News — The Mayor of Maidstone Kicks off Stones’ Soccer Show

 

For more than a century, Maidstone United has been a beacon of soccer in the County Town.

In 2019-2020, a highly acclaimed exhibition celebrating this remarkable story of football and social history was displayed for four months in Maidstone Museum. It attracted more than 20,000 visitors,

Now it has been updated and brought back to life in Maidstone town centre under the title Maidstone: United in Football – Director’s Cut.

On Saturday (5) at 11am, Cllr Derek Mortimer, the Mayor of Maidstone, will officially kick off this exhibition at the Museum Friends’ Shop in Fremlin Walk.

Maidstone Museums’ Foundation (MMF), a charity that supports Maidstone’s Museums through a Friends’ scheme and fundraising, is hosting this unique
exhibition.

It has been curated by John Bunyard, a Maidstone United stalwart for six decades. He and fellow enthusiasts have brought together many items that because of space
constraints could not be displayed in the original show.

MMF shop manager Ivan White said: “We felt that many people with an interest in Maidstone United may have missed the original exhibition and we wanted to give
them an opportunity to see it. It will also be a chance for anyone who visited the show first time around a chance to enjoy the updated version. We will keep this
fascinating show going for as long as there are new stories to tell.”

John Bunyard said: “Maidstone: United in Football took 30 months out of my life, so in all honesty I was relieved to have put it behind me! Yet I must admit that I’ve
always felt guilty about all the fascinating material I had to cut out. I think every Stones history fan can be thankful to the Friends for providing this second bite of the
cherry.”