Maidstone United are looking forward to an FA Cup first-round tie against a club who made their name in the competition.

Stones were handed a trip to League 2 Stevenage in Monday night’s televised draw – one of the competition’s biggest headline-makers of the last 20 years.

As a Conference club, they famously held Premier League Newcastle to a 1-1 draw in a fourth-round tie in 1998 before losing a replay.

The Boro, then flying high in League 2, got their revenge in 2011 by beating the Toon 3-1.

Stevenage won the League 2 play-off final that season and made the League 1 play-offs the following year.

They may not be an obvious glamour tie but they have pedigree and Stones have their work cut out on November 8.

United boss Jay Saunders said: "On a cup run, your ambition when you set out is to try and get a league club eventually and we've got that, so I’m sure it will be a good day out for us and we’ll have a good go at them.

"They’re a lot higher up in the leagues than us but it is the FA Cup and they do say about the magic of the FA Cup.

"We’re having a good season and we go there with nothing to lose.

"We can just go there and have a real good go at them. It only takes a bit of luck."

Saunders, who reached the second round as a Margate player in 2002, watched the draw with fans at the Gallagher Stadium.

He said: "That’s the most nervous I've been all season. It's a long time since I had a cup run as a player, where I've been involved in a draw, so you kind of just watch it on TV and think nothing of it.

"There were a few teams I didn't really want but Stevenage is a nice ground to go to.

"I’m sure we’ll take a lot of support and they’ll get behind the boys. Hopefully it will be a day to remember.”

Saunders sees similarities between Maidstone and the Margate side who shocked Leyton Orient in a first-round replay before losing to Cardiff.

He added: "We had a team full of characters and this squad reminds me of that team, a lot of characters and people who've got the right attitude.

"We beat Orient in the replay and got a good spanking by Cardiff in the next round.

"Stevenage are going to be fitter than us and more organised than us because they train every day but in a one-off game you never know."