The fans go bananas on sea of yellow
AADAM PATEL joins Maidstone’s travelling army
TWO hours before kick-off, the queues for the turnstiles on Portman Road are already stretching towards Princes Street.
‘I haven’t slept all night, just thinking about this moment. It’s over a hundred years in the making and seeing us all here — it’s really hit home,’ says 66-year-old Barry Fenn, the caretaker at Maidstone United who has followed the club all his life.
‘In 1987, we took two trainloads to Watford for the third round but that pales into complete insignificance against this. This is history.’
As the team bus pulls into the ground, manager George Elokobi tells the driver to stop. He wants to deliver a message to the travelling fans. ‘I wanted to tell you all that we are already historymakers. Nobody can take away what we have already done so let’s savour every moment. Enjoy the game,’ he says.
Maidstone’s average home attendance is just shy of 2,000 but their 4,480 tickets sold out in under two hours. Families are here, from grandparents to grandkids. The stand is a sea of yellow, with inflatable bananas and balloons galore. This is Maidstone’s party.
Ipswich hit the post twice in the first 10 minutes and it feels inevitable that the floodgates are about to open but James Brook, 64, who follows the club home and away, does not feel that way. ‘It’s going to be our lucky day now,’ he says. ‘You watch!’
Then comes utter pandemonium as Lamar Reynolds gives Maidstone the lead. One fan ends up falling from the upper tier but, thankfully, no one is injured.
Adam Keeley, 41, says he put £2 on Reynolds at 20-1 to score the first goal. Reynolds had not scored all season. ‘The last time I celebrated a goal like that was when Gazza scored at Euro 96,’ he says, close to tears.
Ten minutes after Ipswich equalise, Sam Corne scores and runs to an ecstatic away end and for Neil Mackay, 29, who still follows Maidstone with his schoolfriends, this is the pinnacle. ‘I’ve never felt anything like this,’ he says. ‘None of us thought this would really happen but this is the best thing I’ve seen,’ adds Alex Craddock, 30.
The last half-hour sees fingernails bitten, heads in hands and others who simply cannot watch. They sing their hearts out. Every clearance and tackle is celebrated and when
17-year-old Riley Court, who has 20 family members in the away end, puts in a crunching challenge and turns to the fans, every one of them roars back.
As Anthony Taylor blows the full-time whistle, tears flow and the chants of ‘Que Sera, Sera’ begin. Sarah Cooper, 33, says: ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it? We all came for a good day out but this is the magic of the Cup.’
Walking out of the ground, I bump into Barry, who is struggling to speak. I ask who he wants next? ‘I couldn’t care less, son. Because this eclipses everything. Every single one of those boys are heroes. Our heroes.’