Away Day (sort of) Diary: Winslow United 0-4 Maidenhead United (18/11/25)

We don't often get intriguing ties, THESE DAYS, in the sadly much maligned Berks & Bucks Cup – the last one might've been at Holmer Green in December 2018 – so there was no way I was declining an opportunity to visit a new ground (at a place I'd not previously heard of) ... even though, truth be told, there were plenty of other things I'd rather be doing after Saturday's shenanigans at Leamington ("If it was Windsor away, for example, I'd probably be sat watching Celebrity MasterChef on BBC One")

I've written lots on social media (too much, probably) about the fallout of fans having the gall to publicly criticise our well-paid but underperforming players (and our manager) – examples here, here, and here – so I will instead focus on Tuesday night: I joined A.G. (grandson of Barbados Trev) in the MurdoMobile at 6pm and, after picking up L.B. in Holyport, we headed north up the M40, ignoring warning signs of a road closure past Waddesdon, before parking outside the ground – along the street from MUFC's sizeable and expensive-looking team coach – with twenty minutes or so until kick-off

New entry on the list of 'clubhouses better than Stripes' – we said hello to John G. (it was more or less a home game for him since he lives in Bletchley), then I enjoyed a pint of Guinness to settle the pre-match nerves and took a photo of the bar that someone on Facebook later said looked like "a Cold War Steve montage missing Trump and Phil Mitchell"

Someone was down, receiving treatment, when their incredulous keeper turned around and asked the away fans, "How did you manage to lose to Leamington on Saturday?!"; we were already 1-0 up by that stage thanks to a strike from Corie Andrews that looked offside, and the former Oxford City man doubled our lead before half-time on a cold night as those of us behind the goal guffawed at Shay's explanation as to why Magpies Radio has struggled to broadcast any commentaries from York Road (basically, the internet connection is so slow it's like we're running off a 90s dial-up modem powered by the exercise wheel of an asthmatic hamster)

Lovely third goal from those wearing purple – Noah Stewart burst down the left wing, Andrews cleverly dummied the cross, Kai Yearn finished with aplomb – before Stewart added a fourth; conversation on the sideline (a covered terrace, so better than Totton) had wandered off to other topics: ideas on how to restore some of the Berks & Bucks Cup's lost grandeur ("play the final in Riyadh!"), contestants (including Dennis Greene, obvs.) we'd like to see appear on "I'm a Non-League Football Manager…Get Me Out of Here!", and the fact that the Magpies had faced the Ploughmen once before (a 5-1 win, in the same competition, at Buckingham Town's Ford Meadow in December 1992; Benny Laryea with a brace; 69 people saw it)

Other notes: a melee sparked by a rash Harry Pashley tackle would've kept VAR busy for hours, but only resulted in a couple of yellow cards (including one for the young Maidenhead left-back); Harvey Collins made a decent save to maintain his clean sheet; academy kids Joel Ellis and Anton Watson belatedly appeared as substitutes, but neither replaced the returning Manny Onariase (captain for the night) or Remy Clerima – the latter played with a bandage on his knee, having featured in the Baller League on Monday, and the Frenchman's body language suggested that Macleod (M) and I weren't the only ones who thought the decision to keep him on for the full 90 minutes was unnecessarily punitive and more than a little reckless

Waze took us on a completely different route home, via Aylesbury, after we'd briefly returned to the clubhouse to witness crucial late goals for Scotland vs Denmark ("that's ruined the night for me," said Phil W.); I'll be in Denmark – Copenhagen, specifically – this weekend and will (not coincidentally) miss our league game at Dagenham & Redbridge; this comfortable win at Winslow was a welcome respite after Saturday, but there's no getting away from the fact that there needs to be a decent Magpies performance and result vs Andy Carroll and company … otherwise, there's probably a good chance of more 'vile abuse' truth bombs ("What a waste of money", etc.) that the players and management team won't want to hear

(MUFC report; goals 1, 2, 3, and 4)

Someone mentioned on Facebook that this looked like "a Coldwar Steve montage missing Trump and Phil Mitchell".

Easily fixed. https://t.co/6VAz62jSWa pic.twitter.com/ktnPKjyWYZ

— ɢᴏ ᴍᴀᴅ ᴏʀ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴄᴀʀɪɴɢ (@gomadstopcaring) November 18, 2025

Away Day Diary: Leamington 2-0 Maidenhead United (15/11/25)

League form was consigned to the back of our minds, mercifully if only temporarily, as this FA Trophy interlude featured one of the more intriguing draws we've had in the competition for some time – but would it be more like Barrow in 2013/14 or, at the opposite end of our 'good day out (tainted by 90 minutes of football)' scale, Halesowen in 2019/20?

England vs Serbia with G.M. on Thursday night, and in the Globe beforehand, the Magpies' embarrassing 2–2 draw vs the lower-division Yeltz cropped up in conversation with G.M.'s Reading-supporting mate Adam, as – randomly – it had been his very first MUFC game! The World Cup Qualifier at Wembley Stadium was a wet one, and persistent rain continued into and throughout the following day, meaning that the match at Leamington was in some doubt until a Twitter announcement on Saturday morning just as I was about to meet at the top of the road with Macleod (M) and Sandeep (whose wife is from the Warwickshire spa town, and who would be attending his first MUFC away game since the calamitous midweek hiding at Altrincham in January)

After a brisk walk to the station (fly-tipping among the conversation topics) and an agreeably straightforward train journey via Reading – with unfavourable comparisons made between today's MUFC strike force and the one featuring Rocky Baptiste in 2008/09 – we met with Solihull Steve, aka the Sweetie Blinder, as scheduled, and began our pub crawl with decent pints of Purity at the Fizzy Moon Brewhouse

Mobbed up! Chris Rad., KK, Phil W., and Stuart had joined us, and there were more Magpies in the Benjamin Satchwell – but no TWS, who had taken the conscious decision to miss only his second game in 11 years! ("Yh all sweet mate just had enough of spending all my money watching that shower of shit")

Into the Boiler Room, which was good, before we managed to catch a significantly delayed 665 bus from outside the Crown Hotel – some home fans on the journey pointed out the site of their old ground (now houses) ... mournfully, and understandably so, as their current one is in the middle of nowhere and would've drawn sharper criticism if we hadn't recently suffered the misfortune of visiting AFC Totton

No Josh Popoola ("He makes me happy") in the starting lineup, but that baffling choice doesn't entirely explain another abysmal performance from those wearing red – somehow we were only one down at half-time to the side propping up National League North, with just two goals in seven games and no win since 2nd September (when we were midway through our six-game winning run, smashing Bath City at Twerton Park with a passable impression of Brazil's 1970 World Cup–winning team)

Game over, in truth, when the Brakes got a second not long after the restart, with the justifiably agitated away fans (among the 412-strong crowd) now longing for the final whistle and steeling themselves ahead of inevitable recriminations – for the record, Phil W. and I had already retreated to the bar well before Sandeep captured his Pulitzer Prize-worthy footage

There was a rumour in the Urban Fox, as we ate Indian food and drowned sorrows, that our greatest ever manager (x2) had been sacked – and that would have been the correct call, IMO, as his previously inexhaustible credit has completely whittled away … but it soon became clear that Alan Dev remained in situ, and, regrettably, had doubled down in a rare post-match interview

Our Chairman has achieved much to be proud of at the football club during the two decades he and his family have owned Maidenhead United, but I think his unwavering loyalty to managers who are no longer deserving (Carl Taylor, Drax, now Dev) has been a notable weakness – so, where exactly does he think we go from here? ("Winslow, presumably")

Nothing really matters… sang Macleod (M) in duet with a blonde-haired member of a hen party on karaoke in the Portland Arms; I always enjoy it in there, but on this occasion, the vocal talents of variable quality were no distraction – there was no escaping the nagging sense that this had been another good day out (tainted by 90 minutes of football) a nightmarish day with potentially seismic repercussions :-(

(MUFC report; match highlights)

"I approached the fans with the intention of thanking them for travelling" https://t.co/uFd8T5jx6Z pic.twitter.com/ZCqEGMljfu

— ɢᴏ ᴍᴀᴅ ᴏʀ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴄᴀʀɪɴɢ (@gomadstopcaring) November 17, 2025

Away Day (sort of) Diary: AFC Totton 2-1 Maidenhead United (04/11/25)

After six consecutive wins, featuring as many scrappy and/ or fortuitous victories (Maidstone; Worthing) as there were performances suggesting a possible title challenge (Dover; Bath – the latter so good I'm starting to think it was a dream), Josh Umerah hobbling off with a troublesome knee injury and JvS flapping at a corner (again) contributed to a 1–0 home loss to previously winless Eastbourne Borough, and the Magpies – as we're frustratingly prone to do – segued seamlessly from a good run into a bad one (P4 W0 D1 L3 F1 A4 in the league before Tuesday night); I'd been at the Eastbourne game and had planned to attend the home fixture vs Tonbridge Angels the following Tuesday, but ultimately decided to go to the Barley Mow pub quiz with my Dad instead because of the latest Ticketpass debacle (MUFC's continued use of 'the ethical ticketing platform', despite being fully aware of its reliability issues, is exasperating; charging full price for the Tonbridge fixture – when fans couldn't even buy discounted tickets online – reinforced, for me, a sense of general incompetence and persistent disregard for everyday supporters)

For various reasons, I had annual leave booked on the Tuesday, so my first thought, naturally, was a pub crawl (train to St Denys via Southampton Airport Parkway and then the likes of the Bookshop Alehouse, the Guide Dog, and the Beards & Boards Craft Beer Bar – don't laugh! – en route to the bus stop closest to the Giddy Bridge in Southampton city centre), but an unreschedulable work meeting came up for Willie T. (the same thing happened to me – honest! – when we were supposed to see Sleeper in Oxford last month), so I offered to drive; Macleod (M) and I left at 17:15 on a journey characterised by roadworks and rain, and soundtracked towards the end by radio commentary of Arsenal's comfortable win at Slavia Prague

Concord Rangers and Poole Town were among the small number of clubs mentioned in response to 'Worse National League South grounds than this,' after we'd parked in a large puddle on an industrial estate and followed the gated, muddied gravel path past AFC Totton Prestige Hand Car Wash to the Snows Stadium turnstiles; the Stags' home has presumably changed considerably – for the better – since Paul Canoville ran amok for the Magpies here in a pre-season friendly in the summer of 1990, but there are no covered standing areas (an inconvenience as rain fell again at the start of both halves), and the End we were initially attacking had only two shallow steps of terracing behind its goal ("You've got a worse ground than Slough Town")

The Maidenhead Pele™ looked to have been fouled in the area early on, though those wearing blue were the better side in the opening stages, and we were rather fortunate that the deficit was only one – a scrappy-looking goal from a corner needlessly conceded by Ryan Bartley and defended with the six-yard-box authority (or lack thereof) we've come to expect from JvS; however, after the referee had awarded us a penalty for a clear foul on Jordon Ragguette, duly dispatched by Umerah (who didn't look fit), we played much better for the rest of the half and put concerted pressure on their goal, manned by a nervy-looking ex-Bristol Rovers keeper whose haircut was mercilessly mocked – to the tune of The Cranberries' Zombie – by the travelling support

Out inexplicably early for the second half, with Remy Clerima – fresh from an appearance on Monday night in the abomination that is the Baller League – replacing a presumably injured Manny Onariase, the Magpies continued on the front foot but appeared incapable of turning possession into goals, and I got the distinct impression that the players were as aware as the fans of the probable script: huff and puff, fail to score (or even trouble the opposing keeper), and concede an eminently preventable one at the other end

That's what happened, of course, with Kai Yearn – otherwise composed, if a little lightweight, in central midfield – keeping the ball in play but in doing so gifting it to the opposition, who sliced us open with infuriating ease (Bartley, once again, not covering himself in glory); after that, they looked more likely to score a third than us an equaliser – not even the introduction of Sam Barratt and, umm, that was it for attacking subs, could turn the tide (you might be unsurprised to learn)

The entire squad got an on-field and expletive-laden earful from the manager, if not the fans, after the final whistle, but it felt a bit performative to me; these are players – many of them, no doubt, relatively expensive – signed and selected by Dev, so he deserves as much criticism as them, IMO, and the onus is on him to make the necessary changes to right the ship

Our return journey wasn't much better than the outward slog – lack of rain aside – with the closure of Junction 2 on the M27 forcing a detour via Romsey; not even news of Slough in the relegation zone (after conceding their 30th, 31st and 32nd league goals of the season) could cheer us, and conversation turned to non-football things (gigs, for example – I still can't quite believe that Goldie Lookin Chain at Sub89 on Friday is a sell-out and we haven't got tickets!)

No longer does the promise of a new stadium (Braywick is seemingly back on) represent a light at the end of the tunnel, at least as far as I'm concerned ("We'll probably end up with the ground-move equivalent of taking £4m instead of £8m"); upcoming away trips to Leamington (in the Trophy) and Winslow (in the B&B) now stand out as small beacons of light in the gloom of a season that increasingly feels wasted, thoroughly dispiriting, and possibly legacy-tarnishing :-(

(MUFC report; match highlights)

Better than some other recent efforts but still not good enough to gain any points.
We look bereft of confidence and leaders across the pitch. Too many not doing enough.
Stuck in a rut.

— Murdo Macleod (@MurdoMacleod6) November 4, 2025