Adam Birchall couldn’t turn down the chance to join hometown club Maidstone.

It was the only move that interested the striker once Bromley said he could go out on loan.

He made his debut as a substitute against Chelmsford on Bank Holiday Monday, a matter of hours after his season-long deal was completed.

Birchall, 30, said: “I’ve been a Maidstone boy my whole life and I actually got scouted by Arsenal playing for Maidstone district.

“It’s a club going places and everyone in non-league knows that with the amount of fans they are generating.

"My dad used to tell me about Maidstone, so it’s ingrained in my family. You won’t get another loan player wanting to play for their loan club more than I do.”

Birchall moved to Gillingham after scoring 45 goals for Dover in 2010/11, but a serious knee injury in his first pre-season friendly sidelined him for a year.

It effectively wrecked his Gills career, although he did receive a medal when they won League 2 under Martin Allen.

Birchall said: “Things happen for a reason. It happened and once it happened, I dealt with the problem. It’s the type of character I am that I came back from it."

Read the full interview in Friday's Kent Messenger.