Conor Kelly says it was one of the happiest days of his life when he joined Maidstone.

Midfielder Kelly was born in England to American parents but moved to New Jersey, aged seven.

He played academy and university football in the States but a burning desire to make it as a professional player in England saw him leave his family behind this summer.

Now 24, he had pre-season trials with Barnet and Havant but it was Maidstone where he made his mark.

He’s just moved to the town from Fulham, where he was living with family friends, and is loving English football.

“My parents encouraged me to come and take the jump,” said Kelly.

“I love football so much and they were like, ‘Make it your life and go over there and see what you can do’.

“That’s what I’ve done. I’ve thrown myself in at the deep end and hopefully I can continue to push.”

Kelly impressed on trial at the Gallagher, with manager George Elokobi offering him a contract.

“I’d been at a few posts but I came in on trial and believed in myself,” said Kelly.

“The gaffer told me just work as hard as I can and see what happens.

“I gave my everything every day at training and thankfully it worked out and I’m very happy to be here.

“It’s hard finding a balance between playing safe and letting your personality come out on the pitch when you’re on trial but thankfully it came to fruition.

“It was one of the happiest days of my life when George said he wanted to sign me.

“I’d finally achieved my dream of becoming a professional footballer.

“I took a risk coming over here and I’m really happy how everything has worked out so far.

“I moved to New Jersey at seven and thought I was fully English until I went over there and the accent slowly went away and now I’m full-blown American, I guess.

“But I’ve always loved this country and the football culture here, so I’m really happy to be back.

“I was talking to some clubs over there but I really wanted to kind of push myself over here.

“The existence of promotion and relegation and just the ability for the club to move up the leagues is something we don’t have in the States, so I was really looking forward to that.

“Hopefully I can do everything in my power to help us be in a division higher next year.”