Ryan Walsh on his Plans for Maidenhead United Futsal

 

 

Ryan Walsh has performed at the highest level of futsal in England, both on and off the court; in the National Futsal Series, as part of the England Para setup and even venturing abroad to Spain in his more than 10-year coaching career. This knowhow was something he played off when asked what he was planning to bring to the club. 

 

“I think I have a wealth of experience from both playing and coaching, both nationally and internationally, and the success I've had and the people that I've been lucky to be around and learn from across again, both playing and coaching aspects,” said Ryan. 

 

“I think that experience and that understanding of the game is a positive for me and the club in general. But more so, I'm now looking at formalising the senior team structure a bit better, giving that better support as a whole across the background, getting parity for the women's and men's teams in that aspect as well; they train the same amount of times, have the same access to venues, building out the support that the senior teams have, whether that's strength and conditioning support, or physio support, for example. 

 

“We're looking at building the partnership that we currently have with Brunel University. And then I'm also looking at growing the youth provision. Joe Huxter, who plays for the men's team at the moment, started building that out himself. But again, I'll be looking at again improving that with Joe, building it out across different areas, across the Thames Valley area. 

 

‘The Maidenhead Way’ fits perfectly into this scenario, as it aims to provided players with a pathway from as young as 18 months through to elite performance at senior level. This pathway is something already instilled the futsal programme with the Academy extending well beyond 10 years under the previous Reading Royals name. As a result, Maidenhead United Futsal are reaping the rewards of this long-standing setup. 

 

“I think previously in the Futsal provision they've had a lot of people at the club previously, when they were youngsters before, it was a different version of a club, but they've had Harry [Tozer], they've had Joe, players that have played for the club at a younger age, gone away to university and come back,” Ryan said. 

 

“I think that speaks a lot about the opportunities that are offered at a younger age and the help that they've been given to become the players that they are today. But then also not just that, just to go away and then still want to come back to the club, I think that again, that speaks volumes about the values of the club. How it's built, how it's run and the environment that it has, that the people, even if they go away to somewhere else. 

 

“For example, Harry was in Manchester, Joe was at Loughborough, but then they've still made that move home and they still wanted to be involved in that club again. So, with ‘The Maidenhead Way’, can we look at those two as examples? Can we take lessons from them? Can we take lessons from the football side and again, build that out? So, we do have more talent coming through, we do have a wider provision of futsal and hopefully then we have more players coming through the youth provision into the development team, women's team, senior team, and we go from there.” 

With pre-season just beginning throughout Maidenhead United Futsal, it felt important to ask what changes Ryan was looking to make as soon as his tenure started. He explained: “[I’m] trying to give a bit of parity across both men's and women. So, trying to make the women's two sessions a week this year. So again, there's parity as a whole.” 

 

“Again, looking to increase that and improve the partnership with Brunel to see if we can get more out of them and they can get more out of us, [and to ensure] we're both getting value from each other across the board. 

 

“There are also conversations I've had with the coaches that lead the other teams as well. Can we sort of make ‘The Maidenhead Way’? Can we look to formalise that through the adult teams? So that way there's a lot of crossover and we sort of have a formalised style of playing but also nuances within the coach's own philosophies and decisions and then also that will then lead into what we do at a youth level. So, what we look to implement at certain ages, so they are ready for those senior teams as they come through them.” 

 

Building that holistic style of play is something seen across many professional football clubs as youth players are encouraged to replicate what the senior teams do tactically – something which Ryan is looking to bring to Maidenhead United Futsal. 

 

“You go into sessions, and you see different values from different coaches. They emphasise different things. And then when you get a player come up from, let's say a development team into the senior team and you expect them to be ready to perform, especially if they're young. If they are in the development team, they're 17, 18, they step in, they're already scared. It's a new environment. They think these players are so far ahead of them, they sort of put them on that pedestal and they've been prepared in a completely different way. And then we're expecting and asking certain things of them, and they don't know what you're talking about or what you mean. And then they're scared to ask, they're scared to challenge and check. And I think by formalising that and sort of helping make that process easier for them. That's where we can look at ‘The Maidenhead Way.’” 

 

Foundations have been laid in place by Walsh’s predecessors, Fernando Silva who founded the club in 2013, and coached at every level until his departure in 2024, and Richard Oxley who joined as a youth coach in 2015 and continued through to managing the Men’s First Team prior Ryan’s arrival. Ryan wanted to recognise the importance of their contributions, saying: “Fernando did amazing things back in the day, especially as a coach, and I've heard a lot of good things about him from the people that he worked with on court, and off the court as well. I know he's had to step away for his own reasons, but again, it’s great stuff that he's done. Rich as well, has done amazing things to help the club get to where it is now, getting this partnership with Maidenhead United and to come on board with Maidenhead.” 

 

“Two people that I can't thank enough for what they've done to get the club where it is. And I think that sentiment is echoed throughout the club from players currently and players previously from the work that they've done. From them, I had conversations with Rich, obviously [I’ve] been working with him closely around lessons that can be learned, things that needs to be improved. If somebody's going to have the experience and the understanding of the club, how it works and what it needs, it's going to be them because they've been around it so long. So, it's utilising that expertise around me and taking that forward into conversations and implementing certain strategies and actions off the back of that.” 

To conclude an in-depth discussion, Ryan veered towards making it a season of growth across the whole futsal side of the club, as he looks to implement the early stages of his very much long-term plan. However, he did not shy away from the possibility of bringing home some silverware. 

 

“From a youth point of view, we're looking at implementing more sessions across the youth provision. Longer term, having different hubs throughout the Thames Valley area that then we can access more people, and we can provide more provision and therefore build the amount of youth players that we access and hopefully more of them coming through into the senior team setup. Again, we'll be looking to build at how we integrate that on the football side as well, and that'll be work that I'm doing alongside the football setup as to how we can help and how we can build that in from the senior sides. No pressure on the coaches, but we're looking to do as well as we can. 

 

“But, first and foremost, developing the players that we have, ensuring that we have great people before we have great players, as I think that's important. And then from the back of that, there will be conversations that I have with certain coaches around. What are your aims for the season? What are you looking to do? And from there can we build? Can we see what success we can have this season? Because you never know. The titles are always available. But that will be something that we adjust throughout the season based off the work that we're doing, hopefully the good work that we're doing and we'll see where the season goes and where we can take it.” 

 

If you would like to find out more about futsal or want to get involved, please email Ryan at ryan.walsh@maidenheadunitedfc.org