Maidstone remain set on relocating to Chatham’s Maidstone Road ground, despite agreeing to stay at Ashford for another season.

Had the Stones been relegated from the Ryman League Premier Division, chairman Paul Bowden-Brown said the club would have switched to Chatham, after a difficult season on an often unplayable surface at Homelands which hampered their progress.

However, having stayed up, Chatham’s ground is not up to the necessary standard to host Premier Division football.

Mr Bowden-Brown (pictured) said: "Both Ashford and I understood that, were the agreement to continue, it would be detrimental to both clubs given what happened last season.

"The Ashford chairman said he would support us if we wanted to move closer to home. Chatham would have been a godsend, but it wasn’t to be."

He vowed: "In a year’s time, if Chatham receive the C grade required, if we are still in the Premier Division, if Ashford allowed us to terminate the last year of our three-year agreement and if the league accept that, then we would plan to go to Chatham for the next three years.

"We will continue to talk to Chatham, who have been brilliant so far and that will be our benchmark for the future."

Mr Bowden-Brown admitted there had been a suggestion that the Stones could help pay for Maidstone Road to be improved this summer, but time had not been on their side.