Drax hoping for special season

As Maidenhead United’s first pre-season friendly at York Road against Wycombe Wanderers approaches, boss Johnson ‘Drax’ Hippolyte hopes his side’s list of prestigious home friendlies will be the start of a great season for the club.

On that list are giants Reading, Wycombe Wanderers, Oxford United, Aldershot and Woking, starting on Tuesday, July 15, and Drax believes fans who come to watch the games will get a taster for things to come next season.

After guiding the Magpies to a promotion and two FA Cup first round appearances in his first two seasons as Maidenhead boss, Drax feels that next season could be an even better campaign than the last two.

“We’ve got a great set of pre-season games at York Road,” he said. “We are starting off with a fantastic game against Wycombe Wanderers and we’ve also lined up games against Reading, Oxford United, Aldershot and Woking.

“Reading were in the Premier League last season, Wycombe and Aldershot are League 2 clubs and Oxford United and Woking are in the Blue Square Premier. We could see some big crowds at these games.

“We’ve made some good signings and the pre-season games will be a chance for supporters to see why I think they are the players that can help us do well next season.”

Drax added: “We are working hard to get the players ready and are hoping we can get off to a good start next season.

“Last season was a success because we are still in the Blue Square South. But I am hoping for us to have a better season this time around.

“I would like to think we are capable of achieving a top half finish next season and I am hoping we can reach at least the first round of the FA Cup again.

“Hopefully it is going to be a great season ahead.

“We’ve got some good league games and big crowds to look forward to at York Road with teams like AFC Wimbledon and Newport County in our division.

“It could be a special season for us.”