Maidstone United player-coach Simon Walton leaves the Gallagher Stadium as club announce retained list
17:02, 03 May 2019
updated: 17:10, 03 May 2019
Player-coach Simon Walton has left Maidstone but the club’s retained list is giving little away.
Walton announced on Instagram he is leaving the Gallagher Stadium following an eventful season which included four wins in seven games as caretaker manager.
He wrote: “It’s certainly not been the season anybody would’ve wanted and I am gutted for how it turned out.
“But I am also very grateful to have had the opportunity to meet and work with some real good people along the way.
“I would like to wish @maidstoneunited all the very best for the future and you never know we may cross paths again one day.
“But now it’s time to move on to the next challenge and chapter in my career....”
Maidstone confirm Andre Coker, Dan Wishart, Jake Embery, Justin Amaluzor and Will De Havilland are under contract for next season, although De Havilland has a release clause following relegation.
Jack Richards has been offered a new deal while loanees Aron Davies, Dion-Curtis Henry, Jake Cassidy, Jarvis Edobor and Josh Taylor have returned to their parent clubs.
Everyone else is out of contract and Maidstone say they are “either discussing terms with the club or negotiating a deal elsewhere”.
Those players are: Blair Turgott, Chris Lewington, Elliott Romain, George McLennan, Jack Powell, Jordan Wynter, Josh Strizovic, Michael Phillips, Ollie Muldoon and Rob Swaine.
Lewington, who is also the club’s goalkeeper coach, revealed after the Kent Senior Cup final he was in talks over a new deal but the future of other squad members remains unclear.
However, it seems unlikely many - if any - will stay with head coach Hakan Hayrettin keen to start afresh as Maidstone gear up for National South.
De Havilland, Phillips and Turgott are among those players to have spoken about their future in the past few weeks.
Latest news
Features
Most popular
- 1
The abandoned ‘ghost road’ that once took holidaymakers to the Kent coast
23 - 2
Everything you need to know about Kent’s biggest Christmas market
3 - 3
Air ambulance lands after head-on smash between bus and car
- 4
'Our son didn't attend lectures for five months - why didn't uni check on him?'
- 5
Hundreds in the dark after power cuts