Maidenhead United F.C.

Maidenhead United

Full name	Maidenhead United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Magpies
Founded	1870
Ground	York Road, Maidenhead (Capacity: 3,000 (250 seated)
Chairman	Peter Griffin
Manager	Johnson Hippolyte
League	Conference South
2010–11	Conference South, 19th
Home colours Away colours

Maidenhead United Football Club is an English football club in Maidenhead, Berkshire. The club was founded in 1870 and moved to their current ground at York Road the following year. The Football Association have acknowledged that this is the oldest continuously used senior football ground in the world by the same club.

History

In the beginning

The origins of senior football in Maidenhead can be traced back to October 1870 with the formation of Maidenhead Football Club, who subsequently played their first ever fixture in December 1870 against Windsor Home Park on a site close to the River Thames. On 16 February 1871 the club played their first game on the York Road site against Marlow. This ground, which had been a cricket ground from the late eighteenth century, is now officially acknowledged as the oldest continually used football ground in the world, eclipsing Northwich Victoria's old claim by several years. The Club were one of the original 15 entrants for the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871–72. The following season they reached the last four before losing to Oxford University. Maidenhead reached the quarter-finals in the next two seasons, but in 1876 withdrew, returning the following season. They also entered the first ever Berks & Bucks Cup competition in 1878 and the first FA Amateur Cup in 1893.

The early years

Maidenhead FC were founder members of the Southern League in 1894 but competing with the likes of Watford, Brentford, Fulham and Brighton proved too demanding and eventually they dropped into the West Berkshire League, which they won, and the Berks & Bucks League, in which they finished bottom. In 1904 Maidenhead joined the Great Western Suburban League. Maidenhead Norfolkians, meanwhile, were founded in 1884 and were successful members of the South Bucks & East Berks League before also joining the West Berks League and the Berks & Bucks League. In 1904 they joined Maidenhead FC in the Great Western Suburban League. Norfolkians played at Kidwells Park which can still be seen to this day, but as a public park – it once staged a Berks & Bucks Cup Final.

Spartans and Corinthians

The entrance to York Road

After the Great War the two clubs amalgamated as Maidenhead Town and adopted the famous black & white stripes. They had immediate success winning the Great Western League. In 1920 the name "United" was adopted and two years later they entered the Spartan League. They won the title three times in their nineteen year stay. In 1936 Maidenhead reached the semi-final of the FA Amateur Cup losing 4–1 to Ilford at West Ham in front of 18,000 spectators. It was that season that the ground record attendance of 7,989 was set when Southall came to York Road in the quarter-final. In the 1929–30 season the club’s goal-scoring record for a season was set when Jack Palethorpe scored 65 goals in 39 games. He went on to play for Sheffield Wednesday and scored in the Owls FA Cup win in 1935. In 1936 Jon Grant took over Maidenhead United and made Russ Barnes his first signing.

Following the end of the Second World War the club entered the Corinthian League. In six seasons between 1956 and 1962 the club won the title three times, were runners-up twice and also reached the third Round of the FA Amateur Cup, losing to West Auckland at York Road in front of a post-war record attendance of 5,597. They also made three appearances in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.

Athenians and Isthmians

In 1963 United joined the Athenian League, but were unable to repeat their Corinthian success, but in 1973 were elected into the new Isthmian League second Division. They had a flirtation with promotion to the Premier Division in 1979 and 1980 under Geoff Anthony, and then again in 1985 under Brian Caterer and Colin Lippiatt. This is where they stayed until 1987 when the Club suffered relegation for the first time in its history, the black days made worse with the destruction of the main stand by an arson attack and financial problems. It took four seasons to get out of Division Two, which was achieved under the guidance of Martyn Spong in 1991. An Isthmian League record of 13 straight wins at the start of the season was the springboard to success, but the title was lost to Abingdon Town on the last day of the season. Following the departure of Spong to Enfield, Gary Goodwin, John Clements and then John Watt took on the manager’s job with mediocre results, the club regularly finishing mid-table. The club desperately needed fresh blood to revive dreams of taking its place in the Premier Division.

The Devonshire years

In the summer of 1996, in an attempt to break that run of mediocrity, the Club hired a new management team of Martyn Busby, the former QPR and Notts County midfielder and Alan Devonshire the former West Ham and England midfielder. Although Busby left midway through the season, Devonshire guided United to their first Cup success since 1970 by winning the Isthmian League Full Members Cup. The 1997–98 season saw the Club have one of their most successful campaigns since Corinthian days. They won all three County Cups, beating Reading 2–1 in the Senior Final, reached the semi-final of the Full Members Cup and captured the Isthmian Fair Play Award. The season was nearly rounded off with promotion, but the Club finished fourth and an agonising one point behind Hampton despite clocking up 81 points. More silverware was won the following season, when the Magpies strolled home 4–1 against Wycombe Wanderers to retain the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup.

The York Road pitch

The Millennium season saw United make a solid start to the League campaign, losing just one of their opening eleven games – and that on the opening day. By late March the Club remained in the promotion hunt with just five League defeats and a place in the Isthmian League Cup Final to look forward to at the end of the season. A late season rally followed a short, jittery, slump in results. The club took its place in the Premier Division on Thursday May 4 following a 1–0 home win over champions Croydon just days after losing 1–0 to Farnborough Town in the Final of the Isthmian League Cup at Basingstoke.

Life in the Premier Division was tough to begin with but spirits were lifted by a memorable FA Trophy run which came to an end at Blyth Spartans. A good late run eased the Magpies well clear of relegation – at no point in the season, strangely, were they ever in the bottom three.

A new 700 capacity enclosure was completed in May 2001 which increased York Road capacity to 4,500 and covered terracing for 1,700. However, the ground has long been the target for developers, being a town centre site only 30 miles from London, making it one of the most desirable pieces of real estate in England. But Maidenhead’s move to a new stadium has always faltered due to a lack of available sites in an area locked in by green belt. The club continued to consolidate their place in the top division during the last two years of Devonshire’s reign, winning the County cup in both seasons.

New beginnings

At the start of the 2002–03 season Chairman Roger Coombs announced he would step down at the end of that season. In April 2003 Manager Alan Devonshire stated his intention to leave the club after the final match of the season. The summer of 2003 naturally then saw a hive of activity at York Road with new manager John Dreyer and Assistant Manager Phil Gray having to bring in virtually a new squad.

Maidenhead (red shirts) in action against Dover Athletic in 2010

The 2003–04 season unsurprisingly saw a shaky start and after seven games the Magpies found themselves bottom of the league and winless. However a run of seven wins in nine games saw United shoot up the table and gave themselves a platform to secure a top half finish which guaranteed Conference South football, the highest level the club have played at since the Southern League days in the late nineteenth century. Away from the League, John Dreyer made his mark on the club’s history by leading the Magpies to the quarter finals of the FA Trophy, beating Conference full timers Halifax Town on the way.

In the 2004–05 season the Magpies struggled to adjust to life in the Conference South and following a slide into the bottom three in November, the club parted company with Dreyer and Gray. In December a new management team arrived from Windsor consisting of Dennis Greene and Colin Ferguson but despite a significant improvement in results United could not break clear of the relegation struggle. On the last day of the season a defeat in a relegation shootout at Newport County combined with a win for fellow strugglers Carshalton Athletic sent the Magpies down. However within a fortnight of the final whistle Maidenhead were reprieved following the demise of Hornchurch. Following a disastrous start to the 2005–06 season Greene was sacked after seven games and replaced by Alan Devonshire's former assistant Carl Taylor. Taylor and his assistant Tony Choules were no more successful than their predecessor in maintaining Nationwide South status and so the club returned to the Southern League after an absence of over a century. Another consequence of the struggle to retain Nationwide South status has been mounting debts and as 2005 drew to a close a financial crisis loomed. This was swiftly resolved when the members voted to wind up the existing club and transfer ownership to a new Limited Company set up by sponsors Pharmalink and headed by Una Loughrey.

A 5–0 thrashing by bottom club Clevedon, compounded by a mediocre start to the season led to manager Carl Taylor leaving the club in September 2006 to be replaced by Johnson Hippolyte. Johnson Hippolyte, known as "Drax", was appointed as Taylor's replacement and had immediate success leading the club to their first FA Cup First Round proper appearance in 35 years. Progress in the Southern League took a little longer but an amazing run of 12 wins from the final 14 games saw the Magpies finish fourth and qualify for the play offs. The winning run then continued in the semi final at Kings Lynn and onto promotion by beating league runners up Team Bath 1–0 to return to the Conference South a year after relegation.

The Magpies struggled on their return to the Conference South in 2007, with home form being a particular bugbear, but the FA Cup First Round was reached for the second year in succession, and an unbeaten run in April preserved United's league status. Having survived the first season back in the Conference South, Johnson Hippolyte significantly strengthened his squad over the summer and from the beginning of the 2008/09 season it was clear that the team was capable of making a promotion challenge. On Monday September 1 the Magpies went top of the Conference South for the first time in their history and remained in the running throughout the autumn. However the impact of the credit crunch meant that the playing budget was cut in February and the squad started to break up. With the subsequent refusal of a grant application to extend the stand in order to qualify for the play offs any lingering hopes of promotion were dashed but the team kept up their fine form to finish sixth, a record high for the merged club created in 1919.

Last season, budgetary limitations meant expectations were moderate with a new, largely untested young squad created in the close season. Unsurprisingly the team struggled at first but visibly grew in confidence throughout the season to avoid relegation with little difficulty. The campaign ended on a high note when the County Cup was regained in a thrilling victory by the odd goal in five over a strong Wycombe Wanderers team.

Maidenhead United Ladies FC

Formerly Burnham LFC, Maidenhead United FC Ladies was newly formed at the beginning of the 08/09 season. The closure of the Burnham team saw a summer of hard work by both the Maidenhead United FC committee and the team at Burnham. Bringing in a new management structure and an impressive group of new players made them ready for the assault on both the league and cup competitions. The first team is supplemented by the reserve team that has been formed with both experienced and youth players coming through the ranks from Maidenhead Boys & Girls FC with the hope of providing a club where both Girls and Ladies can enjoy football at all age groups at a good level. Maidenhead United FC Ladies' objective for the 08/09 season was promotion to the Southern Region Premier Division and then a push for a combination spot. Having achieved this in their first season the 1st team went on to finish 2nd in the Southern Region Premier Division behind top-spot Southampton Saints. Facing Southampton again in 09/10 cup final they battled hard in the heat finally losing 2–1 after extra-time. Zoe Clifford though was the player of the match at this event and Verity Snow finished as the league's top scorer. The 10/11 season saw an influx of new players to the team. The ladies battled against Southampton yet again, to win the Chairmans Cup Final 2–0. The Reserves play in the Thames Valley Counties League, Division 2 and narrowly missed out on the cup title after Unity FC slotted in a goal in the 90th minute leaving the score at 4–3. They also bowed out of the league title race after a disappointing double-header against Hillingdon, ending their 09/10 season. The future prospects for the Ladies are high and gaining the titles in the 11/12 season remains a reasonable ambition. On the 12th November 2011 the magpies played against Aldershot. They drew 1-1and now are training for a rematch.

Honours

1ST TEAM: Southern Region Division 1 Champions 08/09, Cup Finalists 09/10, Southern Region Premier Division Runners-Up 09/10, Chairmans Cup Winners 10/11

RESERVES: Cup Finalists 09/10,

Current players

Ellie Parker (GK), Naph Williams (GK/MF), Amy Saunders (DF), Charlotte Benson (DF), Natalie Barette (DF) MP 09/10, Pippa Busby (DF), Lucy Thomson (DF/MF) PP 09/10, Jade Pilley (DF/MF), Melissa Callaway (MF), Sarah Lipscombe (MF), Louise Ekins (MF), Vicky Jarratt (MF) PP 09/10, Lucy Smith (FW), Tina Brett (FW) PP 10/11, Verity Snow (FW)

Alex Dover (FW) MP 10/11, Oxy Innes (FW), Charlotte Howse (FW), Jazz Rattu (FW), Lily Fisher (FW/MF), Jess Hillyer (MF), Lynsey Simpson (MF), Kirsty Williams (MF), Kat Mace (MF) PP 09/10, 10/11, Lisa Starling (MF/DF), Chrissy Nazif (MF/DF) MP 09/10, 10/11, Rachel Evans (DF) Hannah Jacobs (DF), Katie Stevenson (DF), Siobhan Smith (DF) and Sam Wakelin (DF/GK).

PP = Player's Player MP = Manager's Player

External links

• Official web site
• Official web site
• Club sponsor
• http://www.southernregion.org/ Ladies' Standings