Juliette Parkin
Reporter, BBC South East

Image source, BBC/Juliette Parkin

Thousands of Maidstone fans are en route to Coventry for tonight's FA Cup match.

Maidstone have sold 4,800 tickets for the fifth-round tie, with one fan waking up at 04.30 GMT to travel to The Gallagher Stadium to buy their ticket.

The sell-out away section will be hoping the Stones can continue their run by confirming a spot in the quarter-finals.

Image source, PA Media

Maidstone United's extraordinary FA Cup run is "not a game-changer" in terms of money the non-league club has made, says co-owner Oliver Ash.

He said: "This run has earned us something like £700,000 before tax."

Talking to BBC Sport, he added: "It's substantial but it's not necessarily a game-changer. We've obviously been doing the accounts and tried to work out what it does mean.

"It's excellent but it isn't life-changing."

Maidstone, who entered the FA Cup at the second qualifying round stage, have won seven matches to reach the fifth round and collected £351,375 in prize money alone.

They have also earned extra from television revenue, sponsorship deals and gate receipts.

The Stones will receive an additional £225,000 in prize money should they beat Coventry, who are 95 places higher in the football pyramid.

Read more here

Image source, Handout

"I had my whole life in front of me when they told me. I remember thinking 'Oh my God, I'm going to die."

Few Maidstone United players are cherishing Maidstone's FA Cup run more than Sam Bone.

Back in 2016, soon after being released by Charlton Athletic at the age of 18, Bone was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

"I was already stressed about life because I was trying to find another club," the now 26-year-old midfielder tells BBC Sport.

"To then be told at 18 you've got cancer, it was a very scary and uncertain time in my life."

Read more here:

Dan Sexton
BBC South East, in Coventry

Maidstone fans have started to arrive in Coventry ahead of the club's historic FA Cup match tonight.

Jason Fuller (middle) and his friends arrived in Coventry from London Euston, and were chanting Maidstone songs as they got off the train.

As the service pulled into Coventry, the guard announced any Maidstone United fans on board “should alight here for FA Cup glory”.

Mr Fuller has been going to games for 10 years and says this will be the biggest game he has ever been to.

Image source, David Cannon/Allsport/Getty Images

Keith Houchen, whose famous diving header in the 1987 FA Cup final helped Coventry City beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 at Wembley, said the competition needs non-league sides like Maidstone United to capture its magic.

He told BBC South East: "I think the FA Cup needs Maidstones. I think it needs a Maidstone every year.

"I think the magic comes from the fact that players can compete against the people that they see on the TV and never get to play at that level."

The ex-Hibernian and Leyton Orient player urged Maidstone's players to enjoy tonight's clash with Coventry City.

He said: "That's the most important thing, isn't it? Some of them might not play in a bigger game.

"Just to be there and play in that, that is for me is the most important thing about the FA Cup.

"It's the smaller teams playing the big teams and occasionally, very occasionally, knocking them out and that is when we talk about it 30, 40 years later down the line."

George Elokobi got acquainted with the FA Cup trophy last week ahead of Maidstone United's fifth round FA Cup tie at Coventry tonight.

BBC Radio Kent has staged a Coventry v Maidstone Subbuteo prediction match.

How did it go? Watch for yourself!

Image source, Dan Sexton/BBC

The Stones will be backed by 4,800 fans at The CBS Arena.

Fans queued from the early hours to buy tickets, when they went on sale on 16 February.

Maidstone fan Olly Curtis said: "I'm so proud for the players and it puts the town on the map."

Mr Curtis was near the front of the queue, having arrived at The Gallagher Stadium at 06:45.

He told BBC Radio Kent: "I've followed this club for many years and if you told me where we are now, I would have laughed at you.

"I've been to Coventry once before, with my friend who is a Stoke fan and we won 4-0 so I'm hoping for the same outcome."

Fan Jonathan Shands said: "I was at Ipswich, so there was no way I was missing it. Hopefully we win on the day but I want it to be a good game."

Let’s take a look at Maidstone United’s FA Cup run – which started back in September.

Qualifying - 30 Sep Winchester City 0 v 2 Maidstone

Qualifying - 14 Oct Torquay 0 v 2 Maidstone

Round 1 - 4 Nov Chesham 0 v 2 Maidstone

Round 2 - 2 Dec Maidstone 2 v 1 Barrow

Round 3 - 6 Jan Maidstone 1 v 0 Stevenage

Round 4 - 27 Jan Ipswich 1 v 2 Maidstone

Round 5 - 26 Feb Coventry v Maidstone

With no ground, no league to play in and only two players on the books, there was a moment in history where success seemed impossible to Maidstone United supporters.

In 1992, the Kent club reluctantly resigned from the Football League amid crippling financial woes and folded.

Maidstone played at the Athletic Ground for 90 years until 1988, when the club's board sold it to property developers, intending to build a new stadium in the town.

In a matter of weeks, a new club was formed by taking over junior club Maidstone Invicta. The club started the long climb through Kent's minor leagues and renamed themselves Maidstone United in 1997.

After ground shares in Ashford and Sittingbourne, the club finally moved back to Maidstone in 2012 with the opening of the community-owned Gallagher Stadium.

Read more here.

Juliette Parkin
Reporter, BBC South East, at The Gallagher Stadium, Maidstone

Maidstone's team bus has just left The Gallagher Stadium and is now en route to Coventry.

The players were waved off by fans as the team looks to continue their historic FA Cup run.

Image source, WhatsApp

You can send us your messages ahead of Maidstone United's FA Cup fifth round clash against Coventry City.

Just scan the QR code above and send a WhatsApp message to us - and we'll publish a selection of your comments.

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Maidstone United striker, Lamar Reynolds, has spoken of his excitement for tonight's match.

He scored a crucial goal in the last round against Ipswich.

Looking forward to tonight’s match, he said: “I’m really excited for the game ahead. It’s going to be another tough game.

“They will be different from Ipswich. But it will be just as hard.

"All the boys are together on this. We don’t fear anything right now.”

Dan Sexton
Euston Station, London

At Euston station waiting for their train, Laura and Ann tell me they are filled with excitement for the match and are quietly confident of a Maidstone win after Coventry’s defeat on Friday.

They plan to check in to their hotel and then head to see the cathedral before making their way to the CBS Arena.

They have been supporting Maidstone for years but they say tonight's match is by far and away the biggest game they will have seen to date.

They both predict Maidstone to win 2-1

Image source, Rex Features

• The Stones are the first team outside of the top five divisions to reach the FA Cup fifth round since Blyth Spartans in 1978.
• Even if they do not pull off another shock win against Coventry City, Maidstone will still have won more matches in the competition than the eventual winners.

• Their journey began with victory at Steyning in September in the second qualifying round before beating Winchester City, Torquay, Chesham, Barrow and Stevenage before their Portman Road heroics against Ipswich Town set up a meeting with Coventry City, the 1987 FA Cup winners.

Maidstone United manager George Elokobi receives a surprise "good luck" message from Cameroon legend Roger Milla before the FA Cup fifth-round match against Championship club Coventry City.

Phil Harrison
BBC Radio Kent

Fans have been jetting in from across the world to watch tonight's FA Cup fifth round tie between Maidstone United and Coventry City.

Among them are Maidstone United defender Sam Bone’s grandparents who have travelled from Cyprus.

Anne and Clive Clayton will be cheering him on at Coventry's CBS Arena tonight.

Mrs Clayton said: “Even as a little boy, all he wanted to do was kick a ball.

"We tried to teach him to ride a bike but he wasn’t interested."

“We’re all really proud of him,” added Mr Clayton. “Everyone in Cyprus knows about Maidstone United now.”

Image source, PA Media

Thanks for joining us on the live page as we bring you the build up to non-league Maidstone United’s fifth round FA Cup tie at Coventry City.

The Stones, who play in National League South, are the lowest-ranked side left in the FA Cup.

Their run has included wins over Championship side Ipswich Town in the fourth round, League One Stevenage in the third and League Two Barrow in the second.

And tonight they hope to extend their run in the cup with a win over Championship club Coventry City at CBS Arena. Kick-off is from 19.45 GMT.

Stay with us as we bring you all the excitement of the build-up, as fans travel from far and wide to support the Stones, who are the lowest ranked team to reach the last 16 since Blyth Spartans in 1977-78.