30th June 2006. 12.00pm

This season we enter the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON (that's what we have to call it now) in the Preliminary Round which is on Sat 2nd September. The draw for the Cup and Trophy will be announced on Fri 07/07/06 on the FA.com. The Ryman League fixtures will be published w/e Fri 14/07/06.

Maidstone United's 2005/2006 Website Player of the Year Mario Celaire, has been replaced at the club by Mario McNinch. Before fans react in horror though, rather than losing their star player, they have in fact got the exact same player but just with a change of surname! Mario informed the club upon signing his contract for this season that he has changed his surname via deed poll due to family reasons.

Finally, the U14s set out on their own world cup trail during July when they play in the Gothia World Cup in Sweden. Stones have had a lot of success in the competition and this year hope to go one step further and win the competition which attracts youth team from all over the world. However travel to the tournament is not cheap and the boys are looking for a sponsor to help out with their travel costs. If you or your company can help out, drop us a line at ed@maidstoneunited.co.uk . Every year we provide daily updates from the tournament through the front page of this site so any sponsorship will feature prominently on the updates page. So dig deep and lets help the boys bring home the cup!

12th June 2006. 12.00pm

Stones today confirmed the departure of Ryan Royston with work commitments meaning that Ryan was unable to continue with the club for the coming season.

Having recently been promoted in his job as a teacher, more out of hours working meant he would have been unable to guarantee his availabilty for the increasing number of midweek games will will have next season. Rather than let the team down by this he has decided to look to continue to play at Kent League level, possibly with his local side Thamesmead Town. Speakign about his departure Manager Alan Walker said; " Ryan was a great player for us having moved down from a higher level to play for Maidstone. Sadly his time was marred by injury and I don't think he ever really got back his form after his injury, but nevertheless played a huge part in our promotion, always giving 100% and scoring some valuable goals. We of course wish him well for the future and he'll be always welcome at the club.

Meanwhile Hume and Walker continue their search for players as they aim to strengthen the side for next season but have been hampered by players unwilling to commit at this point of the summer break. Commenting on their efforts Walker said; "As is the case every season, you talk to players but they don't want to commit until the last minute whilst they search for the best offer. We'll probably start seeing signings as we get into pre-season as payers start deciding on their offers."

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