Ashford’s opening pre-season friendly will bring back fond memories for boss Lloyd Hume.

Hume, at the Nuts & Bolts’ helm and also the club’s co-owner alongside Dave Warr, is preparing to welcome George Elokobi’s Maidstone United team to Homelands this Saturday.

Hume managed the Stones for six years, working with Alan Walker - now Ashford’s director of football - before the pair resigned in February 2010.

Also among the Nuts & Bolts squad are ex-Maidstone men Harley Earle, player-coach Matt Bodkin, new signing Joe Ellul and player-assistant Craig Stone.

Hume said: “I’m looking forward to it.

"Obviously for me, I’ve got a long affiliation with Maidstone so I’m delighted to play them in pre-season.

“Bill (Williams, director of football) was there and Oliver (Ash, co-owner) was there when I was around.

“I know Terry (Casey, co-owner), as well. I did some work on the coaching side with them with Alan Walker.

“Maidstone is always one of the results that I look out for. I live in Aylesford so I’m still pretty local.

“Their levels are where we aspire to be - although they’re light-years ahead of us!

“We’re probably not going to get the sort of fans they do, I’m aware of that, but it shows what can happen if you put the work in.

“We have got a few ex-Maidstone players and some that have been around National League South, so there shouldn’t be any issues around quality, but there is a huge difference between being full-time and part-time.

“I’m very much wanting to get back to some kind of normality and games. It comes around quickly - but we have only got four weeks before our first game in the FA Cup.

“I’m not sure how long Maidstone have been back but they’re full-time so we know that it’s going to be tough.

“In pre-season, it’s not really about results.

"It’s about getting ready for that FA Cup game on August 2 and our first league game, which is on August 9.”

The majority of Ashford’s squad reported back for pre-season training more than a week ago and, while that’s earlier than most at their level, there was good reason for it.

“We started on June 24 and I think that’s earlier than anybody else at our level has started,” Hume explained.

“But I just felt we had to in order to get ready for our first friendly.

“We’ll go Saturday-to-Tuesday-to-Saturday for the first three weeks, then just Saturdays and a little bit more time on the training pitch after that.

“We won’t get anyone through 90 minutes on Saturday.

“But we know Maidstone will be a strong side so it’s a good test for us.”

Midfielder Sam Hasler, Ellul and winger Lorenzo Lewis are among Ashford’s senior summer signings while defender Barry Fuller has completed a permanent move after his contract expired at National League South outfit Dorking Wanderers.

Hume said: “We have signed four or five but we have kept 90 per cent of the side together. The four or five that we have signed have settled in well.

“We have had players out in Vietnam. We have been delighted to see them do well and play with their idols - that’s been great.

“It does mean that we’ll only have Thursday with them before Saturday. We have got some that will go on holiday in pre-season, as well, because they haven’t really got any other choice.

"But it’ll be the same for any Step 4 club.”

While Fuller, Moses and Gary Lockyer missed the first week of pre-season at Ashford, playing in the Vietnam-UK Football Festival alongside the likes of legends Teddy Sheringham, Michael Owen, Wes Brown, Dwight Yorke and Ryan Giggs, the trio will return for the Maidstone match.

Hume said: “Typical Gary Lockyer, he has gone out and scored and assisted. That’s what we expect from him.

“Barry Fuller has scored and done well, as has Will Moses. He’s been good.

“They didn’t just demand they were going. They did ask but, to be honest, I think we’ll benefit from them going out there.

“I know people like Teddy Sheringham really well. They’re still incredibly professional, even though they’re retired, and that’ll rub off on them.”

Also within Ashford’s squad which has been named ahead of pre-season are youth-team prospects, which include goalkeeper Scott Podger-King and attacker Jireh George.

“We’ve had a couple of youngsters come in and they have really impressed us,” Hume noted.

“They can be a part of our side and can be involved in some of our (friendly) games.

“We want to restrict going out and getting loan players as much as we possibly can by having players coming through our under-23s.”

The Nuts & Bolts will host FA Vase winners Whitstable Town at Homelands on Tuesday night.

Ashford will find out their first 2025/26 opponents when the draw for the FA Cup extra preliminary round is made tomorrow.