27th February 2007. 10.00pm
Sam Morrison made his England Schoolboys debut today.
He played the last 15-20 minutes of the game which England
beat Belgium by 5-2. Congratulations Sam on your achievement
and the best wishes from everyone at Maidstone United for
the future!
27th February 2007. 1.00pm
Ashford and Maidstone have announced that today's postponed
fixture will now take place on Tuesday 24th April, kick-off
7.45pm.
Also, followers of Sam Morrison, who were considering watching
the schoolboy international against Belgium tonight, has been
moved from Aldershot's ground to Charter House School, Godalming,
Surrey. The kick-off has also changed to 3pm. Its obviously
late notice, but if Stones fans can make it we're sure he'd
appreciate your support.
Finally, ahead of the big game this weekend, Stones Chairman
Paul Bowden-Brown is set to make appearances on both Radio
Kent and CTR FM. Paul will be a guest on the Football Show
on Friday evening on Radio Kent where he will be joined by
either Lloyd Hume or Alan Walker. If you can't catch the show,
don't forget you can download the programme via the BBC website.
Paul has also agreed to be a guest on the Morning Breakfast
show on CTR with Ant either Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
The date has to be confirmed but if you're out of range of
CTR FM, you can listen live via their website.
27th February 2007. 10.30am
Stones may be without influential captain Sam Tydeman
for tonights local derby at Ashford after he picked up a dead
leg at the weekend.
He will face a late fitness test tonight before a decision
is made, but if he has to sit out the game, Jason Barton will
come straight into the starting line up with either Kane Rice
or Peter Overton being recalled to the bench.
Looking forward to tonights game, manager Alan Walker anticpated
a tough game; "Local derbys are never easy games particularly
when you're facing a team scrapping for their lives at the
wrong end of the table. Add to that what will prabably be
a very heavy pitch after the rain we've had, we'll need to
adjust our game to cope with the conditions. Ashford themselves
aren't a bad side, but I think they are in the position they
are in at the moment as they have a young, inexperienced side,
but they will be hungary to beat the league's top team. But
providing we apply ourselves to the task in hand and ensure
that we perform at the levels we are capable of, we will once
again be hoping to collect the three points."
23rd February 2007. 12pm
There is only one injury setback for the Stones ahead of
our trip to Croydon at the weekend with Lee Shearer out suffering
from a thigh strasin picked up in the Fleet game on Tuesday.
Thankfully he minimised the damaged by immediately withdrawing
from the game and his physio reports that he will be out for
a maximum of two weeks.
Other than that, Alan Walker and Lloyd Hume can once again
pick from a fully fit squad with Mario McNish now fully recovered
from the flu. However despite going into the game manager
Alan Walker issued a word of warning to his players. "Whilst
it's great to be in top spot, there is now the added pressure
that comes with it, that every team wants to beat the leaders,
so we have to match that desire. But without a shadow of a
doubt, we're delighted to be up there and it's up to us that
we stay there now as we know that things can change very easily
in this league"
20th February 2007. 2pm
The club have confirmed two of their outstanding fixtures
today which supporters should note in their diaries.
Firstly there is the Kent Senior Cup quarter-final game to
take place with Welling Utd on Tuesday 20th March 2007 ko
7-45pm. As this is a midweek game and Welling are still unable
to play under floodlights, a neutral venue will need to be
found to play the game and details about this will follow
soon.
Our postponed fixture with Chatham Town has also been re-arranged.
The new date is Wednesday 28th March 2007 ko 7-45pm at Bourne
Park.
17th February 2007.
Just a few weeks after learning
that he had not made the final squad of 16 for the England
Schools Under-18's, Maidstone United starlet Sam Morrison
has received the fantastic news that he has been selected
for the England Squad to face Belgium at Aldershot on Tuesday
27th February.
Everybody involved at Maidstone United is delighted that
Sam has received this honour. Sam (or Billy as he is known
to his mates because he has the pace of comic character Billy
Whizz) has been a player at Maidstone United since he was
13 years old and his international call up is definitely a
feather in the cap of all those people who help to run the
club's youth section.
Football Club Chairman Paul Bowden-Brown hailed Morrison's
selection as "Fantastic news," whilst Youth Section
Chairman Mike Cogger was equally enthusiastic. "This
is superb news for Sam and also for the club. It is fantastic
recognition for a player at a club of our level. We're all
excited for him."
Sam's father Pete said after he was left out of the initial
16 man squad in January that his son had turned down the chance
to move to Millwall because he felt that his football education
would be better served by the coaches at Maidstone United.
Sam made that decision when he was just 13 years old. It now
seems that Sam made the right choice!
Peter Nott (Maidstone's Reserve team manager) has
coached and managed Sam Morrison for 5 years now and was full
of praise for his player's achievement. Sam is a really down
to Earth lad. He's confident but not at all cocky. He always
gives maximum effort whether it's a training game, a reserve
game, a youth game or a representative game. To be honest,
he's a joy to have in my team. Sam is blessed with great pace
and is naturally aggressive and competitive. He never shows
any fear and to be honest I've never had a cross word with
him. If I do have to give hime a rollicking, he just
accepts it, takes on board what he's been told and implements
that advice on the pitch. The lad is class.
It goes without saying that everybody at Maidstone United
wishes Sam the very best of luck when he pulls on the the
3 Lions shirt on Tuesday 27th February 2007 against Belgium
at Aldershot Town FC's Recreation Ground.
15th February 2007. 9am
Former Maidstone United favourite Warren Barton is returning
home for an evening of stories and humour.
Warren, who made 42 appearances for the Stones before moving
on to Wimbledon FC then, Newcastle United, Derby County and
QPR, is the guest speaker at the next Maidstone United Sportsmans
Dinner.
Warren also represented England three times at full international
level. With a career which includes time as one of the famous
Wimbledon Crazy gang and also representing the
Toon Army, Warren is certain to have some good stories to
tell. He is now an established member of the Sky Sports team.
This promises to be a great evening and places are very limited
so, please book early. The evening takes places on Thursday
26 April at the Village Hotel Maidstone.
Tables of 10 cost £450 + VAT, which includes a three
course meal, comedian, raffle and auction. Telephone Steve
Fuller on 07727 054701 or email maidstoneunited@aol.com
to book your place.
9th February 2007. 12pm
Speaking ahead of the Stones top of the table clash
with Dover at the weekend, Lloyd Hume said he was keeping
his players feet on the ground and apporaching it like any
other game; "We know that if we perform like we have
over the last few weeks, we should have no fear of Dover.
In fact, you look at how the squad performs in big games and
they always rise to the challenge and I'm confident we can
do that again at Dover"
"Dover did have a very disappointing result during the
week but I don't think it will have a bearing on a game like
this. Results like that can work both ways, it may make them
more eager to get the points or equally it can be very demoralising
for a team."
The Stones go into the game with both Tydeman and Rowland
looking like they'll be fit to play, but Stones will be without
the suspended Jason Barton and Mario McNish for the game.
Finally Lloyd congratulated the fans doing the 'Walk To Dover';
"It's a fantastic effort from the guys and their effort
will be really appreciated by the club, however I hope they
have enough energy left to get behind us at the game!"
To follow their progress click
here and you will also find details of how to donate.
If you can't make the game tomorrow, the Stones Official Website
will be bringing you live text commentary from the game.
3rd February 2007. 3pm
Maidstone
United joint manager Alan Walker received the Manager of the
Month award for January before today's match with Leatherhead.
The trophy was presented by Barry Simmons from the Isthmian
League.
January was a very successful month for the Stones as the
team took 15 out of a possible 18 points and edged closer
to a play-off place.
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