Maidstone United F.C. (1987)

The original Maidstone United was an English football club from Maidstone, Kent, which existed from 1897 to 1992. The club played in the Football League Fourth Division from 1989 until their demise in 1992. During their time in the Football League Maidstone played their games at Dartford's Watling Street ground. The club also played in various amateur leagues and the Southern League, which was the major semi-professional league in southern England until the formation of the Alliance Premier League (now the National League) in 1979. History Maidstone United was formed in 1897 and played primarily in the Kent League. After WWII, they joined various amateur leagues such as the Corinthian, Athenian and the Isthmian League. They joined the Southern League, the major semi-professional league in southern England, in 1971/1972. Their first season as a semi-professional outfit almost brought instant success as the team finished third in the Southern League Division 1 (South), just failing to win promotion behind Waterlooville and Ramsgate. Attendances were much improved from the amateur days with local derbies against Tonbridge and Gravesend & Northfleet drawing respectable attendances of more than 2000. The following season Maidstone finished top and were promoted to the Southern League Premier Division. They continued to progress and during their six-year spell in the league they finished in the top five on four occasions. In 1979 they became founder members of the Alliance Premier League (now the National League), and won the league title twice, in 1984 and 1989. At the time of their first championship, Maidstone failed to gain promotion to the Football League because they lost out in the re-election system that the League employed at the time. By the time Maidstone United won the Conference again in 1989, automatic promotion and relegation had been introduced. Maidstone thus became members of the Football League Fourth Division.