Wolves' defender Kilman hopes to see more Magpies follow his path to the Premier League

Max Kilman with former manager Alan Devonshire at York Road. Credit: Maidenhead United FC

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There was a familiar face at York Road last week as Wolverhampton Wanderers central defender Max Kilman returned to his former stomping ground to inspire some of the club’s young players and film a piece for the Premier League on his rise from non-league football.

Kilman's meteoric rise from non-league football to become an established Premier League regular is fairly unique. He had garnered some attention as an England Futsal player but played only one full season with Maidenhead United in the National League before being whisked away to Wolves' u23s set up at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

He left for Wanderers a raw, relatively untested central defender - with limited experience in senior football - but was able to adapt to the rigours of playing at a Premier League club, adapting his style and physique before catching the eye of former boss Nuno Espirto Santo who handed him his first team debut against Fulham in May, 2019.

Since then, Kilman has been one of the first names on the Wolves team sheet, irrespective of the manager in charge and his performances have earned admiring glances from Premier League rivals and calls for him to get a full England cap to go alongside his Futsal ones.

Filming for the Premier League ahead of Non League Day (March 25) with presenter Olivia Buzaglo - herself a former Maidenhead United Women's player - Kilman met with his former boss Alan Devonshire, spoke to the Maidenhead players and supporters and watched a junior training session before taking his seat for the Magpies' entertaining - and somewhat controversial - 1-1 draw with Aldershot Town.

He also found time for a little trip down memory lane with Advertiser reporter Dan Darlington, recalling a last-gasp screamer against Dover Athletic at the end of the 2017-18 season. He also spoke of the rich well of talent in non-league football - and in the Maidenhead first team - and believes it's possible for any one of them to follow in his footsteps and earn a contract with a professional club.

“It's great to be back,” he said. “Nothing has really changed. It's good to see some of my old teammates, the manager and all the fans who support this club so passionately. With Non League Day coming up, this film will just show where I've come from and give some insight into my path to Wolverhampton from Maidenhead.

“100 per cent, anyone can do it (follow his path into the Premier League). There's so much talent now in non-league and you see a lot of players move on to a professional set up.

“Of course, that is great, and hopefully more players from non-league will achieve what I've done, and hopefully some from Maidenhead as well.”

On his breakthrough season at York Road, he added: “I have really good memories of this ground and enjoyed my season with Maidenhead.

“He (Devonshire) is a very good man manager, he's very honest and he also had a lot of faith in me as a young player. I was raw, coming in after being on loan at Marlow, and I didn’t have much experience. But he let me play and let me show what I could do. I did my best and I really appreciate his support and that he had the faith in me to give me opportunities.

“I remember that goal against Dover. It was a last-minute winner and I think that was the game that confirmed we'd be staying up in this league. I think we had a few more matches to play but it was one of my last games here.”

Kilman wasn't thrown directly to the Wolves when he left Maidenhead in 2018. He had to bide his time in the u23s set up, but that time away from the limelight at a Premier League club helped him develop into the player he is today. Having grasped his opportunity with both hands - to be almost an ever present fixture in the Wolves defence, he now believes he can develop further under the tutelage of new boss Julen Lopetegui.

“It was good going into the u23s at Wolves,” he said. “Because I had to adapt first to the professional set up. It was a bit more intense, and the style was different. So, I had to get used to that. I think that helped me to kick on when I moved to train with the first team, but it still took me a while to get to the level I needed to be at to cope with the demands of the game.”

Kilman hasn't been used to relegation scraps during his time with Wolves. His last one was probably with Maidenhead United, however, despite his best efforts, Wanderers find themselves in 13th after Saturday's 4-2 home defeat to Leeds and only three points above the bottom three. They're one of nine clubs who realistically could still be relegated this season, but Kilman believes they've turned a corner under Lopetegui and now wants to see them produce one final push to get themselves out of trouble.

He added: “It's been a difficult season, but that's part and parcel of being a professional footballer. You must deal with different situations. This season has not been great, but we've pushed on and have started climbing the table. Hopefully, in these last games of the season we’ll push on again and try to finish in a good position. The new manager has been great since he came in, him and his staff. We've worked hard, but we also had a lot of time together during the off-season when the World Cup was on.

“We feel like we've gelled but still have some tough games coming up and we need to make sure we're ready for them.”

While his focus has remained on the football, Kilman - whose parents are both Ukranian - admits it's been a difficult year for his family following the breakout of war in his parents' native country.

Kilman was born in London but his father is originally from Odesa and his mother is from Kyiv, and they still have family members living in the Ukrainian capital. They've not been too far from his mind over the past 12 months, but he hopes the country will find itself in a better place in the coming weeks, months and years.

“Yeah, it’s been difficult,” he added. “We have a lot of family on my mum's side living in Kyiv so that's been very difficult for them. We have been making sure, my mum and I, that we're keeping in touch with everyone, seeing how they're all doing, and making sure they’re all ok.

“Hopefully everyone is ok for now. The situation is still bad but hopefully over time things will get better and Ukraine will be in a better place.”