31st January 2008. 3.00pm

Stones look set to bring in a further loan signing tomorrow with the arrival of 19 year-old striker Jacob Erskine from Dagenham and Redbridge. The move is subject to the relevant paperwork being completed tomorrow.

Speaking about the signing, coach Alan Walker said; "We've needed to freshen things up at the front, and Jacob comes to us highly recomended. I've seen him play a couple of times and he is a big strong lad who Dagenham have recently put on a professional contract. He comes to us in a similar situation to Luis Cumbers as he seeks to get experience in mens football."

Subject to all the paperwork being completed, he'll be available for Saturday's home game against Ramsgate.

Other news and tonights Ryman Youth League fixture has been cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch. Also for who were querying the date of our trip to Wealdstone next week, it is scheduled for Tuesday 5th February.

27th January 2008. 8.00pm

Maidstone United duo Butch Ulph and Chris Smalling both made their international debuts today as they represented England Schoolboys U18 against their Australian counterparts at Shrewsbury Town’s New Meadow Stadium. (Click Here for Matchday Photos)

Both players were selected in the starting XI as the Young Lions secured a well earned 2-0 victory in this season’s opening international fixture. Ulph was selected at right back whilst Smalling played as the right sided centre back.

A dozen or more Stones supporters made the early morning trek down to Shropshire to support these two starlets and they made their presence felt by displaying two large St George’s flags with the club name emblazoned upon them.

Both goals came in the first half with Chris Smalling supplying an assisting touch with a header for the first goal scored by Tom Siddons of Lincolnshire. Tom Grice of Liverpool and Merseyside scored England’s other goal

England used all 21 of their squad players in this game and therefore Butch Ulph came off at half time after giving a solid performance during the opening 45 minutes of the game as he got forward on the right flank on numerous occasions. Chris Smalling was one of only 2 England players to play for the entire 90 minutes and he had an impressive game. However, he did pick up a caution in the first half for a late tackle and was maybe fortunate not to have seen yellow again in the second half with a crunching challenge that led to one of the Aussie players being replaced as a result of the challenge!

With little more than 5 minutes of the game remaining, Smalling saw a header sail narrowly over the Aussie’s cross bar. As he ran back to his defensive position he held his head knowing that he probably should have scored his first international goal.

The England squad will reconvene over the February school holidays and travels to Villareal in Spain for a three day warm weather training camp. The next international fixture is away to Northern Ireland at Glenavon FC on Monday 10th March and this will be followed by games against Wales at Haverfordwest FC, Republic Of Ireland at Sunderland FC and Scotland at Wembley Stadium.

Ashley and Chris were selected for the international squad following their performances for the Kent Schools Under 18s this season, and at a series of trials, culminating in a final trial at Lilleshall.

Click Here for Matchday Photos

25th January 2008. 6.00pm

Alan Walker had a very frustrating Friday afternoon as his attempts to bring in some fresh attacking options to the club were thwarted.

“I’ve been trying to sign two specific players this week and have suffered a knock back on both counts this afternoon. Both of the players play at clubs higher in the Pyramid than us but that hasn’t been the issue. The first player was very close to coming to us today but a few minor terms and conditions couldn’t be sorted to the satisfaction of all parties and he will stay with his current club for this weekend. The deal isn’t dead though and I’ll be back to talk to the player and his club again after Saturday.”

“The second player has resumed training with his club this week following a spell of injury and I was hoping to have him available this weekend. However, his manager wasn’t certain that he had got enough work under his belt in training to be fit enough to play a competitive match this weekend. Therefore, I’ll find out in the middle of next week as to whether he’ll be coming over to us in time for next week’s game against Ramsgate. I am pretty hopeful that he’ll be with us though.”

The team news for the trip to East London is generally good though. Midfielder Conor Hagan returns to the starting line up following the one match suspension that kept him out of the Billericay game. Nathan Paul has overcome a bout of flu this week and he will also be good to start the game.

Missing from action will be Chris Smalling who (together with Butch Ulph) is away on England Schoolboys duty against Australia on Sunday at Shrewsbury. Also absent will be Craig Roser who misses out due to a family illness. Rob Owen will again miss a game due to his hamstring injury which was picked up in the final minutes of the game at Boreham Wood. However, Owen was able to train this week and despite the initial fears that he would be out for three weeks or more, it is now hoped that he will return to action a little sooner.

Alan Walker will be in sole control of team matters at Leyton owing to Lloyd Hume being away on a personal business meeting. “Lloyd has an unavoidable business meeting that is crucial to his company over this weekend and so I will work in tandem with Tim Warden on Saturday. It’ll be business as usual for us, just a little quieter!”

Alan went to see Leyton play Tonbridge Angels on Tuesday night and said “I thought that Leyton were a tidy team for the first half an hour but they collapsed after Tonbridge went ahead and their confidence seemed to go. They’re a much changed team from when we played them earlier this season and quite young. They can play and I know that they’ll have a go at us. The pitch is pretty good there so we’ll able to play some football and hopefully pick up three important points.”

You can follow Saturday's game live with goal flash updates on the official site, but if you are away from a PC and can't make the game, don't forget you can get the goals straight to your phone via our goalflash alerts SMS service, click here for details.

15th January 2008. 2.00pm

Maidstone United players Chris Smalling and Ashley Ulph have made it through to the final 16 of the England Schoolboys team.

Both players have appeared for the Stones first team and are an integral part of the club's reserves and under 18 team. They have also represented district and county teams.

They make up two of the three players selected for the international squad following their performances for the Kent Schools Under 18s this season, and at a series of trials, culminating in a final trial at Lilleshall last weekend. Their selection reflects the strength of schools' football in the county and in recent seasons Kent has provided a record number of players for the England team.

Fixtures for the England Schoolboys team have been announced and the pair will get the chance to go Wembley Stadium. The programme is as follows:

27 January - 10.30am
Australia (at Shrewsbury Town FC)

10 March - 7pm
Nortern Ireland (at Glenavon FC)

4 April - 7pm
Wales (at Haverfordwest FC)

18 April - 7pm
Eire (at Sunderland FC)

26 April - 3pm
Scotland (at Wembley stadium)

(Fixtures courtesy of www.esfa.co.uk )

Chairman of Maidstone United Youth Development Mike Cogger said: "I'm delighted for both players. We’ve seen them develop at the club and they thoroughly deserve this opportunity. I'm sure I speak for everyone at Maidstone United in wishing them all the best.

Manager of the Kent Under 18s John Coles said: "We're very proud of the boys' achievements and wish them well in the forthcoming series of international matches."

SPECIAL OFFER FOR THE WEMBLEY MATCH: The Kent Schools' FA are offering discounted tickets for England vs. Scotland in the U18 Centenary Shield. Visit their website for more information.

13th January 2008. 4.30pm

Maidstone United Football Club are launching a football development centre for girls next month.

The club will be hosting coaching sessions on Friday evenings, starting 1 February, from 6-7.30pm at Aylesford School - Sports College. Sessions are open to girls aged seven to 12 and cost £4 per person.

Female Football Association (FA) qualified football coaches will lead the sessions. They have been designed to provide all participants with a fun and informative coaching opportunity, which will help players improve their core football skills.

Youth Development Advisor Damian Matthew said:
"Following the success of the Ladies’ World Cup in China last year, there's heightened interest in the game and we are delighted to be offering football coaching for girls. Our aim is to establish quality opportunities for girls and ladies to take part in football with Maidstone United and higher if they've got the talent."

Maidstone United FC are developing an extensive community programme throughout the borough and beyond. The girls’ development centre will make use of the state-of-the-art facilities at Aylesford School - Sports College.

For more information telephone Adrian Smith on 07801 023365 or email mufcyouth@btinternet.com

11th January 2008. 11.30am

There was slightly more positive news on the injuries front this morning as joint -manager Alan Walker predicted the squad could be back to 100% within a week.

The big doubt ahead of our trip to Boreham Wood is Lee Shearer who suffered a very bad dead leg last week and which is still swollen. There will be late fitness tests for Ben Lewis, Errison Ahwan, Lynden Rowland and Nathan Paul before Saturday's game but Walker was optimistic they would all be fit and available for selection. The only other team changes come with Chris Smalling being away on England Schoolboys duty and James Peacock who completes his 2 match ban on Saturday.

Speaking about the game Walker commented; "Boreham Wood are a side who have had an up and down season like ourselves, but with our players now coming back from injury it good to be getting back to 100%. Whilst we'll still continue to look at personnel who can bring something extra to this club and the addition of Conor Hagan and the fact that we are almost back to full strength means we are now a force to be reckoned with in this league now."

Speaking about off the field activity, Walker has been thwarted this week in his efforts to strengthen the squad; "The striker we are looking to sign has come down with an injury so we'll have to wait another week or two on that although the deal looks certain to go though. The other player we're looking at has seen circumastances change at his club and so won't be in a position to be loaned out now"

You can follow Saturday's game live with goal flash updates on the official site, but if you are away from a PC and can't make the game, don't forget you can get the goals straight to your phone via our goalflash alerts SMS service, click here for details.

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4th January 2008. 2.15pm

It's good news as at 2.15pm today the club received international clearance for new signing Conor Hagan to play in tomorrows home game versus AFC Wimbledon.

4th January 2008. 10.30am

Whilst the injuries mount for The Stones ahead of a big weekend of football, there was some good news for the club with the confirmation that Irish midfielder Conor Hagan had signed. The club, however, were still waiting for international clearance this morning for him to play in Saturday's game.

Hagan had been playing in the Irish Premier Division with Portadown this season, but having moved to the UK, his contract was cancelled by mutual agreement and Alan Walker was quick to sign the ex-Wolves professional. Walker explained; "When he moved over to live with his family in the UK, it was his uncle who actually contacted me saying he was available and having heard great reports about him from my contacts in Northern Ireland and having seen him in training with us I have no doubts he will be an asset to the side and go a long way to strengthening our midfield."

But injury problems are coming back to haunt the Stones with Hume and Walker without the services of Rowland, Smalling and Ahwan, whilst James Peacock starts a two match ban. There will also be late fitness tests on Northwood, Freeman and Lewis as well as Roser and Paul both set to play despite niggling injuries. However should Northwood fail his fitness test, Pat Mullin will be fit to play.

Meanwhile loan signing Steffan Gaisie has been sent back to Bishops Stortford early after some very poor performances for the Stones.

You can follow the game live with goal flash updates on the official site, but if you are away from a PC and can't make the game, don't forget you can get the goals straight to your phone via our goalflash alerts SMS service, click here for details.