Maidstone Utd

George Elokobi was still finding his feet as a manager when Maidstone United handed him the job, and by the 2023–24 season he had taken them further into the FA Cup than any club outside the top five divisions had gone since 1977–78, a run that included beating Ipswich Town in the Third Round before Sheffield Wednesday ended it in the Fifth. The club he inherited carries the name of one that no longer exists in the form it once did: the original Maidstone United, formed in 1897, went bankrupt in 1992 and became the first side expelled from the Football League for it. What continued was the youth side, briefly renamed Maidstone Invicta before reverting to Maidstone United in 1995.

That inheritance shows in the honours board more than in personnel — the earlier club took the Alliance Premier League twice, in 1983–84 and 1988–89, while the current one has had to rebuild a case for itself through the divisions below, winning the National League South in 2021–22 among other lower-league titles. Promotion to the National League followed in 2016 and again in 2022, each time testing whether the rebuilt club could hold its level.

Chris Smalling passed through the current club's youth ranks before Fulham and Manchester United took him on.