MAIDSTONE United chairman Paul Bowden Brown says the decision to hold the Stones’ game with Deal Town on a Tuesday night has cost his club £1,000.

Some 345 fans braved a wind chill factor of minus seven degrees to watch the match, but Mr Bowden Brown believes the gate would have been more than 600 had the league opted to stage the game, between the Kent League’s two best supported clubs, on a Saturday.

He said: “At least 200 people who could have attended the game didn’t, because of work commitments and travel difficulties - which means we’ve lost around a £1000 on the gate. This is at a time when it’s costing us over £2,000 per week to run the club and it shows a total disregard for us on behalf of the league."

Stones lost Tuesday's game 2-1 to a late own goal