Chairman Peter Griffin: 'Everyone at Maidenhead is 'United as One'

Maidenhead’s players and backroom team will go into the coming campaign with the club’s mantra ‘United as one’ ringing in their ears, and chairman Peter Griffin believes that togetherness will lead them to National League safety – or possibly greater achievements – once again.

Griffin believes last week’s shock decision by the council to renege on its agreement to hand over a key piece of open space in Braywick Park for the club’s proposed new stadium will galvanise everyone associated with the Magpies.

The decision is certainly a setback and one the club intends to contest after taking some time to consider its options. But putting all that to one side, Griffin is proud of the way a club of Maidenhead’s size and budget competes at the top level of non league football. He puts that down to the collective efforts of everyone from him and Alan Devonshire down to the match day volunteers and supporters.

“We always pull together, and when we pull together, we’re brilliant,” he said. “The off the pitch stuff that’s happened recently has just reminded us of the club’s slogan ‘United as One’.

“There’s no way we should be competing at this level. There’s no way we should be as good as we are. From the playing squad and Dev’s management, all the way through to match-day staff, the volunteers and directors, and especially the supporters, that’s what makes this club so brilliant. We’ll go in on Saturday (at home to AFC Fylde), and we’ve got tough games coming up right the way through this season, but we always pull together and that’s why we are united as one. I just can’t wait for the season to start; I’m looking forward to it so much. That’s why I’m the chairman of the football club, because I love the game.”

Griffin also strongly rebuffed an accusation made by Maidenhead RFC chairman Steve Bough in a recent letter to the Advertiser that he ‘wanted to pull away’ from the club. He eased fears on that front by telling fans ‘he’s going nowhere’ and reiterated his commitment to Maidenhead for the long term, whether a move to a new ground comes off or not.

“I was accused of wanting to back out of the club and stop supporting it financially, well there’s no chance of that happening,” he stressed. “We’re going nowhere, we’ll finance the club as we have done, we’re financing the community schemes and the brilliant growth of the women’s team and all the fantastic work they’re doing there, and the brilliant first team. We’re going nowhere, we love Maidenhead United FC and that’s why I’m chairman. We want to take the club on to greater things so come and join us. Get along on Saturday, watch the games and get your season tickets sorted and come and enjoy the ride.”

He has in the past said he’d like to spend less every season covering the financial shortfall of running a club in the National League, with the associated costs of running many other teams (women’s, juniors, futsal, walking football, disability football) and community projects. The ground move to Braywick Park might bring in those added revenue streams to help Griffin cover those costs, however, anyone linking this to him having a desire to walk away from York Road is very much mistaken.

“Those comments were just about sustainability,” he said. “I’m happy to do it, and I’m in a fortunate enough position to do it. I’m just a local man who’s enjoyed a lot of success working and living in Maidenhead over the years and I’m very happy to put into a great football club. We love it and we’re so proud of what we’ve done since we took over to where it is now. The point about making it sustainable is that future generations can enjoy it without the club being hostage to fortune of just one owner. That’s how most clubs are run. We want to run it well, to grow it, and put those mechanisms in place so it can become self-sustaining. Would I like to put in less money, yeah, I’d love to.

“But on the other hand, I’m committed to growing this club. We’re here for the long haul. Don’t worry about what happened last week, we’re here to fight and we’re at our best when everyone fights together. That includes the supporters coming along in numbers, making noise and spending money at the ground, that’s how they support the club.”