Notes From Our Supporters Meeting

Firstly, I would like to say thank you to all who attended our club update meeting in Stripes on Wednesday 11th December. I do, however, appreciate that many of our supporters were unable to make this meeting, so wanted to provide a summary of the issues we discussed for wider sharing. 

 

Whilst I was very aware that supporters were keen to understand more about what the Max Kilman money means for the club, it was equally important to put this into context and provide an honest update about the position of the club and our plans moving forward. 

 

Our goal for many years has been to move all aspects of the club forward including improving the performance of our first teams; growing our community outreach & grassroots football programmes and maintaining the community ownership model of the club’s ground, building an operational model which provides greater long-term sustainability for the club. 

 

The club has achieved so much over the last ten years. The success of both the men’s and women’s first teams, both playing at the highest levels in the club’s history for sustained periods; the establishment and growth of academy and Maidenhead United Juniors programmes; the establishment of Maidenhead United Futsal, with our men’s first team reaching 4th place in England’s top division last season; the innovative front of shirt sponsorship with the Campaign Against Living Miserably gaining national recognition; and a community programme many EFL clubs would be proud of, with the club employing over 20 community coaches delivering football and education activities across the local area. 

 

We have come a long way in a short time despite the facility challenges we face, with an aging ground and the significant need we have for additional astroturf and associated community facilities. All of which we had planned to address through the new stadium at Braywick. 

 

There should be no doubt that Council’s decision last year to withdraw support for our proposed move to Braywick has had a profound and negative impact on the club. It has taken us 12 months to properly take stock of this decision and consider alternative options for achieving our goals. 

 

The money we are receiving from the Max Kilman transfer was an unexpected windfall which, in truth, has come at a vital time, providing the club with much needed financial support for the next 3 to 4 years. 

 

We face a number of challenges in the immediate future. Despite the club’s commercial income having more than trebled since promotion to the National League, this has plateaued over recent seasons, and it is difficult to see how this will grow significantly without a ground move and access to additional wider football facilities we desperately need. Unsurprisingly, over the same time the costs of running the football club have also more than tripled and will continue to grow. Whilst it is important to stress that the club has no significant external debt, this is not a sustainable position. 

 

All connected with the club recognise that our York Road ground is unfit for purpose in terms of facilities, terracing, changing rooms and ground-grading requirements. Furthermore, irrespective of how much we invest in York Road, this will not address the fundamental challenges of access and parking, which represent a real threat to its future suitability at a football stadium. Nor will it support the growth of the club and address our urgent need for additional football, futsal and community facilities. We already have teams having to use facilities outside of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead with local facility availability unable to meet the demand we have for women’s and junior football, as well as futsal. 

 

We have explored the potential for bringing in additional investors to support the ongoing growth of the club. At this stage we are clear this would come with significant risks if we want to maintain the community ownership model of our ground and facilities and our ambitions to continue to grow our community football and futsal offers. We only have to look at other clubs to see what can happen with the wrong owners getting their hands on a club. 

 

Our ambitions for Maidenhead United have not changed. We are committed to maintaining the success and growth of the club on and off the pitch and securing the long-term financial future of the club for the benefit of all. The Max Kilman funding provides the club with the financial security over the next three or four years and a window of opportunity to achieve this goal. 

 

In practical terms what this means is we will: 

 

 

This being said we are also clear that York Road is NOT where we see the long- term future of the club. 

 

We recognise that Braywick is not an option at this time, so we are once again actively looking for suitable, privately owned, alternative locations to build the facilities our fantastic club both needs and deserves. Our commitment remains to keep the club in Maidenhead. To be clear, we are not looking for public money to fund these facilities, simply a willingness at a local level to help us find a solution which enables us to deliver a new community sports facility which addresses the needs of football within the local area. We will be starting a process of engagement with local and national Government in the New Year to help build the momentum we need to achieve this goal. 

 

It was good to be able to present our position to supporters and to field questions directly last week. I was able to confirm that on-pitch performance of the team in the short-term will not affect our long-term ambitions to turn the assets we hold into facilities to meet our ambitions, but that we will work tirelessly to support improved performances on the pitch. We have considered in detail all the options available at York Road including the potential for installing 3G facilities at the ground which is not viable because of the location, access and parking issues the ground location has. Furthermore, we do not have access to the significant capital funding we require to invest in the facilities we need and this can only be realised through the sale of York Road. 

 

My commitment to achieve a positive long-term future for the club is unwavering, but if a solution cannot be found in the medium term I will have to consider passing the club on to another custodian. 

 

I thank you for your continued support and devotion to the club. Please rest assured that the football club board and I will continue to strive to find the best and most practical solution to safeguard the future of Maidenhead United.