The Birthday Party

Great night at York Road on Tuesday night.  Just the sort of evening you need to add light to the shade of the weekly grind.  An ideal occasion to answer the question: "What's the point of Maidenhead United?".  Over 300 people turned up in response including players and officials from the 1940s onwards.

From my time at the club it was good to see the likes of Steve Brown, Tim Cook, Mickey Creighton, Vernon Pratt and Dave Harrison who all played key roles in the squad which broke a 27 year drought with the Full Members (not Mickey Mouse if you win it) Cup in 1997 followed by promotion three years later.

1997 Full Members Cup Winners

The game itself was very entertaining thanks to the energetic opponents Oxford University who did not lack class with Tom Castro and Ezra Rubenstein catching the eye for the Blues.  Appropriately after Castro's opener, Maidenhead overturned the lead by half time thanks to Jon Jo Bates and Jerome Federico with Maidonian Lee Barney sealing victory ten minutes from  the end.

Off the pitch a touch of the limelight was given by the roaming camera crew from Sky Sports who must have accumulated in the region of four hours of footage.  Let's hope some of it will see the light of day, particularly the interview with diminutive Irishman Noel Shiels (right) who scored twice in the final for Stan Payne's team which won the 1970 County Cup.

The wonderful bumbling amateurish side of non league football was encapsulated by the typo on the front cover which billed the match as a rather arbitrary 104th anniversary celebration.  Ironically the printer turned up for the first time to watch the game for the first time this season so there was plenty of opportunity for him to face the music.

The evening concluded in Stripes with suitably august speeches from Chairman Peter Griffin and Oxford University captain Elliot Thomas with eccentric patron Prince Frederick von something or other trying to steal the show.  Wonder if he will be around for the 150th anniversary? I certainly will.