Maidstone United's owners have agreed outline terms to sell a controlling interest to a group of experienced football club owners. Due diligence is under way, with news hoped for by the end of the year.

Maidstone United’s owners have agreed outline terms to sell a controlling interest in the club. The buyers have not been named.

Joint owners Terry Casey and Oliver Ash made the announcement in an update to supporters on the club’s website on Wednesday 4 November (Maidstone United, 4 November 2026). They said they had narrowed their talks to “one group in particular, whose people are experienced football club owners”.

Where the deal stands

The owners set out these points:

  • outline terms have been agreed for the sale of a controlling interest
  • the prospective investors are now carrying out “detailed financial, legal and operational due diligence”
  • discussions remain confidential
  • if things go as expected, they hope to “share further news before the end of the year”

They said the process had taken longer than they first hoped, and that “not every opportunity has proved suitable”. They wanted a partner who could bring “additional financial strength, strategic expertise and ambition”, they wrote, “rather than simply the quickest solution”.

Outline terms are not a completed sale. Due diligence is the stage at which a buyer checks the club’s finances, contracts and property, and either side can still walk away.

How long the club has been for sale

Casey and Ash took over in 2010, when the club had no ground of its own. They built the Gallagher Stadium on James Whatman Way, which opened in July 2012.

They first said publicly that they wanted new investors in May 2024, after the FA Cup run that knocked out Barrow, Stevenage and Ipswich Town (Maidstone United, 22 May 2024). At the time Ash said they would consider selling the club together with its stadium, which they own freehold, or selling the club and keeping the freehold. “All options are currently open to discussion,” he said then.

This week’s update does not say which of those is on the table now. It speaks of a controlling interest in “Maidstone United” and says nothing either way about the stadium freehold.

The club’s finances

The club’s most recent published accounts cover the 2024/25 season, across its two companies, the football club and the ground company (Maidstone United, 31 March 2026):

2024/25 accounts Figure
Turnover £1,963,993, down from £2.74m the year before
EBITDA a loss of £167,267
Borrowings up from £2,415,000 to £2,616,000

The club said the borrowings are interest-free loans from Casey and Ash. The year before had been boosted by the FA Cup run. In March, Casey said “several serious discussions” with investors were ongoing, and that he was confident a sale could be agreed “in the coming weeks”.

This week’s update says the club “remains in good health”. After heavy spending on projects over the past year, no major stadium developments are planned this season, only routine maintenance.

What it means for you

For supporters and the families who use the stadium, nothing changes yet. The owners say they are still running the club, and the men’s team sat third in its league when they wrote. The women’s team, promoted to the sixth tier last season, is aiming for the fifth within a few seasons.

The Gallagher Stadium is more than a football ground. Its 3G pitch is hired out for community football, and the club runs youth, girls’ and disability sections there, about 30 teams in all by its own 2024 count (Maidstone United, 22 May 2024). Whoever buys in will own a share of that too.

We will report the buyers’ names and any terms when the club publishes them.

Sources