Well, that was the weekend that was. Truly one of the most embarrassing results in the club’s recent history. It wasn’t by luck that Maidstone progressed in the FA Cup – it was by thoroughgoingly outclassing us in preparation, in application and in performance.
Damian, to his credit, realised how bad the situation was and posted a longform “club update” on Sunday which addressed many of the issues we currently face on and off the pitch.
Damian is a figure we’ve always had enormous respect for. His tenure as CEO has been marked by a professionalisation of the commercial operation, and proactively stepping forward to make this statement in an extremely difficult time for the club is a sign he genuinely understands the fans.
We have had our questions over other senior figures in the club who have been disappointingly silent during a difficult year for the side. But whatever criticism you can levy on the owners has never applied to Damian.
The update itself was a substantial piece, serving well to underscore the challenges we face with injuries and outlining the vision for recruitment and performance in the future.
Most fans will understandably focus on the on-the-pitch commentary. The Fleet Zone have trailed a podcast on that, and we would thoroughly recommend listening to their take when it arrives. Given the great content already on the way, we thought we’d dive into the substantial off-pitch updates. (Other than to say the stats included were slightly ridiculous: “11% higher counter pressure regains per match, you’ll never sing that”)
Firstly, the beer is finally changing. We support that. We always have and always will. And we’re sure the vast majority of match going fans support the change too. The club has always done a pretty good job protecting our pockets too, so we hope that continues with the new supplier.
We’re also glad to see management working to address the kit quality issues. It’s difficult to blame anyone at the club for this at all – as you would naturally assume a top tier supplier like New Balance would produce a functional product.
The real meat of our concern with the update comes from the stadium development plans, though.
The process clearly remains in train, with the club expecting the new Secretary of State to rule on the dual stadium/housing development in January. Damian’s statement indicates the club expects to be seeking alternative venues for two season’s time.
Whilst the timeline seems fairly rapid, it’s worth remembering just how long these plans have been in development for.
However our concerns stem from the close ties between the football club and the wider development.
With performance on the pitch faltering, and the chances of progress into the football league in the next 24 months looking unlikely, you could understand why the club might not reasonably be best placed to invest massive amounts of cash into a new ground.
And despite the update declaring there to be no major public update on the stadium development, we thought we’d take another look.
To us, it appears the club is exposed to so much more risk than just the Kufflink – as the proposed developments take in more than the ground. The “Northfleet Harborside” application is also tied to 3,500 new homes, for example.
The company that is driving the project forwards is registered at the Kufflink, with Damian and a Kuwaiti individual – Khaled Iai Alkhamis – serving as directors.
Looking further, it appears Alkhamis is the director of 9 companies – all of which are registered at the Kufflink. Each of the companies seems dedicated to development or trade of property. Damian himself is a co-director of several.
What this means for the club is unclear. But coming shortly off the back of the Dr being declared bankrupt and having to step away from previous investments like the London Resort, we are nervous.
We may be faltering on the field, but danger clearly lies off it too.
