Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA, they are currently members of the . The club were established in October 1870 and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously used by the same club'.Country's 'oldest' football ground in Maidenhead gets plaque
BBC News, 13 October 2012 In 1871–72 they were one of the fifteen clubs to play in the

inaugural In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. The club went on to reach the FA Cup quarter finals three times in the 1870s, before becoming founder members of the Southern League in 1894. They subsequently played in the

Great Western Suburban League The Great Western Suburban League was a football league that was primarily held in the Home counties, founded in 1904. History The Great Western Suburban League was founded on the 18 May 1904, at a meeting called by Mr. W. G. Langdon of Staine ...

(1904–1922),

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establi ...

(1922–1939),

Corinthian League The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (, ''koinòn tõn Hellḗnōn''; or simply , ''the Héllēnes''), was a federation of Greek states created by Philip IIDiodorus Siculus, Book 16, 89. «διόπερ ἐν Κορίν ...

(1945–1963),

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football ...

(1963–1973),

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

(1973–2004), and

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

before returning to the Southern League for a season in 2006–07. They have played in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

since 2017.

History

Maidenhead Football Club was established in October 1870, with the club's first match played on 17 December 1870 against

Windsor Home Park The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park (and originally Lydecroft Park), is a 2.65 km2 royal park near Windsor, Berkshire, administered by the Crown Estate of the United Kingdom. It is the private grounds of Windsor Castle. It lies ma ...

at Bond's Meadow.History
Maidenhead United F.C. They were one of the fifteen clubs to play in the inaugural

competition in 1871–72, beating Marlow 2–0 in the first round before losing 3–0 at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. The club reached the quarter finals the following season, eventually losing 4–0 to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. The club were quarter-finalists again in 1873–74 – losing 7–0 at

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

– and 1874–75, when they were beaten 1–0 at

Old Etonians This is a list of notable former pupils of Eton College, a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. Former pupils of the school are known as Old Etonians. Former pupils Politics *Robert ...

. Maidenhead Temperance and Boyne Hill both merged into the club in 1891. Maidenhead were founder members of the Southern League in 1894, joining Division Two. They finished bottom of the division in its inaugural season and again in 1898–99 and 1899–1900, before leaving the league in 1902. The club subsequently dropped into the West Berkshire League and the Berks and Bucks League. They won the West Berkshire League at the first attempt and were runners-up in 1903–04,Honours
Maidenhead United F.C. before joining the new

alongside Maidenhead Norfolkians in 1904.Great Western Suburban League 1904–1931
Non-League Matters Following a meeting in April 1919 Maidenhead Norfolkians merged into the club. The newly-united won the Great Western Suburban League in 1919–20, after which the club was renamed Maidenhead United. The club were runners-up in the Great Western Suburban League in 1920–21, before joining Division One of the

in 1922.Spartan League 1907–1934
Non-League Matters They won the Division One title in 1926–27, before being placed in Division One West in 1928 amidst league reorganisation. The club were Division One West runners-up in 1928–29 before being placed in the Premier Division the following season. Maidenhead were Premier Division runners-up in 1930–31 and went on to win the league the following season. Although the club finished in the bottom half of the table in 1932–33, they won the Premier Division title for a second time in 1933–34. In 1935–36 they reached the semi-finals of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footb ...

, losing 4–1 to

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

at Upton Park. After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939, the club joined the

Great Western Combination The Great Western Combination was a football league in south-central England. History The league was established in 1939, initially as a wartime competition as many other leagues had been abandoned following the outbreak of World War II. Its or ...

, finishing as runners-up in 1944–45.Great Western Combination 1939–1964
Non-League Matters They then joined the newly formed

.Corinthian League 1945–1963
Non-League Matters The club won the league's Memorial Shield in 1956–57 and were league champions the following season. In 1960–61 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since the formation of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, losing 5–0 at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

; the club went on to win the Corinthian League for a second time at the end of the season. After winning the league again in 1960–61, they won the league and Memorial Shield double in 1961–62. Another FA Cup first round appearance followed in 1962–63, ending with a 3–0 defeat at home to

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. In 1963 the Corinthian League merged into the

, with Maidenhead becoming members of the Premier Division. In their first season in the new league the club reached the first round of the FA Cup again, losing 2–0 at home to

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. Nicknamed the "R ...

. A fourth FA Cup first round appearance in 1971–72 saw them lose 2–0 at Enfield. In 1973 the club joined Division Two of the

, which was renamed Division One in 1977. They were relegated to Division Two South at the end of the 1986–87 season, where they remained until finishing as runners-up in 1990–91, earning promotion back to Division One. In 1996–97 the club won the league's Full Members Cup. A third-place finish in Division One in 1999–2000 saw Maidenhead promoted to the Premier Division. In 2003–04 they finished twelfth in the Premier Division, earning a place in the new

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

. However, after finishing bottom of the division in 2005–06, the club were relegated to the Premier Division of the Southern League. The following season saw them reach the FA Cup first round for the first time since the 1970s, losing 2–0 at

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include ...

in a replay; they also finished fourth in the Premier Division qualifying for the promotion play-offs; the club went on to defeat

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

1–0 in the semi-finals before beating

Team Bath Team Bath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, Team Bath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper o ...

by the same scoreline in the final to secure promotion back to the Conference South. Another FA Cup first round appearance in 2007–08 ended with a 4–1 defeat at

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. They reached the first round again in 2011–12 (losing 2–0 to

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...

in a replay) and 2015–16 (losing 3–1 at home to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in another replay). In 2016–17 Maidenhead won the renamed National League South, earning promotion to the

. In their first season in the division, another FA Cup first round appearance saw them lose 2–0 at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

. They reached the first round again in 2019–20, losing 3–1 at home to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. The 2019–20 National League season was officially curtailed on 31 March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, requiring the outcome of the final table to be decided on a

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

basis. Maidenhead were narrowly spared from relegation to the National League South after Ebbsfleet United were relegated by 0.002 of a point. After finishing third-from-bottom of the National League in 2024–25 Maidenhead were relegated to the National League South.

Colours

The club's original colours were red and black hooped jerseys. In 1919, after the merger with Norfolkians, the club colours were changed to black and white.

Ground

The club played their first home match at Bond's Meadow, before moving to York Road in 1871, with the first match at the new ground played on 16 February 1871 against Marlow. York Road had been a cricket ground from the late eighteenth century, and is acknowledged as the 'oldest senior football ground continuously used by the same club'. The freehold of the ground was bought in 1920. The club's record attendance of 7,920 was set for an

quarter-final against

Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

on 7 March 1936, with Maidenhead winning 1–0.

Maidenhead United Women and Juniors

Maidenhead United Women were formed in 2008. Following two promotions, the club have operated at Tier 4 of women's football in England since 2015, competing in FA Women's

Division 1 South West. Maidenhead United Juniors was founded in 2019 and currently runs more than 60 teams providing football football for youngsters between the ages of 6 and 18 across various local leagues in

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

Players

Current squad

Honours

*National League **National League South champions 2016–17 *Isthmian League **Full Members Cup winners 1996–97 *Corinthian League **Champions 1957–58, 1960–61, 1961–62 **Memorial Shield winners 1956–57, 1961–62 *Spartan League **Champions 1926–27, 1931–32, 1933–34 *Great Western Suburban League **Champions 1919–20 *West Berkshire League **Champions 1902–03 *

Berks & Bucks Senior Cup The Berks & Bucks FA County Senior Cup is the Senior County Cup competition of the Berks & Bucks FA. History The competition first took place in 1878–79 – a time when the FA Cup had only been going for seven years, there was no Football Lea ...

**Winners 1894–95, 1895–96, 1911–12, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1945–46, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2009–10,Further Honours
Maidenhead United F.C. 2014–15, 2016–17

Records

*Best

performance: Quarter-finals, 1872–73, 1873–74, 1874–75 *Best

performance: Semi-finals, 1935–36 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: Quarter-finals, 2003–04 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

performance: Second round, 1989–90 *Record attendance: 7,920 vs

, FA Amateur Cup quarter-final, 7 March 1936Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) ''Non-League Club Directory 2017'', Tony Williams Publications, p132 *Biggest win: 14–1 vs Buckingham Town, FA Amateur Cup, 6 September 1952 *Heaviest defeat: 14–0 vs Chesham United, Spartan League, 31 March 1923 *Most appearances: Bert Randall, 532 (1950–1964) *Most goals: George Copas, 270 (1924–1935) *Most goals in a season:

Jack Palethorpe John Thomas Palethorpe (23 November 1909 – 6 June 1984) was an English professional footballer who played for Reading, Stoke City, Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace. He was a tall centre forward who scored ...

, 65 (1929–30) *Most goals in a game:

, 7 vs Wood Green Town, 1929–30

Managerial history

References

External links

* {{Authority control Football clubs in England Football clubs in Berkshire Association football clubs established in 1870 1870 establishments in England Maidenhead Southern Football League clubs Spartan League Great Western Combination Corinthian League (football) Athenian League Isthmian League clubs National League (English football) clubs Great Western Suburban League