Play fair, over past and future

The controversy over the possible relocation of Maidenhead United rumbles on.

Last month, Jon Reekie expressed his outrage by saying it is ‘disgusting’ (I assume he meant abandoning the move) and ‘by denying the young people of Maidenhead the right to play football in this town you deserve to see the youth roaming the streets and getting into mischief!’

I am sure he wouldn’t really advocate vandalism or anti-social behaviour, but he does suggest in the quote that there won’t be any more football in

Maidenhead.

As though the Magpies will take themselves out of the National League after seven successful seasons under the thoughtful and pragmatic stewardship of Peter Griffin.

I am not sure quite how he reaches this rather bizarre conclusion.

They have simply been asked to stay at their current ground for the time being.

He is furious with the council for reversing the original RBWM decision – made when the Conservatives were in power.

I wonder if, since he is apparently such a strong advocate of local sport, he is just as committed to bulldozing the beautiful park land that is currently Maidenhead Golf Club? As that was also a decision made by the previous administration – and one that the vast majority of Maidenhead would like to be reversed.

But, of course, most of us want to pick and choose which decisions we would like to be changed and which should stay the same.

Although Mr Reekie may also be in favour of concreting the greens and fairways for all I know.

Banging the drum even louder was the equally incensed ex-councillor Stuart Carroll.

Sadly he makes his case mostly through political slurs of Cllr Josh Reynolds and the Lib Dems’ supposed ‘pre-election nonsense’ and ‘campaign rhetoric’.

He clumsily uses a collection of football analogies to make cheap points.

He even describes how the new regime have ‘bankrupted the council’ and mentions the shocking ‘lack of accountability’.

These are breathtaking statements from someone who was a cabinet member of the Conservative leadership that never seemed to listen to what local people thought and last year left the borough in such financial ruin that RBWM may soon face a section 114 notice.

Does he seriously think that that is due to what has been going on in the last 11 months rather than the last 16 years of Tory control? It beggars belief.

However, whilst going in large on the political points scoring, he is short on detail of why this is such a bad decision for the town, or even for that matter, the football club. Surely talking about all the benefits of such a move would have been a more positive way forward?

Why would it be so great for our two big sports clubs to share a piece of land (along with the leisure centre and the new padel tennis and all the other things that are already at Braywick)?

He also neglects to mention what the vacated York Road site would/should be used for.

More high rise flats anyone?

In short he mostly just comes across as a bitter, ex-councillor whose party was swept out of office.

I mean, to lose control of the council whilst having a Conservative MP with a near 20,000 majority, you really do need to be working pretty hard at p***ing people off.

However, Mr Carroll is right about one thing: if they didn’t, RBWM should have sat around a table with the football club to explain their decision and consider a way forward for MUFC.

To curry favour with the rugby club he says they should also be consulted.

Although they have already made their position crystal clear: they don’t want the football club anywhere near ‘their’ Braywick site.

Whilst it is right that the rugby club should be part of the solution, they are currently part of the problem.