Here are the March winners in the Pounds for Pitches draw;

£100 Rob Lindsay
£50 Tom Regan
£50 Richard Ewence
£30 Rob Lindsay

You too could be a future winner, in our regular draws!
Why not join, win some 'dosh' and help towards the maintenance of pitches for all!

To join in, just click the link for more details.

Sports clubs around the nation still has people working to ensure things are ready to go at the start of the season. Many additional precautions and government guidelines are being followed to make sure everyone stays safe whilst doing so. 

Today, our very own Martin Maytum, groundsman by trade, as well as servant at Twickenham, took sometime to post a special message. 

From MFC to the NHS; THANK YOU!

The run up to Easter saw the contractors in to carry out the pitch reparations, with all 3 pitches having deep penatrative aeration, topdressing with 120T of sand & rootzone spread across all pitches.  All pitches plus the Tag area were drill seeded and the fertilising will be done one the seed has established itself by our in house grounds team.

The by product of the early end to the season has meant we have been able to do reparations much earlier than previously which is beneficial, and weather permitting, pitch recovery should progress much quicker than in previous years as we look towards pre season training

Members who are using the club grounds as a convenient place to do some exercises/training whilst still being able to socially distance yourselves.are requested to please stay off the pitches, the Tag area and the in goal area at the bank end of the training pitch.to allow the grass seed to establish itself.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

We want to assure our members that the committee has been working in the background during this crisis. The efforts over the past two years by the committee & finance teams to ensure the clubs long term sustainable, is becoming apparent. The measures in place means that the club will be solvent for the foreseeable future, based on budgeting forecasts. This has taken into account membership, which is an annual payment and we ask our members not to cancel their memberships as it could affect this outlook drastically. If you are having issues in these trying times, please contact your relevant membership secretary so that we can work with you during this period as all our members are part of one rugby community family. 

The delivery of the blazers will be later this week. The supplier has been working hard to ensure that the delivery was in time for the Veterans tour, which has unfortunately been delayed for obvious reasons. 

We understand that payment for the blazers could be difficult at this time, so we can offer a payment extension to 15th May to those that have ordered. The total sum as disclosed before is £156. For delivery, please contact the Admin team or wait until we can re-enter the clubhouse.

You can do a BACS transfer to the club account using the details below.

Account name: Maidstone Rugby Club

Account # 00062872

Sort Code: 30-95-37

Ref: YOUR NAME & 'Blazer'.

With all Rugby of all types currently suspended why not keep yourself in shape with the RFU Activate programme? Your can do it as an individual wherever you have space.

On Sunday 15^th March the club hosted the Kent Veterans Competition Finals day. The weather stayed conducive to rugby with bursts of sunshine, and the rain holding off until packing up time.

First up setting the tone for a thrilling days rugby, was the Shield Final between Vigo & Old Gravesendians. A cracking game finished with an unbelievable finish. With Vigo needing a converted Try to tie the game, their winger broke the OG’s defence and crossed the line. As he headed to touchdown behind the posts, a last-ditch tackle came in. The Vigo players knee was adjudged to have crossed the dead ball line just before he grounded the ball. Heartbreak for Vigo but relief for Old Gravesendians as they walked away with the shield 29 – 22.

The Bowl final was dogged contest between Gravesend and Old Colfeians, with the latter looking to add more silverware to the club’s trophy cabinet this season. In a back and forth contest, Old Colfs took the spoils with an unconverted Try and a penalty kick 11 – 0.

Drama continued in a spectacular Cup final between Westcombe Park and Sevenoaks. With Park scoring first and Sevenoaks equalising, the tit-for-tat scoring continued. Midway through the second half, Park pulled two tries ahead and it looked enough for them to win. Oaks did not give up and came back to tie the game with less than five minutes remaining on the clock. In this event, under the competition finals day rules, Westcombe Park would be crowned champions having scored first, given that no cards had been handed out and the number of converted tries was even. Sevenoaks were rallied and well aware of this from previous experience and earned a penalty in the middle of the posts, albeit around fifty metres out. The attempt was just wide and just short, and Park immediately came back up the pitch. In a moment of madness, Park were handed a penalty which they appeared to be looking for touch with. The Oaks number 10’s remonstrations were a little too much for the referee, who promptly marched Oaks back ten metres. Westcombe Park punished the error by slotting the penalty and ended the game 29 – 26 victors.

It was a great day for rugby, played in the best of spirits and long may veterans rugby continue. Our thanks go to Kent RFU, lead sponsors Shepherd Neame, our very own competition director, Richard Ewence & to all players, spectators and volunteers for making it a fantastic day to be a part of.

Let’s hope that rugby is not off of our calendars for too long.

The Committee has agreed to take Vice President Graham Norton's offer of compiling a review of the club. Graham will be interviewing members of the club as he constructs his report on the state of the Maidstone FC and provide recommendations.

He will be looking at all aspects of the club for his report that will be submitted to the committee at the end of the season. We ask that you please assist him, should he contact you. Alternatively, if you feel that you would have a constructive input, please get in touch with Graham at grahamnorton100@hotmail.com.

London & South East Division 

London SE Division 2