Cummings had thrived on the pressure, it was clearly too much for Weir-Daley and he watched in despair as his shot harmlessly flew past the left hand upright. The yellow half of Wembley and the Maidstone players went absolutely crazy. The team had gone one better than last year and this time were the ones to make the long climb to lift the trophy, rather than being those forced to look on as runners-up.

2011 Blue Square Premier Playoff Final

Wembley Stadium

Att- 42,177

Another meeting with Dagenham. This time out, it looked as though Dagenham were out for revenge as they began a mini onslaught on our goal. For the first twenty minutes, it was all one way traffic and it was only due to their inability to hit the target that they didn’t take the lead. Then, on 23 minutes, the ball was cleared long from our area and the Dagenham keeper came out of his area to meet it. With Mahon bearing down on him, he panicked and tried to punt the ball back upfield, only to slice it straight into Mahon. The ball bounced away and Mahon was on it instantly. Bringing the ball under control, he looked up and saw the empty net crying out to him and struck a beautiful 20 yard shot which nestled in the back of the net. Against the run of play and somewhat fortuitously, we’d taken the lead. Now we just needed to finish the job.

Dagenham continued to have the upper hand, although not quite so dominantly as the opening period. The chances continued to come for them though and it wasn’t long before they’d levelled the game, Ramsey heading home from Cookes floated corner and that’s the way the half closed.

The second half began much more evenly, but both defences seemed to have tightened up and chances were kept to just a very few long shots, none of which gave the keepers anything to do. In the 82nd minute the first real chance came and it looked as though Hindmarch might find the winning goal as he burst through the defence alone. With the ball at his feet and no-one close enough to challenge him, he headed for goal, looked up and took his shot, only to see it fly agonising inches wide of the post.

Just two minutes later, a long ball over the top of the Maidstone defence is collected by Hibbert, who comes out on top in a battle with two defenders and he makes no mistake as he fires a thunderbolt into the far corner from no more than eight yards. 2-1 Dagenham.

With no other option, Maidstone’s players do everything in their power to find an equaliser, laying siege to their opponents’ goal for the remaining few minutes. Had there been a little longer to play, they may have done it, but alas, the referee called time before they could find an opening.

Well played Dagenham, but another season in the Blue Square for Maidstone. So close and yet so far.

End of Season Roundup

Club Honours

Winners – Blue Square South Playoffs 2009/10

Runners-up – Blue Square Premier Playoffs 2011/12

Winners – FA Trophy 2012

Runners-up – FA Trophy 2011

Season Summary

2009/10

Blue Square South: (Pos 3), P 42, W 20, D 10, L 12, F 66, A 42, GD +24, Pts 70

FA Cup: 3rd Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: 1st Round

Setanta Shield: 1st Round

2010/11

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 15), P 46, W 17, D 13, L 16, F 61, A 56, GD +5, Pts 64

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Runner Up

Setanta Shield: 2nd Round

2011/12

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 5), P 46, W 22, D 11, L 13, F 71, A 58, GD +13, Pts 77

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Winners

Setanta Shield: Quarter Final

Best & Worst

Best Player: Hindmarch 6.94 (49 apps)

Top Goalscorer: Mahon 26

Worst Player: Parkinson 5.65 (24 apps)

Manager Roundup

Current manager: Garry Haylock, Current rep: 3382 (+500)

Maidstone Stats: P 172, W 80, D 42, L 50, F 258, A 194, GD +64

Previous Managers: None

Haylock is still going strong. His job is still very secure and his reputation is increasing steadily. Hopefully this will help him to attract better players in the near future. Still not sure if he’s the man for the job long term, but he’s doing a decent job in non-league. No reason the Chairman should be looking for a replacement yet anyway.

Love following this it is well written and is going to be very interesting to see where it goes.

Keep it coming spud and hopefully maidstone wont just get stagnent in BSP

Just come over from Kipz thread. KUTGW! You have a fan here

Just come over from Kipz thread. KUTGW! You have a fan here

amen

this is brilliant for helping stave off wanting a fix of the bandits

As many others, have come from Kip's thread. Really good start. One thing that bugged me though its only a minor thing: when you do you CA of x or above, you do each stage individually. Kip's version of that is easier to follow, so it looks something like this:

190: 0

180: 1

160: 2

140: 5

120: 9

100: 17

80: 24

60: 27

40: 34

20: 40

...So at each level you just take out the players whose CAs are above that number, rather than doing each individual level...

As many others, have come from Kip's thread. Really good start. One thing that bugged me though its only a minor thing: when you do you CA of x or above, you do each stage individually. Kip's version of that is easier to follow, so it looks something like this:

190: 0

180: 1

160: 2

140: 5

120: 9

100: 17

80: 24

60: 27

40: 34

20: 40

...So at each level you just take out the players whose CAs are above that number, rather than doing each individual level...

Noted. Didn't understand what you meant first time I read your suggestion, but it dawned on me later. I think you're right. It makes more sense that way. Will probably aim to updatetomorrow with the next season and I'll look at using this method.

Cheers for that! :0)

Good Read. Can't wait to see Maidstone in the premiership. KUTGW!

Season 4 - Maidstone United FC 2012-13

Youth Players Promoted

Paul Taylor (GK, 51-132)

Shaun Wallace (ST, 76-171)

Goran Bagaric (GK, 45-119)

Andrew Smith (DC, DM, 51-106)

Sean Herring (D RL, 54-139)

Wow! Probably the best crop of youth talent I’ve ever seen. Bagaric and Smith are good, Herring and Taylor are very good, but Wallace is capable of becoming a top world class player. He really should be kept at the club at least until he can be sold on for a barrelful of cash.

Transfers In

David Galbraith (28, AM LC, 69-100) Crawley, FREE

Sam Rents (25, D L, 88-96) Crawley, 45K

Keith Lowe (26, D RC, 80-115) Kidderminster, 65K

Marc Robinson (19, D C, ST, 68-106) Swansea, 8K

Four reasonable players. None are going to be world beaters, but we probably need some solid, dependable guys in the squad.

Transfers Out

Dootson (Released)

Clemence (Released)

Tejan-Sie (Released)

Oakley (Released)

Thatcher (Released)

Westwood (Released)

Giles (Released)

Solkhon (Released)

Parkinson (Released)

Atkins (Released)

Surprising that we’ve released Ross Atkins, since we only bought him last season and he cost us 130K, plus he is still young enough to be able to continue improving towards his PA of 119. He could have been decent. All the others are either over the hill or will never be good enough to be of use. Good riddance.

Blue Square Premier – Clubs sorted by Rep

Club		Rep	(Diff)
Bournemouth	2474	
Grimsby	        2147	
York		2068	(+151)
Torquay	        2034	(-52)
Kidderminster	2010	(+21)
Cambridge	1977	(-132)
Mansfield	1967	(-167)
Oxford		1960	(-60)
Crawley		1952	(-)
Chester		1947	(-77)
Burton		1883	
Kettering	1856	(+47)
Maidstone	1831	(+206)
Grays		1813	(+39)
Woking		1794	(-21)
Salisbury	1784	(-44)
Northwich	1755	
Weymouth	1724	(-82)
Histon		1703	(-64)
Redditch	1684	(+41)
Tamworth	1655	(+2)
AFC W’don	1634	(+13)
Eastbourne	1595	
Merthyr	        1431	

Another good improvement for the club’s reputation. Should be enough to almost guarantee that we can attain a top half finish again. There are now only a handful of clubs that have considerably higher rep., so we’ll have a good shot at signing players. Assuming that we can offer better wages than most, we hopefully can put together a team capable of challenging for the title this year.

Top 20 Players in Blue Square Premier – Sorted by CA

Name		 Club			CA-PA
Chambers	Bournemouth		106-133
Bartley		Bournemouth		96-111
Garry		Bournemouth		95-111
Jones		Redditch		95-150
McCann	        Maidstone		95-147
Clarke		Redditch		92-112
Cummings	Maidstone		91-93
Akpa-Apkro	Grimsby		        89-112
Bailey		Grays			89-116
Carayol		Torquay		        89-97
Rundle		York			89-115
Stansfield	Redditch		89-158
Duffy		Redditch		88-114
Dunn		Kettering		88-103
Rents		Maidstone		88-96
Balatoni	Redditch		87-119
Cooper		Bournemouth		87-102
Devitt		Chester			87-125
Mahon		Maidstone		87-131
Till		York			87-100

Would look much better without the stars of the relegated Bournemouth side, but four from the top 20 is pretty good. Curiously, lowly Redditch have got a wealth of talent, too. Maybe we should keep an eye on them. Hopefully if McCann gets plenty of games this year, he could top the pile next time. (Assuming we are still in the division by then.)

Maidstone United - Top 20 Players sorted by CA

Name		Age	Pos		CA-PA	+/-
McCann	        19	AM LC		95-147	(+4)
Cummings	23	D R, ST		91-93	(+2)
Rents		25	D L		88-96	New signing
Mahon		23	ST		87-131	(+2)
Eastwood	23	GK		81-115	(-)
Hindmarch	22	AM RC, F C	80-123	(+2)
Lowe		26	D RC		80-115	New signing
Mills		18	D C, DM	        80-120	(+14)
York		22	ST		80-122	(+11)
Crowther	23	AM R		78-103	(+3)
Wallace		16	ST		76-171	Academy signing
Galbraith	28	AM LC		69-100	New signing
Mullan		24	AM RL		69-109	(+1)
Robinson	19	D C, ST		68-106  New signing
Thomas		17	ST		68-113	(+16)
Murtagh	        27	M C		66-97	(-)
Rouse		23	ST		66-97	(+3)
Hardiker	30	D RLC		63-80	(-)
Herring		16	D RL		55-139	Academy signing
Taylor		16	GK		53-132	Academy signing

Mills and York are still progressing well. Not much else of note. Still think we need a coach or two.

CA of x or above

190 : 00, 00, 00, 00

180 : 00, 00, 00, 00

170 : 00, 00, 00, 00

160 : 00, 00, 00, 00

150 : 00, 00, 00, 00

140 : 00, 00, 00, 00

130 : 00, 00, 00, 00

120 : 00, 00, 00, 00

110 : 00, 00, 00, 00

100 : 01, 00, 00, 00

090 : 02, 00, 01, 02

080 : 05, 05, 07, 09

070 : 08, 09, 12, 11

060 : 13, 16, 18, 18

050 : 17, 23, 21, 21

040 : 20, 26, 23, 25

030 : 25, 29, 25, 26

020 : 27, 33, 28, 29

010 : 30, 36, 29, 29

Squad size seems to be staying around 30. Not too much change in the spread of CA throughout, but we now have nine players with CA of 80 or above which can only be good. Shouldn’t be long now before we have a couple of 100+ guys too. Expect McCann to get there next season and also Wallace could make it in a couple of years if he can get a few games under his belt.

Season Summary – August to December

We couldn’t have asked for a better opener to the season. Our terrible away form from last season could have understandably made us nervous of the trip to Tamworth, but there were no nerves in sight as Hindmarch set the stage alight, scoring a sensational hattrick, the only goals of the game. A 1-0 win at home to Kidderminster followed that up and the fans were starting to get ideas that this could be our season already.

In the back of their minds, though they all knew what shaky form we are capable of and two straight defeats, without finding the net once, soon brought them back down to earth. What followed that was a period of no discernable pattern. At least last term we had been strong at home, yet unable to pick up points on the road. Now we seemed to be unable to build any form. By the end of September we had clocked up 6 wins (3 home, 3 away), 1 draw and 4 defeats (2 each home and away), meaning that although we’d picked up more points than is usual on our travels, we’d also thrown away a few at home, where we’d been previously so strong.

The form was soon to return though, as we won our next four home matches, yet lost the next three on the road. It was as if we were two different teams, scoring freely on our own patch, yet unable to when we travelled.

A thrilling encounter against run-away leaders Bournemouth ended our home run as we narrowly lost 3-2 to the team that contained the three best players in the division. Bournemouth were already looking like there was no stopping them in their quest to rejoin the League.

A few weeks later, a win over Cambridge proved to be our last win of the year and the only high point in a run of eight games where we were plagued by injury to our stars and we showed just how little depth there was in the squad. With Christmas over, we somehow miraculously clung on to an eighth place that we probably didn’t deserve and only had because the teams around us also had not been doing so well.

In the cups we seemed to have found a way to get the result we needed and seemed unstoppable. A 4-0 win over a Bournemouth side that were destroying everyone was an incredible way to start out in the FA Cup 4th Qualifier and we did the same in the Setanta Shield 3rd round, putting four past Weymouth.

When the 1st Round draw for the FA Cup came in we were lucky enough to get a home tie against league opposition and we dealt with Chesterfield very well, calmly going about our job and earning a very good 2-1 win, our first against a league club. The 2nd round put us against lowly Harrogate, who had done well to reach so far and they showed how they’d got there, probably giving us a tougher test than Chesterfield had, but again we edged it 2-1 and booked ourselves a chance of the dream draw in the 3rd round, the furthest that this club had ever reached.

2-0 victories versus Hornchurch in the Shield 4th round and Stevenage in the FA Trophy 1st round meant that we ended 2012 still in all of the cups and looking very strong. Maybe it’s time to build a trophy cabinet.

January Transfers

Gary Rice (19, DM, 53-93) No club, FREE

A bit of a pointless signing really. Not good enough to be called a first teamer and it will be a while before he’s good enough. Even then his PA is a bit low to be called a player for the future.

Season Summary – January to May

It took us just two matches to throw away our eighth place in the league and slip all the way down to 15th, being well beaten by Mansfield and Kettering without ever troubling either keeper. We had put ourselves in a very precarious position and it would take some monumental form to repair the damage. Somehow, when their backs are against the wall, this team have a knack of delivering and they did it again, winning seven times in the next ten matches and only losing just once. And when we won, we won big, 4-1 vs Northwich (another stunning Mahon hattrick included), 5-0 over Grays, 3-0 against minnows Merthyr, 4-0 over Salisbury (all at home) and a stunning 3-1 win at AFC Wimbledon showing that they’d once again found where the net was, York, Mahon and Hindmarch all chipping in with a good few goals. By mid March, we’d given it everything we had and were deserving of the 5th place we occupied.

With Bournemouth having been so strong all season, almost having the top spot from day one, they were virtually guaranteed the single automatic promotion spot, but we now had a chance at the playoffs again.

The final nine games were a stark contrast to the previous ten. While we had countless chances to win games at a trot, somehow not one of our strikers could hit the target and we limped our way to the end, never scoring more than a single goal. The two wins and three draws that we fortuitously took simply were not enough to keep up with the other teams in the hunt for promotion, though and we slipped away, dropping to 8th, several points short of the last playoff berth. Another disappointing conclusion to a season with so much promise.

And a similar fate was to befall us in the cups. After such a strong performance at the end of 2012, we simply couldn’t maintain it. The FA Cup put us up against Championship Derby County and the Rams proved to be much too much for us to deal with. In truth the 2-0 scoreline was somewhat flattering of us.

Another meeting with arch-rivals Bournemouth was to follow in the FA Trophy and after 90 minutes, we had held on well enough to earn a 2-2 draw and a replay at our own ground. The replay also finished 2-2 and was taken to a shootout to decide it. A staggering fourteen rounds of spot kicks were necessary to divide the teams and it was Bournemouth who eventually prevailed, winning 10-9 in the end, young Shaun Cummings being the unfortunate one to miss the final penalty, although he had already taken one and scored previously.

That just left us with the Shield to contend and we edged past Crawley by just a goal to nil, to reach the semis, before a rampant Salisbury ended any chance of silverware for another year. 3-1 was the score and it could have been more.

As said before, a disappointing conclusion to a season with so much promise.

End of Season Roundup

Club news

The big news for the club is that Chairman Geoff Burley has decided to call it a day, choosing to step down and let someone else take the reigns. As of May 11th, Mathew Hilton is officially installed as Maidstone’s new Chairman. It’ll be interesting to see whether this will affect the club for good or ill in the future.

The other club news is that the money injected into the club just four years ago has finally run out. £20M gone, just like that. The club is now valued at just £160K and is also saddled with a £325K loan debt. Maybe we should be checking to see if ex-Chairman Burley has recently boarded any long-haul flights, clutching a bagful of cash...

If the club looks like it’s going to stagnate in non-league, in a few seasons time, maybe they could receive another windfall from a mystery benefactor. We’ll see how things go.

Club Honours

Winners – Blue Square South Playoffs 2009/10

Runners-up – Blue Square Premier Playoffs 2011/12

Winners – FA Trophy 2012

Runners-up – FA Trophy 2011

Season Summary

2009/10

Blue Square South: (Pos 3), P 42, W 20, D 10, L 12, F 66, A 42, GD +24, Pts 70

FA Cup: 3rd Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: 1st Round

Setanta Shield: 1st Round

2010/11

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 15), P 46, W 17, D 13, L 16, F 61, A 56, GD +5, Pts 64

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Runner Up

Setanta Shield: 2nd Round

2011/12

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 5), P 46, W 22, D 11, L 13, F 71, A 58, GD +13, Pts 77

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Winners

Setanta Shield: Quarter Final

2012/13

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 8), P 46, W 20, D 9, L 17, F 67, A 55, GD +12, Pts 69

FA Cup: 3rd Round

FA Trophy: 2nd Round

Setanta Shield: Semi Final

Best & Worst

Best Player: Mahon 7.16 (49 apps)

Top Goalscorer: Mahon 24

Worst Player: Robinson 6.09 (48 apps)

Manager Roundup

Current manager: Garry Haylock, Current rep: 3463 (+81)

Maidstone Stats: P 229, W 107, D 53, L 69, F347, A 260, GD +87

Previous Managers: None

Not a great season for Haylock and it shows in his reputation. Probably only managed to get any gain due to getting through the early rounds in the cups. It’s starting to affect him too, with his profile now showing that he is “Disappointed with how things are going.” Maybe next season will be make or break for him.

NIce thread betterspud. Just one thing when you list the best 20 players of the squad, could you list the players promoted from academy as acdemy product instead of as a new signing?

£5 million a season for that! It makes the Man City galactico project look like an episode of Bargain Hunt

NIce thread betterspud. Just one thing when you list the best 20 players of the squad, could you list the players promoted from academy as acdemy product instead of as a new signing?

Done. Should have done it from the start. Guilty of taking a short-cut... :0)

£5 million a season for that! It makes the Man City galactico project look like an episode of Bargain Hunt

You're not wrong. It's difficult to see where the money has gone TBH. Unfortunately you can't get access to the financial details unless you are on the staff. I'm guessing that someone has been fiddling...

I've decided to give in and add another £20M to the balance for next season. The main point of the experiment was to see the impact of cash on a club. I think it's safe to assume that the initial injection helped the club to get a quick promotion in the early stages, but it just wasn't enough to take them the next step. We'll see if the second windfall has the same effect.

It's curious that such a large amount at this level doesn't go further. Maybe the financial model in FM just doesn't accommodate smaller clubs as well as it does the bigger ones.

Loving the thread so far.. KUTGW

I'm glad you're putting more money into the club, otherwise I think it would be difficult to imagine anything but more mid-tabling in the seasons to come.

I'll definately keep reading!!

You're not wrong. It's difficult to see where the money has gone TBH. Unfortunately you can't get access to the financial details unless you are on the staff. I'm guessing that someone has been fiddling...

You could save the game, add a new manager, takeover at Maidstone so you can see the finances, then quit without saving and reload to continue on.

You could save the game, add a new manager, takeover at Maidstone so you can see the finances, then quit without saving and reload to continue on.

I'd considered that. Might do so just to try to see where all that money is going to...

Season 5 - Maidstone United FC 2013-14

Youth Players Promoted

Mark Peacock (AM L, 39-109)

Andy Flood (DM, 69-153)

Jay Jones (AM LC, 45-60)

Leigh Howells (DC, 69-147)

Mark Walsh (ST, 45-104)

Two more sensational prospects in Flood and Howells. The future just gets better and better.

Transfers In

Paul Martin (27, DC, 60-93) Distillery, FREE

Grant Hanley (21, DC, 63-83) Dungannon, FREE

Martin Parrott (20, DM, 81-115) Redditch, FREE

Ryan George (17, DM, 42-111) Caernarfon, FREE

Andy Haynes (20, GK, 55-83) No Club, FREE

Kenny Arthur (34, GK, 75-115) No Club, FREE

Parrott and George could possibly do a job, but generally this lot aren’t any great improvement on what we already have, It seems like the boss is finding it tough to secure any players that would take us to the next level. It’s a good job that some of the academy players are starting to get involved now.

Transfers Out

Cuthbert (Released)

Abbott (Released)

Skelton (Released)

Bagaric (Hajduk, FREE)

Thomas (Thurrock, FREE)

Hardiker (Released)

Murtagh (Released)

Mullan (Released)

Eastwood (Released)

Crowther (Released)

Rice (Released)

Haylock really should have done more to keep hold of Eastwood. At only 23 and still improving gradually, he was one of the best players at the club last year and the 34 year old Kenny Arthur that was brought in to replace him is nowhere near as good. Allowing his contract to end and releasing him could be a huge error. A few of the others are a little curious too. It could be understood releasing young players who are still developing, if there were players of better calibre being brought in to replace them. Doesn’t seem that this is the case though...

Blue Square Premier – Clubs sorted by Rep

Club		Rep	(Diff)
Stockport	2272	(Relegated)
Lincoln		2085	(Relegated)
Grimsby	        2024	(-123)
Torquay	        1986	(-48)
York		1972	(-96)
Crawley		1969	(+17)
Kidderminster	1945	(-65)
Mansfield	1944	(-23)
Oxford		1911	(-49)
Cambridge	1885	(-97)
Maidstone	1880	(+49)
Kettering	1868	(+12)
Woking		1858	(+64)
Grays		1845	(+32)
Chester		1809	(-138)
Burton		1804	(-79)
Stevenage	1771	(Promoted)
Northwich	1763	(+8)
Salisbury	1759	(-25)
Stafford	1727	(Promoted)
Tamworth	1696	(+41)
Forest Green	1682	(Promoted)
Weymouth	1668	(-56)
Altricham	1546	(Promoted)

Another small climb in rep for us. Surely this season is one where we can challenge? Expect Stockport to go straight back up, leaving the playoffs as our only realistic target again.

Top 20 Players in Blue Square Premier – Sorted by CA

Name		Club			CA-PA
Thompson	Stockport		112-126
Burke		Lincoln			110-150
Raynes		Stockport		107-115
Jackson		Forest Green		106-158
Solly		Stockport		104-147
McCann	        Maidstone		98-147
Smith		Lincoln			97-98
Jones		York			97-130
Bailey		Grays			96-116
Pepper		Stockport		95-145
Williams	York			94-159
Hone		Lincoln			93-104
Robinson	York			93-158
Carayol		Torquay		        92-97
Porter		Lincoln			92-131
Rents		Maidstone		91-96
Cummings	Maidstone		91-93
Burch		Lincoln			90-112
Webb		Weymouth		90-108
Mahon		Maidstone		90-131

Relegated Stockport and Lincoln have brought a good few quality players into the division and dominate the table here. Still only four out of the 20 for Maidstone and not really any greats, apart from McCann, who is still building towards the magic 100.

Maidstone United - Top 20 Players sorted by CA

Name		Age	Pos		CA-PA	+/-
McCann	        20	AM LC		98-147	(+3)
Cummings	24	D R, ST		91-93	(-)
Rents		26	D L		91-96	(+3)
Mahon		24	ST		90-131	(+3)
Mills		19	D C, DM	        87-120	(+7)
York		23	ST		85-122	(+5)
Parrott		20	DM		81-115	(New Signing)
Hindmarch	23	AM RC, F C	80-123	(-)
Lowe		27	D RC		80-115	(-)
Wallace		17	ST		80-171	(+4)
Robinson	20	D C, ST		76-106	(+8)
Arthur		34	GK		75-115	(New Signing)
Flood		16	DM		71-153	(Academy Signing)
Howells		16	D C		70-147	(Academy Signing)
Galbraith	29	AM LC		69-100	(-)
Rouse		24	ST		66-97	(-)
Hanley		21	D C		63-83	(New Signing)
Herring		17	D RL		57-139	(+2)
Haynes		20	GK		55-83	(New Signing)

Disappointingly, no-one broke the magic 100 and it’s looking like only McCann might ever do it. There’s just not enough improvement anywhere. It’s looking like all of the amazing potential we have in our youth players will go unfulfilled. I think we need to get into League 2 in order for the club to concentrate more on training and hiring coaches to get the best out of our young starlets.

CA of x or above

190 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

180 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

170 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

160 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

150 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

140 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

130 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

120 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

110 : 00, 00, 00, 00, 00

100 : 01, 00, 00, 00, 00

090 : 02, 00, 01, 02, 04

080 : 05, 05, 07, 09, 10

070 : 08, 09, 12, 11, 14

060 : 13, 16, 18, 18, 18

050 : 17, 23, 21, 21, 22

040 : 20, 26, 23, 25, 27

030 : 25, 29, 25, 26, 29

020 : 27, 33, 28, 29, 30

010 : 30, 36, 29, 29, 30

Continued improvement in the 70-90 range means we are inching our way forward. The first eleven should be stronger than ever now, but we probably won’t see much of a jump in the pool of ability unless we can get into League 2.

Season Summary – August to December

League - Having become a team that is confident of picking up points in front of home support, we showed just how dominant we can be, going right through to the end of the year without ever being beaten at Bourne park and amazingly we only dropped four points in total, as we drew with both Grimsby and Oxford.

Again, though it was our away form that let us down. Again we found it difficult to score on the road, but we were much improved than last season. Six defeats might not sound good, but we did manage four draws and three wins, to give us a respectable 13 points 13 fixtures. Not championship winning stuff, but coupled with our immense haul from our home games, 45 points was enough to get us into 3rd place as the year closed out. Something similar in the second half would surely guarantee us a playoff shot.

Cup - A good start in the FA Cup (4th qualifier), overcoming Boreham Wood 2-0, set us up for a trip to Watford for the first round proper, where we were bossed from minute one by a team that were firing on all cylinders. We were soon praying for the final whistle to spare us as the shots rained on our goal and we were, in the end, grateful to leave having only lost 4-0.

In the Shield, we just managed to get past Stevenage 2-1 at their place, before a thrilling home tie with Grays. A superb end-to-end match finished 3-2 to us, purely due to the excellent finishing from Mahon, who found the net twice. Through to the Quarter Final for the third year in a row.

The FA Trophy began with the visit of Solihull Motors, who really didn’t bring their ‘A’ game and we comfortably strolled through the match, earning a 3-1 win and passage to the 2nd round.

January Transfers

None

It would seem that Haylock is again holding optimistic that we have the players we need to get out of the division and doesn’t want to spend any money in achieving it. He did however, see fit to send Herring and Hanley out on loan, to AFC Wimbledon and Thurrock respectively, for the remainder of the season.

Season Summary – January to May

League - Starting brightly in the new year, things looked good, with three wins and a draw from the opening four games. But every season seems to have a ‘blip’ and this year was to be no different. The arrival of the TV cameras to Bourne Park, however seemed to trigger a mini-meltdown, as we were to lose four consecutive matches, two of them at home, finally ending our reputation for being unbeatable on our own turf.

Once again the manager needed to find something in the squad to reverse the slide and he did it again, somehow engineering a sensational five game winning streak, including taking all the points at Grimsby and Lincoln who had proven to be two of the stronger teams in the league. With this incredible run, we’d propelled ourselves back to our previous 3rd spot put us back in contention.

Going down 3-1 at Salisbury proved to have little effect on the table as those around us also lost and an emphatic 5-0 win over Northwich, with only five to play all but guaranteed that we would be in the Playoffs again this year. We made it difficult for ourselves, winning only one of the remaining games and only managing draws in three of them, but it seemed that no-one wanted to mount a push within the chasing pack and we remained in 3rd throughout, to book a Playoff Semi Final with 4th placed York City.

Cup – Back in action in the FA Trophy, we breezed past Bromley, before stumbling a little versus York in the Third Round, earning only a reply from a tough away match, which finished 1-1. The replay was also a tight affair and it took extra time to separate us, Domaine Rouse finding the net in the 113th minute to send us through.

The 4th Round versus Basingstoke was equally difficult and we again went to a reply after playing out a bore draw at home. Again extra time was called on as we went another 90 minutes without either keeper beaten, but this time there was to be no winning goal and the match went all the way to penalties. When we missed our first, it looked grim, but as it turned out Basingstoke’s strikers were having a crisis and it only took four rounds of kicks for us to go proceed to the next round, 3-1 the tally. A Semi Final meeting with Stevenage came next and, having only ever lost once to them in ten meetings, we were confident and it showed. Edging a 1-0 win at their ground, we went on to get a solid 4-1 aggregate scoreline and we were off to Wembley again.

We made things much easier for ourselves in the Setanta Shield matches, beating league leaders Crawley by an excellent three goals to one and then needing just a single goal against Oxford in the Semi Final to progress to our second final of the season. It wouldn’t be played at Wembley, but it was another chance at silverware. In fact, unusually, the Final is not played at a Neutral venue and we were lucky enough to be given the home draw, so we could contend a trophy on our own park, where we must be favourites.

2014 Setanta Shield Final – Maidstone United vs Lincoln City

Bourne Park

Att- 2988

In a game we felt almost certain we could win, it came as a massive shock when Lincoln took the lead on 20 minutes. To be fair, they had had a lot of the ball, but had shown no real threat going forward. It took a long, speculative shot from Ridley to beat Kenny Arthur in our goal and he really should have had it covered.

Despite a number of chances created by all of our attackers, it took 64 minutes before we could find the net and level the match, Lee York getting up highest in the box to head home from the corner.

We continued to press, but Lincoln were equal to it and we saw the final whistle come and go without further score and then extra time passed with little incident, meaning that yet again, we would be forced into the lottery of penalties.

Having had our fair share of practice from the spot, we did very well, tucking away four of our five, young Martin Parrott the only one unable to convert, but Lincoln proved to be on their game and were deadly, converting all five of their kicks and lifting the trophy. We only had ourselves to blame and we should have got a result in the 90 minutes, but it’s a cruel twist to have another team take the trophy on your own ground.

2014 FA Trophy – Maidstone United vs Lincoln City

Wembley Stadium

Att- 20,811

Yet another meeting with Lincoln, a team that promised to be contenders right from the start, with five players in the top 20 in this division and this time, they showed their class. Having far more of the ball throughout the match and looking more deadly, it was no surprise to the 20,000 crowd when they took the lead on 53 minutes, nor when they doubled it twenty minutes later.

Up against it and with only 17 minutes remaining, we finally started to get into the match, but overturning a 2-0 lead in such a short space of time would take an incredible performance. We gave it everything, even managing to force Lincoln defender Luke Shaw to turn the ball into his own net, under our intense pressure, two minutes into injury time, but it was just too little too late and Lincoln were the ones who claimed their second trophy, again at our expense.

2014 Playoff Semi Finals vs York City

It was to be a year of abject disappointment, governed by either our own bad luck or York’s extreme fortune. Over the two legs of the tie, twice our keeper managed to come out of his area to collect a loose ball, only to fumble it to an opponent, who then had an easy shot on the empty net. Add to those a headed corner and a lucky strike from deep that found the corner of the net and you can see how we managed to lose 4-2, despite playing some great football and scoring two good goals. A painful way to lose and a huge price for defeat, we are to spend another year (our fourth now) in the BSP. It’s starting to look like we can only get out of this division by being the best over 46 games and finishing top of the pile.

End of Season Roundup

Club News

With the club seemingly haemorrhaging cash (£20M in just 4 years at non league level!), the board have made an appeal to the Maidstone faithful and have hit paydirt. An as yet undisclosed benefactor has seen fit to invest a further £20,000,000 in the club. Whether mad or a shrewd businessman, it means that The Stones’ assault on the English leagues can continue into the future and hopefully it’ll be enough to start getting us somewhere.

Club Honours

Winners – Blue Square South Playoffs 2009/10

Runners-up – Blue Square Premier Playoffs 2011/12, 2013/14

Runners-up – Setanta Shield 2013

Winners – FA Trophy 2012

Runners-up – FA Trophy 2011, 2013

Season Summary

2009/10

Blue Square South: (Pos 3), P 42, W 20, D 10, L 12, F 66, A 42, GD +24, Pts 70

FA Cup: 3rd Qualifying Round

FA Trophy: 1st Round

Setanta Shield: 1st Round

2010/11

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 15), P 46, W 17, D 13, L 16, F 61, A 56, GD +5, Pts 64

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Runner Up

Setanta Shield: 2nd Round

2011/12

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 5), P 46, W 22, D 11, L 13, F 71, A 58, GD +13, Pts 77

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Winners

Setanta Shield: Quarter Final

2012/13

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 8), P 46, W 20, D 9, L 17, F 67, A 55, GD +12, Pts 69

FA Cup: 3rd Round

FA Trophy: 2nd Round

Setanta Shield: Semi Final

2013/14

Blue Square Premier: (Pos 3), P 46, W 24, D 10, L 12, F 84, A 56, GD +28, Pts 82

FA Cup: 1st Round

FA Trophy: Runner-up

Setanta Shield: Runner-up

Best & Worst

Best Player: Mahon 7.00 (52 apps)

Top Goalscorer: Mahon 22

Worst Player: George 5.88 (9 apps)

Manager Roundup

Current manager: Garry Haylock, Current rep: 3806 (+343)

Maidstone Stats: P 293, W 141, D 67, L 85, F 458, A 335, GD +123

Previous Managers: None

Still doing okay, but not able to go that little bit further. He’s still not happy with how things are going either, so he’ll need a good performance next year if he’s to stay. It’s surprising that he hasn’t taken the option of moving to a League 2 club already. It might be the £2,200 a week that he’s on that has kept him here, since it’s more than double the wage of the next highest paid non-league manager.

Sack the manager!!! Im really interested as to what has happened to all that money. I think the board are on the fiddle!

Mid table obscurity is my prediction for next season, unless we sack Haylock and bring in someone who knows his way around a transfer market.

Gonna take a small break from updating this thread. I've started to get into a career game and it's taking up a lot of my time. I may pick it up again soon, if there's any real interest...

Cheers

Was enjoying the updates so fingers crossed you come back to it

I think it's sad if you abandon this betterspud. But alas think many people do when other things take over. Id like to read more, but whatever you decide, it was good!

Don't panic. I'll pick it up again soon enough... :0)

I'll be here waiting