AN ALTOGETHER MORE SPLENDID KIND OF LIFE - 2013/14

23 Seasons watching Maidenhead United

Part 20: 2013/14

A typical Drax season with some Cup excitement and a last day escape provides ample material for this weeks chapter but the long term consequences of what happened during the calendar year of 2014 were to be some of the most significant in the club’s recent history.

On the pitch, Drax’s annual midsummer foray into player recruitment produced varying results. There were a couple of players on the slide in Michael Malcolm and Elvijs Putnins, two competent but injury prone defenders in Matt Ruby and Curtis Ujah, promise for the future in Wada Ahmidi, and two erstwhile hidden gems in the shape of Danny Green and Adrian Clifton.

The latter two made their presence felt on debut at Whitehawk on the opening day of the season, winning 3-0 in Sussex to upset the bookies. This was followed by two more wins and two draws in the first five matches of the season, as once again, fired by the goals of Richard Pacquette, the Magpies promised much for the season to come.

Sailing home with three points from Gosport in the last of these matches, confidence was high for the visit of hot title favourites Eastleigh. United went toe to toe with the full time Spitfires but eventually lost 3-1 and that first defeat followed by Pacquette limping off injured a week later at Concord, signalled the end of any pretensions at a top half finish.

The lack of firepower saw an FA Cup exit at the first opportunity at hitherto winless Oxford City, ex Magpie Jamie Cook scoring from virtually the game’s only goal attempt in the last minute.

This was followed by embarrassing home defeats to Slough in the County Cup, and bottom of the table Dorchester, as for the first time, Drax’s tenure at York Road was thrown into serious jeopardy.

An eventful afternoon at home to Bromley proved there was still life in the Magpies, who fought back after a delay in play caused by an injury to one of the match officials. Pacquette had returned as a make shift centre back, reportedly losing two teeth for the cause, only for new signing Jacob Erskine to miss a penalty which would have rescued a rare point.

The season’s salvation was to be found in the FA Trophy. The squad was revitalised by a number of temporary signings, in defence in the form of Leslie Thompson and future England star Alfie Mawson, along with attacking midfielder Harry Grant.

All three travelled down to  Eastbourne for the first Trophy tie of the season as part of a squad that had gone eleven matches without a win, including a sound defeat at Priory Lane just two weeks previously.

Watched by literally a handful of United fans, a second half goal from Grant was enough for a shock result and place in the first round proper.

The draw produced a visit to Daventry Town, two divisions lower than United, but boasting a proud home record which had seen every game end in victory bar one draw. Yet again though, a single goal for the Magpies, this time from the unlikely source of Malcolm was enough to secure passage to the next round and the exotic prospect of a pre Christmas trip to Barrow. 

As the fog descended in the midweek match at home to Chelmsford prior to the trip to Cumbria, the away support looked set to increase to the full eleven with substitutes.
On a never to be forgotten dank day at Holker Street (pictured top), second half goals from Green and Pacquette won a memorable match and the reward of a trip to Grimsby Town in the last sixteen of the competition.

In between these ties, the first league wins since Gosport arrived as a Christmas gift with all six points taken over the festive period.

At Blundell Park, the Mariners looked good for their 2-0 half time lead but a goal just after the break from Reece Tison-Lascaris inspired a fight back which could not quite produce an equaliser.

Longer term hope for the future was kindled at the start of 2014 by the finalising of plans for the Magpies in the Community scheme, and over 27 years since arson destroyed the old one, a permanent new stand. Building works for this would start as the season drew to a close, a visual reminder that regardless of what was happening on the pitch they was much progress going on off it.

This was particularly true with that age old bugbear of home form holding back the fight against relegation. Away from home there was something to cheer, Adrian Clifton revelling in a new deep lying forward role, driving his team on to a 3-0 win at Chelmsford, whilst on a wet Tuesday night at Tonbridge, Danny Green scored all the United goals in a thrilling 4-2 win. Green’s performance reflected a season which saw him thoroughly deserve his player of the year award. His darting bursts inside from his right wing berth, full of elan, entertained and delighted United fans when there was little else to cheer.

Any remaining faith in Drax departed for good with five consecutive home defeats lost by late goals, split only by a 6-1 thrashing at Bromley.

The arrival of Reading goalkeeper Jonathan Henly on loan shored up the defence and set up three wins in a week, two of which were at home. The latter against promotion chasing Sutton suggested survival would soon be confirmed but a goalless draw in a vital home match against Tonbridge saw Green sent off and banned for the final match of the season.

United utterly collapsed at moribund Farnborough on Easter Saturday and now found themselves requiring seven points from the remaining three matches to stay up.

Against all the odds the Magpies rose again on Easter Monday against Ebbsfleet in their first season of new found oil money riches, a Green goal winning a tense match against a team bound for the play off final.

Next up was an away trip to another team in the play off hunt, Havant. Thanks in no small part to the electric pace of winger Lanre Azeez, Green and Clifton scored the goals in an unlikely 3-1 win which meant Maidenhead would travel to Bishops Stortford on the final day of the season with their destiny still in their hands.

A win would secure safety, and an Erskine goal in the first half eased the nerves. With Hayes and Whitehawk both losing all that was needed was the final whistle to blow. In the second half though both drew level, and when Stortford did the same deep in stoppage time, survival hopes were hanging by a thread, the final whistle leading to an agonising wait for the other results to be confirmed before a final finish of eighteenth could be celebrated.

This time round though celebrations were tinged by a healthy dose of realism as chairman Peter Griffin discreetly canvassed opinion on the manager’s position. Drax got a stay of execution and within weeks of the end of the season had made one of the most important signings in the club’s history.

With thanks to Mark Smith’s book One For Sorrow Two For Joy for the statistical content of this series.

To read more about this season visit www.mufcheritage.com

The Men Who Made Modern Football #4 - Herbert Chapman

At the end of a week when not only Arsene Wenger’s 20 year reign at Arsenal is being celebrated, but also many of his English peers are in the dock for their shortcomings on and off the pitch, it’s a relief to reflect on the life of an Englishman who as well as turning Arsenal into a leading English club, was also an iconoclast who was involved in many innovations which soon became common practice and tradition.

As every fan should know he created not one but two teams at two different clubs which won three English titles in consecutive years. Great enough to compare to Liverpool and Manchester United’s similar feats in modern times, but greater still when you consider Huddersfield Town and Arsenal had won nothing when he arrived at Leeds Road and Highbury respectively.

Tactical innovation was at the heart of this success, which as well as the radical W-M formation, extended to fitness, kit design, marketing and the colour of the ball. All this from a man who despite a modest playing career, created the concept of the manager as we know it today.

The son of a Yorkshire coal miner, Chapman’s intellect gained him a place at Sheffield Technical College studying mining engineering. Aptly for a sporting family, he was one of eleven children, with his younger brother Harry winning the League and Cup for The Wednesday. An inside right, Herbert had a long route to the top, starting out in the Kiveton Park Colliery youth team before moving into the Lancashire League. A brief spell with elder brother Tommy at Grimsby Town was followed by a return to non league football. The precarious balance between developing his career off the pitch and maintaining his progress on it meant he switched between amateur and professional status with Sheffield United and Notts County, and at the age of 29 eventually decided to finish his playing career to pursue his career in engineering, after ending the 1906/07 season with Southern League Tottenham Hotspur.

However before the summer was out he was tempted back into the game as player-manager of Northampton who had finished the previous season bottom of the Southern League. Reflecting that "No attempt was made to organise victory.", and  "a team can attack for too long", Chapman set out about to create a radical counter attacking system, withdrawing half backs (midfielders) to create space for his forwards. Signing players to suit the system, Northampton were Southern League champions in 1909 but could not move up to the two division Football League. Naturally Chapman proposed the Football League expand by two divisions but this did not happen until 1920. In the meantime Chapman returned to his native Yorkshire to manage Leeds City.

Arriving at Elland Road in 1912 with the club facing re-election to Football League Division Two, Chapman took Leeds to fourth place in the final season before World War One. For the duration of hostilities Chapman worked in a munitions factory and following the armistice decided to formally resign from the club and take a job in the mining industry. Unfortunately when the league resumed in 1919, an accusation of financial irregularities by a former player was met with a blunt refusal from Leeds to comply with the resulting investigation and they were expelled from the league, Chapman receiving a life ban along with other club officials.

The ban was eventually overturned, given Chapman was not at the club when the charges were made, and following redundancy, returned to football as assistant manager at Huddersfield Town in 1921. Within a month Chapman took over as manager, introducing his tactics of strong defence and fast counter attack, signing players to fit the system including wingers who were instructed to make passes which split the defensive line, rather than heading for the byline and cutting the ball back. Little more than a year later Huddersfield had won their first major trophy by beating Preston North End at Stamford Bridge to win the 1922 FA Cup.

Using a complex scouting network to further improve his squad, the Terriers won their first league title in 1924 which they successfully defended in 1925 but before they made it three in a row, Chapman had moved to North London.

Arsenal chairman Henry Norris was an ambitious man, having already moved the Gunners from Woolwich to Highbury, and inveigled them into Division One. He doubled Chapman’s salary and allowed him to sign Charlie Buchan, one of the leading strikers of the era. With the offside law changing to the current one in the summer of 1925, Chapman fined tuned his tactics to create the WM formation, a 3-4-3 structure, the centre half now withdrawn into defence along the two full backs, two inside forwards joining the two remaining half backs in midfield. This was in stark contrast to the conventional 2-3-5.

As ever Chapman found himself with the job of transforming a team used to the wrong end of the table and as always he had an instant impact, Arsenal finishing a best ever second to triple title winners Huddersfield. Twelve months later the Gunners reached Wembley only to lose the FA Cup Final to Cardiff. This coincided with the club becoming embroiled in a financial scandal which led to Norris being banned and subsequently allowed Chapman more control at the club. The next two seasons saw Chapman carefully build his team with judicious signings, including David Jack from Bolton at a reduced price after Chapman slowly inebriated the Trotters’ directors whilst he drank alcohol free gin and tonic.

Arsenal reached Wembley again in 1930, and as Huddersfield were the opponents Chapman suggested that both teams walk out together, another first which we will see again today. Arsenal won the Cup and in 1931 added to their first ever trophy with a league title. They won three in a row from 1932-5, another Cup in 1936 and the league again in 1938, so that by the end of the decade they were firmly established with the status they hold today as one of the leading English clubs.

Sadly Chapman did not live to see all of this success, dying of pneumonia in January 1934, having cast the die for the club’s future. As well as creating a strict training regime focused on fitness, using professional physiotherapists and masseurs, he advocated white footballs, numbers on shirts, and changed Arsenal’s kit to a brighter red with white sleeves and blue hooped socks, all to sharpen focus on teammates and the ball. Off the pitch he installed floodlights, the Arsenal clock and scoreboard, designed new turnstiles, and renamed Gillespie Road underground station, all to attract more support.

Whilst at Northampton he had signed black player Walter Tull, and would have signed European players for Arsenal had he not been blocked by the FA. He organised friendlies against teams from the continent and made contact with some of his foremost foreign peers.

Insisting on having sole control of team affairs, unlike the selection committees at other clubs, Chapman introduced a weekly team meeting to facilitate discussion of tactics amongst his players, and team building activities such as golf days. Although his team were knocked as “Lucky” or “Boring” for their economical but ruthless use of possession, they could fairly be described as free scoring with as many as 127 goals in the first title season of 1931, perhaps in the style of Leicester City’s 2015 league winners.

He left the club top of the league despite having already started to rebuild his successful squad to ensure their dominance would remain until it was interrupted by World War Two. The biggest tribute though came in November 1934 when a record breaking seven of his Arsenal team were selected to play for England against world champions Italy at Highbury. Needless to say England won 3-2.

Magpies have their chips

"Planning a trip to Cleethorpes tomorrow: 

Endless Lincolnshire skies,

Sea like a friendly stain,

Fish, chips, mushy peas,

Onto the pier again.

Ian McMillan

Following the epic trek to Barrow before Christmas I couldn't have been happier that the FA Trophy draw produced another trip to a former league club particularly one like Grimsby Town. For me they still counted as a proper football league club, endlessly flitting between Divisions Two and Four throughout my childhood to a commentary of fishy puns such as "Sing when we're Fishing" or "Cod Almighty". Grimsby presented Maidenhead United's first opportunity to play a competitive fixture against a club which had previously played at the top level of English football (the scoundrels from Milton Keynes don't count), with minutiae of information well known from regular perusals of countless big books about football.

Thus I knew I was going to Blundell Park to see the Mariners, the only club to play in a town that does not bear its name. Regardless of the fact that this was only the FA Trophy, this trumped the 1st Round FA Cup tie with Aldershot, a club whose familiarity through their years in non league football bred contempt for their briefly Football League recovered status.

Having fought my way through the stress of the Underground, ticket machines and jobsworth staff I was delighted to discover my reserved seat on the 9.48 train north saw me share a table with two other Maidenhead United fans so well done to Hull Trains for sorting that out.

Doncaster in the sun

A quick change at suitably sunny Donny saw us head out through what was left of the South Riding and into the flat lands of Lincolnshire. The change of county was confirmed by the sight of Scunthorpe United's matchbox stadium, an Eastbourne Borough of the north, whilst the realisation that we were in a very different England which had been signalled by the tower blocks of Doncaster, was proved by the sprawling steel works passed as we left the home of the Iron. Despite the sunshine the black residue covering the earth and the flames flickering in the background revealed why Ted Lewis had set his novel Jack's Return Home here before director Mike Hodges changed its name and location to Get Carter and Newcastle.

Arriving in Grimsby and the industrial focus switched to fish, a ubiquitous theme for the rest of the day. The train looped past the fish dock and into New Clee, past Blundell Park before arriving at our final destination of Cleethorpes, a fading resort still vainly trying to offer a glamorous day out. There was a big wheel on the front which if stood next to London's millennium one would have suggested a giant penny farthing. The walkway leading from the station presented a shed offering Barcelona nightlife, which couldn't have looked further from the Ramblas before we found the town's true highlight the plentiful supply of Fish and Chip shops.

Little appealed about any of the pubs so we settled on the Fiddler on the basis that it was next to bookies, was showing all the football and offered three pints of lager for under £8. The number of Magpies inside slowly grew although those on the supporters coach were delayed after the driver got stuck in one of the side streets near the ground.

View from the Findus stand

Heading up the Grimsby Road there was a virtually unique sight for a Maidenhead fan of an ever increasing number of people in black and white favours parking up in side streets and walking towards the towering floodlights, before a right turn brought the Findus stand into view. Entering the stadium I was directed to McMenemy suite for a great view of the ground and some magnificent hospitality with no one complaining about the single item on the menu presumably provided by sponsors Youngs.

Venturing out into the stand the other three sides of the ground were rather pale in comparision, with tell tale signs of seats having been hastily placed on terraces when Town played in the post Taylor report Division Two. Indeed part of me hankered for those of us in the away end to be placed in the triangular corner section confined by nets and fences 80s style.

I can see the sea

The game kicked off with Grimsby big favourites starting with six of the eleven who had almost shocked Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup seven days earlier. With the Magpies missing top scorer Richard Pacquette through suspension, Reece Tison-Lascaris replaced him in something of a false nine role. It was clear that Maidenhead's main threat was going to come through wingers Harry Pritchard and Danny Green and the early signs were promising despite Grimsby naturally having the upper hand but as the half drew on the home team took complete control scoring twice.

Alex Rodman, the substitute whose cross set up the goal to deny Maidenhead a famous Cup win over Aldershot a few years back, was given the space and freedom to torment the Magpies, unleashing a terrific shot which Elvijs Putnins did well to tip onto the crossbar. Two minutes later Lennell John-Lewis hit the post after connecting with an Aswad "don't turn around" Thomas cross.

Just at this point, with fifteen minutes to go to half time, Maidenhead appeared to have rode their luck well, but they seemed to cowed by the Mariners' superiority and it was disappointing that this was translated into two soft goals.

In the 35th minute a John-Lewis cross was collected on the right side of the penalty area by Jack Colbeck who turned left back Leon Solomon inside out before squirting his shot inside Putnins' near post. Six minutes later the lead was doubled when Shaun Pearson rose at the far post unchallenged to head home a Paddy McLaughlin corner from the right with Putnins stuck in no mans land.

Two good saves from Putnins in stoppage time kept the game alive but the writing looked to be on the wall for United.

View from the away end

Walking round to the away section at the start of the second half it soon became clear that something had happened in the Maidenhead dressing room at the interval as the Magpies started with much verve and positive intention. This produced results within three minutes when Tison-Lascaris halved the deficit with a shot drilled into the corner from outside the penalty area. Now with their tails up the Magpies sensed the opportunity for an equaliser and an exciting cup tie ensued for the rest of the second half, the game opening up to produce chances at either end.

As it turned out the next one proved to be the crucial one. A Tison-Lascaris cross was volleyed goal bound by Harry Grant. Despite taking a deflection en route goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge managed to get a hand on the ball before a team mate put the ball behind for one of many second half Maidenhead corners.

Putnins did his part to keep United in the game by saving well from Jack Colbeck before the Magpies again took the initiative,

A Pritchard cross flashed across the face of the goal with Green inches away from tapping it into the net, Green then went on to test Hedge with a shot but despite substitutions and twenty three minutes remaining Maidenhead couldn't manage to turn any further pressure into chances and the Mariners ran out stoppage time fairly comfortable winners.

Now was the time to exchange mutual thanks with the players and officials for a wonderful FA Trophy run of which I had seen every minute despite completely dismissing any chance of even getting past the first tie at Eastbourne. The run was put into perspective by Keith Jackson, making a rare visit to a game now he lives in Hull, but a regular home and away in the 80s and 90s. "I'm just amazed we're playing a cup match in the New Year" illustrates how valuable this competition is for bringing light to the often mundane bread and butter of league football. Days like this and Barrow will last in the memory long after all the league matches this season have been forgotten, and that's why managers like Richard Money need to start respecting this competition to give those who spend their time and money watching non league football week in week out something to cheer. Football is an entertainment business and the FA Trophy entertains like nothing else apart from the FA Cup.

Wandering back down the Grimsby Road, we arrived back in Cleethorpes where we stopped for a couple of pints in the Swashbuckle, an amusingly constructed pirate theme bar, before heading for Seaway to finish the day with fish, chips and peas. Getting back on the train the day was summed up by a comment from a fellow passenger who as I tucked in to possibly the most delicious haddock I have ever eaten, informed me that at £5.95 I'd been ripped off, although this was nothing in comparison to the day out which was priceless.