In September 2002 however, the reformed Maidstone United were enjoying an unprecedented level of publicity, thanks to a succession of appearances on Football Focus’s ‘Road to Wembley’ feature.

A then-massive crowd of 937 came to see a second-qualifying round tie with Boreham Wood at Bourne Park, and although we lost 5-2, Helen and her husband Steve have been watching us ever since.

“I just thought, what lovely people,” she explains. “I worked with someone called Barry Rockey at the Kent Book Company and he was full of Maidstone all the time. He said there’s a cup game and that I should come along. Sadly he’s no longer with us, but he’s one of those people who if you saw his face you would know him, he was a regular and he stood in the same place every week. We went to the game, we thoroughly enjoyed it and the rest, as they say, is history.”

The word history is well chosen. She has, at the time of writing, attended 1236 matches including friendlies, missing just 45 games in 22 years. Her husband Steve became a club photographer, a position he’s helped with for more than 20 years and in 2007 Helen took over the club shop after Steve volunteered her services. “He didn’t actually ask me,” she smiles. “which is typical of Steve.

According to Bill Williams, her contribution has been vital: “Most non-league football clubs cannot operate without the help of volunteers,” he says.

“Volunteers have always been the backbone of a happy, healthy and well organised football club. We were a very lucky football club when way she rocked up with Steve at Sittingbourne. Over the years I can’t tell you how many different things Helen has got herself involved in. I have met many volunteers who have given up hours of their time free of charge and Helen Terrell is one of those very special people who is good at what she does, always available and right up there with the very best of them.”

Terry Casey is equally effusive: “Helen is a vital part of ensuring that Maidstone United stays profitable and viable and because she and Steve work for no reward the profits are reinvested into the club’s infrastructure and playing squad. Helen and Steve are responsible for buying and selling of a vast range of products, managing stock levels and all decisions that must be made when controlling a business that turned over almost 100 k last year. We’re eternally grateful for what they have done.”

Helen says she enjoyed every match at Sittingbourne and for her at least it had one major advantage over our present home: the club shop at Bourne Park was essentially a table set up behind the goal, which meant she could watch the game. Now her view is blocked by the Town End and Steve estimates that she’s seen less than five hours of football at the Gallagher Stadium, despite having attended 363 games.

The other downside to the job, slightly depressingly, is the shop-lifting. The fan base has increased tenfold in Helen’s time watching the club, but this has led to a commensurate increase in the number of wrong’uns following us and she still struggles to believe someone would rob a club they claim to support.

“It’s a very difficult thing to face because you see them go out and you think, did they or didn’t they?” she says. “If you challenge them they say they bought it last week, you’re never going to get a sensible answer. That happens in here. I think it’s very sad that people would steal from the shop. I don’t think it’s a lot, but even if it’s one shirt I take it personally because it’s my responsibility to look after it as best as I can.”

All of this is more than outweighed by the upsides. The first is the company: initially she worked alongside Jan Sansom, who also volunteered for many years before stepping down and she’s now flanked by Chris Tucker and two friends from Paddock Wood, Laura and Annie, who help her when they can.

The second is the fact that after a decade of travelling to Sittingbourne and Ashford, she finally saw Maidstone play in Maidstone. “Every year we wanted to come back and like a lot of people, I never expected this,” she says waving an arm in the direction of the stadium around us. “When we opened it was marvellous. Coming back here has been so good, I just wish a few more people had gone to Sittingbourne then we might have got back here quicker but you can’t stop that, that’s history.”

A lot of fans who went during the wilderness years feared we might never come home. When did Helen realise it was actually going to happen? “When I stood up the top there and watched them clearing the ground and marking it out,” she says. “Like a lot of people I came down week by week and crossed my fingers that the progress wouldn’t stop.”

If missing almost every minute of the action at home wasn’t enough, she also works in the office three mornings a week and runs the club shop, looking after the online orders. To compensate her for this superhuman level of sacrifice, she sits in the directors box at away games, at the invitation of co-owner Terry Casey. This meant she had one of the best seats in the house during another fabled FA Cup run.

“Ipswich was something I will never forget,” she says. “I was lucky to be upstairs in the directors box and I said to the lady who was looking after us, can you show me where our supporters are sitting? The stadium was completely empty and I expected her to point to one corner but she went, ‘it’s all of that,’ pointing to the opposite side of the ground. Even now I get tingly about it. I could have cried. We sold all those tickets? I had no idea, but when we left for an away game people queuing were up the road in the estate. I was so proud of every single one of them.”