Sarries’ Ben to chat with colts about his ‘pathway’
Maidenhead United FC: Cars, lightbulbs and telephones hadn't been invented when ground hosted first match
The Saracens and England 7s player Ben Harris spoke to Maidenhead RFC colts about his pathway into the professional game this week.
Harris came through the ranks at Maids and forced his way into the first team before showing enough promise to catch the eye of several professional clubs as well as his country.
Harris will speak to the young players over Zoom this week as part of the club’s regular coach education evenings.
“We’re still doing a lot of stuff over Zoom,” said head coach David MobbsSmith. “This Wednesday (February
17) we’ve got Ben Harris talking to all of our younger players on Zoom. It’s usually a coach education evening, but it’s going to be a mixture of that and some of the later teen boys talking to him about the pathway he took to becoming a player because he’s someone who’s been where they are and has done it.
“It’s just showing the lads this is what the game entails but also what can be achieved. You might be lucky enough to join one of the Premiership club academies at a young age, but there are lots of boys who come through their county structures or through their clubs when they become more noticeable playing at that level.
“The real academy stuff only really starts from the age of 16 and it’s very much in the area you live in. It’s not like football, you don’t tend to live in Maidenhead and have Sale come in for you. You would fall into the London
Irish catchment, or you might get picked up by Ealing’s new set up at Henley. There are a lot of avenues for young lads, and Ben, as someone who’s been through the pathway, can give them some advice about his experience. It will be good for the boys to hear from Ben, but it’s also nice for Ben to tell his story as someone who has progressed into the professional game.”
Mobbs-Smith said the first team squad would also gather on Zoom for a more casual session, to chat through the Six Nations matches and discuss possible British Lion’s selection. “It’s just keeping them tapped into rugby,” he said. “There are no plans to go back into training, but it’s starting to sound more positive. There’s a likelihood that we’ll be able to do that in April or May.”
York Road has its own special chapter in football folklore. A groundhopper’s and pub quizzer’s delight, York Road has played host to football for a single club longer than any other ground in the world. On Tuesday 16th February 2021, Maidenhead United celebrated 150 years of continuously calling York Road their home.
To put that into perspective, when the first game of football at York Road was played, the German Empire was merely a month old.
Many industrial and technological achievements such as cars, lightbulbs, and telephones had not even been invented; the FA Cup, merely a concept at the time, had not seen a single match played.
York Road was originally a sporting and recreation venue, where, as the Maidenhead Advertiser reported at the time, “many a friendly game of cricket under the broiling sun of summer has been played between the rival ‘elevens’ of Marlow and Maidenhead.” The report of the first game of football is well-worth a read on the Advertiser’s archives, which saw the home side, sporting white shirts with a black and green Maltese cross, win 2-0 with goals from Samuel Plumbe and the club’s captain William Goulden. Later that year, in one of the first FA Cup fixtures ever held, the two sides met once again resulting in a similar score line.
Several clubs were formed in the town in the late 19th Century. Maidenhead Excelsior would merge with Maidenhead FC, at this point wearing red and black hoops, eight years after their formation in 1877. Other clubs also merged, namely Maidenhead Temperance and Boyne Hill FC in
1891. After the First World
War, Maidenhead FC and Maidenhead Norfolkians (formed in 1884) merged and adopted the black and white colours we see today under the name “Maidenhead United.”
Neil Maskell, the club’s fixtures secretary, has been looking at the history of York Road in a series of 150-word articles for the club’s website.
“For many years, the club were tenants at York Road, until the land was sold to them by Lord Desborough in 1920 under the covenant that the site remains for use of sporting purposes,” said Neil. “The ground has never been owned by the club - it’s owned by trustees on behalf of the club, all of whom are supporters with the best interests at heart.
The trust is responsible for ensuring the covenant upon which the land was given to the club is adhered to.”
The ground was now owned by the club on a freehold agreement; a new 500-seater grandstand was built on the ‘York Road’ side of the ground until 1986 when it burned down. At the time, the rest of the stadium was uncovered.
The club remained in the Spartan League for nineteen years, winning the title on three occasions. In 1936, the record attendance for York Road was set in a quarter-final FA Amateur Cup match between the Magpies and Southall with
just under 8000 spectators.
Whilst remaining as the home of football in Maidenhead, York Road has also played hosts to other sports. American Football side Thames Valley Chargers played at York Road for a brief period in the 1980s, whilst greyhound racing was also held in the ‘70s and the ‘90s.
After the fire in 1986, seats were installed under a covered enclosure on the railway side of the ground to comply with Isthmian League regulations.
In 2014, these seats were replaced by a new Main Stand providing an elevated view of the pitch. The Cage was also built, a five-a-side enclosure situated next to the Canal end. Both the Bell Street and Canal
ends of the ground were covered, with the former providing shelter from the elements from 1963.
“There have been a lot of changes, but the ground has kept its character whilst looking more tidier at the same time,” said Neil.
“York Road has nice, open spaces which are quite distinct areas. It has different vantage points which allow you to feel like you are in a special part of the ground; the shelf provides a good view of the ground, whilst the area by the dugouts allow spectators to listen to the coaching staff.
“There is also the ‘Cage loyal,’ who like to watch the game from near the Cage.
Even for the supporters who
like to go behind either goal, both ends have their own distinct personality; of course, the painting on the Bell Street End provides character, and is popular with both home supporters as well as visitors.”
It is hard to imagine anything other than a football ground at York Road today. As a traditional theatre of sporting activity located in the centre of town, York Road epitomises the club it has faithfully served for 150 years: a fantastic entity serving everybody from loyal supporters to those within the community.
It is a place for everyone to be proud of, containing many of the greatest memories of those who have visited over the past 150 years.
Maidenhead United 0, Stockport County 0 Maidenhead United could only play out a goalless draw against Stockport County on a momentous evening at York Road under the lights.
On Tuesday night, the Magpies celebrated their 150th anniversary of the first football match played at the ground with a clash against the high-flying Hatters.
Alan Devonshire’s men would have undoubtedly liked to mark the occasion with a victory but were forced to settle for a point against a strong side who pushed and pulled their hosts right to the final whistle.
County were the dominant side in the opening 10 minutes with Will Collar narrowly nodding the ball over the bar from John Rooney’s lofted cross. Collar had an opportunity to make amends almost immediately after but again glanced his header just wide of the woodwork.
It took until the 26th minute for Maidenhead to register their first shot on goal with Danilo Orsi-Dadomo testing Ben Hinchliffe from the edge of the area only for the Stockport
‘keeper to comfortably contain his effort.
Further opportunities remained few and far between as Ryan Upward picked up the first yellow card of the evening just before the half-hour mark and Alan Massey went into the book on the stroke of half-time, both from cynical fouls. Chances were at a premium, but County went into the break looking the better of the two sides.
Within seconds of the restart, Hinchliffe was called into action as Dan Sparkes forced the ‘keeper to get down low to parry his fizzing effort away for a corner. Astute defending from the visitors kept the Magpies at bay as they failed to produce anything from the set piece.
The hosts’ defence held equally as firm when Alex Reid shaped up a shot minutes later that was blocked and the ball sent on its way for Maidenhead to counter. With James Comley leading the charge, Collar made the foul to break it up earning a yellow card in the process.
The Hatters made their first change of the
night before the hour with Richie Bennett replacing Tom Walker. The Magpies responded with a change of their own with Josh Coley entering the fray for Sparkes.
Minutes later, Rooney challenged Taye Ashby-Hammond’s reflexes with a longrange effort that the Magpies ‘keeper could only tip out of play. Stockport turned up the pressure but Ashby-Hammond was equal to it as he smothered Reid’s attempt after he was sent through at the near post.
With time running out, both sides pushed for a breakthrough and it looked likely the Magpies had found it on the 75th minute. From George Wells’ in-swinging cross, Nathan Blissett flashed the ball onto the inside of the left post before any danger was quickly mopped up by the visitors’ defence.
Penalty shouts were dismissed by the referee in the 83rd minute when Ash Palmer went down under pressure inside the Magpies box, and Ashby-Hammond smothered with another effort from Reid soon after to keep the scoreline level.
The Magpies ‘keeper ensured he was to
have the final say in the game as he tipped Rooney’ stunning effort from range onto the bar and out of play on the stroke of full time, an attempt that could well have secured the visitors a dramatic victory.
Reflecting on the result at full-time, Magpies assistant boss Ryan Peters said: “We tried to come away with a positive result and I think we have done that.
“These guys (Stockport) will be up there come the end of the season. They will be challenging to go straight up to the league above.
“They’ve come here and we’ve managed to get a point, a very good point considering how good they are.
“The manner of the performance was probably not what we expected especially considering where we’ve been. But, it shows that despite not being at our best we can still come away with a result.”
Maidenhead United: (4-4-2): Ashby-Hammond 8, Sheckleford 7, Massey 6, Parry 6, Wells 7, Sparkes 7 (64’ Coley 6), Comley 7, Ince 6, Upward 7, Orsi-Dadomo 6 (72’ Kelly 6), Blissett 7.