Maidstone United v Chelmsford City, National League South, Gallagher Stadium, Tuesday 3rd September 2024, 7:45pm kick-off.
Chelmsford City play away from home for the second time in less than a week on Tuesday night when Robbie Simpson’s side travel from Essex to neighbouring county Kent for a clash against last season’s FA Cup high-flyers Maidstone United.
Both sides head into tomorrow’s game looking for much needed wins after finding themselves languishing in the bottom half of the National League South table with six games played.
Robbie Simpson’s Clarets were denied maximum points and a first league victory of the season during Saturday’s trip to Truro City when the hosts equalised in the 86th minute of the game in Cornwall, before they found a late winner in the third minute of added time. George Elokobi’s Stones earned three points against St Albans City on the opening day of the 24-25 campaign, but since then have suffered a five-game winless run.
Here’s all that Clarets supporters need to know ahead of the game…
Team & match stats:
- George Elokobi’s side are winless in their last five matches (D3, L2).
- The Stones’ solitary win this season came away from home, and only one of the six points they have accumulated so far in 2024-25 have been won at the Gallagher Stadium.
- Chelmsford City’s last victory against Maidstone was in October 2020.
- Since then, the Stones have won each of their last four matches against City.
Opposition:
Much like the Clarets, George Elokobi’s Maidstone United squad have endured a frustrating start to the 2024-25 National League South season. Similarly
to City, the Stones have been unable to rediscover the form which helped them
to a stellar 23-24 campaign, during which Elokobi’s men finished 4th in the league table and reached the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Over the summer months, Elokobi was able to retain several figures who were key to his side’s success last term. Former Premier League player Elokobi also recruited a number of notable new additions to his squad, who possess recent experience at National League South level. The centre back partnership which has started in the Stones’ past four matches epitomises Elokobi’s recent recruitment policy; defender Reiss Greenidge, who was a key figure at the Gallagher Stadium last season, has played alongside new signing Temi Eweka at the heart of Maidstone’s backline. Eweka’s impressive performances in a Slough Town shirt last season persuaded Elokobi to make him Maidstone’s first summer addition.
Full-back Ben Brookes is another summer signing who arrived at the Gallagher Stadium in the summer months after enjoying success elsewhere in the National League South. Brookes departed Chelmsford City in June following a productive year-and-a-half playing in Claret at the EMJ Community Stadium, during which he helped the club to back-to-back play-off finishes. Since swapping Essex for Kent, Brookes is yet to have missed a league game in a Maidstone shirt and has started in each of his new club’s first six matches of the new season.
In the forward areas, former Braintree Town duo Aaron Blair and Shaq Coulthirst are among those in Elokobi’s arsenal of strikers. However, both are still waiting to open their Maidstone United goalscoring accounts.
A key battle to look out for could be between Stones centre back Reiss Greenidge and City striker Jordan Greenidge. Defender Reiss is 24-year-old Jordan’s older brother. The Greenidge’s went head-to-head for the first time last season when Maidstone faced Jordan’s former club Tonbridge Angels on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. The brothers then went head-to-head on one further occasion, when Maidstone travelled to Princes Park in March following Jordan’s move to Dartford. Reiss went undefeated against his younger brother last season, winning two of the games they faced each other in and drawing the other. With the pair in direct competition given their respective positions, the battle of the Greenidge brothers will be one of many fascinating clashes in tomorrow’s match.
Team News:
Ryan Blackman was replaced by Callum Watts in the 45th minute of Saturday’s game against Truro City after suffering an injury. Following the game, Robbie Simpson issued the following update regarding the midfielder:
“It looks like a really bad knee injury,” Simpson explained.
“We’ll have to wait for it to settle down, but it’s not looking good at all.”
Cameron James and Geofrey Okonkwo will remain sidelined.
Getting there:
Supporters travelling by car to Tuesday’s game should know that the journey from the EMJ Community Stadium to the Gallagher Stadium takes around one hour.
On first team match days all the car parking spaces at the Gallagher Stadium are reserved and cars have permits to park there. The nearest pay and display car parks are at Invicta House (five-minute walk), Maidstone East Train Station (seven-minute walk) and Fremlin Walk (ten-minute walk).
The Chelmsford City Supporters Club coach is travelling to Tuesday’s game, and at the time of writing, a small number of seats on the coach are still available. Details of the Supporters Club coach travelling to Kent can be seen below.
Matchday & ticketing information:
Tickets can be purchased online here, via Maidstone United’s official ticketing website. Tickets can also be purchased on match day at the Gallagher Stadium.
Ticket prices for Tuesday’s game are as follows:
- Adults: £17
- Concessions (65+/Students with valid ID): £13
- Youth (11–16-year-olds): £7
- Under-11s: Free with a paying adult
Stand seat plus £3 on the above prices – subject to availability.
How to follow the game:
Clarets fans can find pre-match coverage of Tuesday’s match and live updates of proceedings in Kent by following the club’s X (formerly Twitter) page: @OfficialClarets and Instagram page: chelmsfordcityfc.
Radio Clarets will provide live audio commentary of proceedings at the Gallagher Stadium.
The game will also be live streamed on National League TV – streaming passes for the match can be purchased here for as little as £9.99.
Post-match reactions will be found on the club’s website, official social media channels and on ClaretsTV.
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