A 20-page supplement and free colour poster were printed by a weekly newspaper celebrating a local sporting triumph.

The Kent Messenger commemorated Maidstone United Football Club’s’s promotion to the National League, England’s fifth tier, with the souvenir, pictured below, in Friday’s edition.

Maidstone beat local rivals Ebbsfleet United in a penalty shoot-out after the play-off final had finished 2-2 at full time.

It had been a “win-win” scenario for the sports desk at the KM Group, parent company of the Messenger, ahead of the game as they also cover Ebbsfleet for their north Kent titles.

The team provided rolling live coverage on the day on KentOnline, which attracted tens of thousands of browsers, followed by the bumper coverage in Friday’s Messenger.

Ian Carter, the KM Group’s editorial director, said: “Even though the game was sold out and beamed back to Maidstone’s ground, our online coverage attracted a huge audience.

“However, Messenger editor Denise Eaton was quite rightly determined that our print readers would get first class coverage too.

“The commercial team quickly found a sponsor to cover the cost of the additional pagination and the poster and our newspaper sales department also pulled out all the stops to ensure it all came together in time.”