Peter Griffin: 'We're going into this season full of hope'

Maidenhead United are heading into possibly their most challenging season to date, competing to stay in the National League for an eighth consecutive season with one of the division’s smallest budgets.

So, it’s fortunate they have an optimist in the form of chairman Peter Griffin at the helm, and a pragmatist in the form of Alan Devonshire in the dugout. Both who know the value of hard work and know that the players’ efforts and endeavour in training and matches on the field can make up for any financial shortfall off the field.

It's been a difficult off-season, with the club managing to bring in only five new signings to replace the 11 that have departed since the end of last season. One or two deals are being worked on, and Griffin suggested a new forward is expected to put pen to paper with the Magpies in the coming days. That’s certainly a positive as the team have struggled for goals in pre-season, despite losing only one of their matches. That 1-0 defeat came against Banbury United on Saturday, a friendly Devonshire’s men dominated but couldn’t find the finishing touch to finish off countless flowing moves into the opposition box. Griffin - who reiterated for fans that he’s ‘here for the long term’ - believes the Magpies will surprise people once again.

“I am always optimistic,” said Griffin. “Things have changed in terms of needing more money to compete at this level. But if you were to compare us to the team that came up to the National League, we’re an entirely different club. We’re far more professional. Everything we do in terms of training and recruitment; we’ve moved with the times. We don’t want to give too much away because we don’t want people thinking we’re anything other than Maidenhead United, the part-timers, but I can assure you we’re going into this season full of hope.

“It has been harder to sign top players but look at some of the players we’ve signed this summer. Craig Ross in goal, he’s been one of the top keepers at this level for several years. We’re delighted with one we’ve got there, and Kevin Lokko and some others coming in at the back. We’ve got more experience in the squad this year, and I know we haven’t announced anything yet, there is some movement on a forward as well. So, it’s not all doom and gloom. In fact, I can’t wait for Saturday. It’s going to be tough, because it’s a tough division, but we’re going to be better equipped this year than ever before.”

For the seventh successive season they’ve also seen their top scorer from the previous campaign move on to pastures new, with Emile Acquah swapping Berkshire for Barrow in League 2, but Devonshire and his backroom team have always found a system that works for their players and Griffin is confident they’ll do that once again.

“Emile Acquah has gone, and he was our top scorer from last year,” said Griffin. “But when Josh Kelly left last year people were wondering where the goals were going to come from, and Emile was there already. We’ve got players like Ashley (Nathaniel-George), Reece (Smith) and Jayden (Mitchell-Lawson) as well as our forwards. These guys are seriously good. There aren’t many teams that wouldn’t want them in their squads. It is tough, and the money is getting tougher. Dev does a great job, pulling rabbits out of the hat every year. And I do feel the pressure for him. This is the seventh year we’ve sold or lost our top goal scorer from the previous year. The pressure falls on Dev and on Lee (Devonshire, chief scout), but do you know what, they do it every year. It’s a challenge, but it’s one that we embrace. We want to fight in this division and we do it well.”