Massey reaches milestone with another assured display

Maidenhead United skipper Alan Massey racked up his 300th start for the club in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Wrexham and in doing so moved into the Magpies’ top 10 all-time appearance makers.

Signed in the summer of 2015 he was one of manager Alan Devonshire’s first – and most important – signings.

‘Captain, leader, legend’ are words that get bandied around too often and at too many clubs, but for the man who lifted the National League South trophy and has marshalled the Magpies’ defence with distinction through five seasons in the National League, it’s more than applicable. A calming presence at the club, both on and off the field, Massey is quickly moving up the club’s all-time appearance list and is likely to surpass Obi Ulasi in ninth place in the coming weeks.

The first of those 300 starts came at Eastbourne Borough on August 8, 2015, when goals from Jake Reid and Ben Wright got Devonshire’s second spell as manager off to a winning start. He made his 100th appearance in a famous 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers on September 12, 2017, where Harry Pritchard curled home the late winner while his 200th and 300th starts both came away at Wrexham with the Magpies picking up creditable draws in both; 2-2 in 2019, and 1-1 on Saturday with Shawn McCoulsky earning the visitors a point with an injurytime header.

His goals for the club have been much more of a rarity, four in total over seven seasons. His first came in a thrilling 4-3 win over Basingstoke Town in October 2015, while few Magpies fans will ever forget his crisp low strike to put the home side ahead in their 3-1 FA Cup replay defeat to Port Vale in November 2015. Since then, he’s notched just twice, in a losing effort against Hartlepool United at Victoria Park in August 2018 and, earlier this season when he flicked home a near post corner as the Magpies lost a seven-goal thriller 4-3 against Torquay United.