Dover Delight After 1,666 Days

 

1,666 days. Four UK Prime Ministers, 62 new UK number 1 hits, 117 MUWFC First Team matches and one abandoned season. That is the time that has elapsed since Alex Dover last started a match for Maidenhead United Women. Last Sunday 13th April she stepped out with her team mates again for the pre-match handshake at Keynsham Town for the first time since September 20th 2020 when within 10 minutes of the opening game of the season Dover suffered the first of two separate ACL injuries, the second cruelly occurring in the pre-match warm-up on her return to action at Exeter City on 25th September 2022. 

 

Such is Dover’s fighting spirit that the 34 year-old went through the pain and frustration of rehabilitation a second time and when called upon to start at Keynsham she showed no sign of rustiness in slotting into midfield and played her full, committed part in helping an inexperienced Maidenhead team win in Somerset at the home of a side who’d only lost one home match since September. 

 

Speaking after the game, Dover modestly said: “It’s been a while!.....I think I done well considering it was my first start on four or five years, a few mistakes here and there but I think I did alright overall.” When asked about how the squad now matches up to before her injury, Dover enthused: “I think we’re in a fantastic position. Considering when I was last in the fold (due to injury) to now, the amount of talent we’ve got not only in the first team squad but the Devs as well…..you’ve got players such as the likes of Molly (McKeever) starting her first (FAWNL) game today, gets an assist and a goal.” 

 

Alex has been part of the MUWFC set-up since it started in 2008, as a teenager herself at the time. With just one league game remaining against Worthing at York Road on Sunday 27th April in a 2pm kick off, Dover will be looking to consolidate her own fitness regime in the summer as she approaches the team’s – and her own – eighteenth season in senior women’s football in 2025/26.