New Maidstone United captain George Fowler on becoming the club’s longest-serving player and his thoughts on the 26/27 National League South season

New Maidstone United captain George Fowler is the last man standing from their National League South title triumph.

Fowler, who joined the Stones from Aldershot in the early months of their 21/22 championship success, became the longest-serving player this summer after Sam Corne left for Tonbridge.

He’s also inherited the armband from Corne after being named skipper as part of a four-man captaincy team.

Time flies for central defender Fowler, who’s closing in on 250 appearances for his adopted hometown club.

“This is my sixth season,” said Fowler, 28.

"I saw a photo from when we won the league and I’m the last remaining player.

“Everyone else had been put into black and white and I was left there.

“When you see things like that it’s scary how fast time goes by, and now we’ve got another season and a fresh group of players, and it’s one we’re all positive for.”

Fowler was vice-captain under Corne, who was signed by John Still and Hakan Hayrettin in the summer of 2019.

He was someone the former Ipswich man got on particularly well with and they’ll stay in touch.

“You don’t tend to get lucky to play with someone and be in the same squad for so long and naturally you form a bond and a friendship,” said Fowler.

“And when you end up going to different teams and different places, it’s always a sad part of football.

“From a personal note, I was gutted to see him move on.

“I’d have loved to have had him here still but that’s how football works - people move on to different opportunities.

“We’ll be coming up against him during the season and a few others as well.

“It adds that little bit of extra spice to those derby games.

“It’s funny because you spend most of your days throughout the week with players and then when they move on