To receive a presentation on Holyport Football Club from Richard Tyrell and Neil McGuinness.

Neil McGuinness, Head of Football and Development at Holyport F.C., and Richard Tyrell, Secretary and Treasurer at Holyport F.C., gave a PowerPoint presentation introducing Holyport Football Club.

The football club was established in 1897 (recently celebrating its 125^th anniversary in the previous season) and had been located at Spencer’s Farm since 2005. Since joining in 2005, Richard Tyrell informed that the team initially played at Step 5 of the FA Pyramid. During last weekend, they played in the FA Vase and were through to the last 164 teams in the entirely of the country at the level, but narrowly lost to Jersey Bulls F.C.

Richard Tyrell informed that Holyport F.C. was ‘FA Accredited’, meaning that a review of all coaches, qualifications, safeguarding, and DBS checks had taken place. He believed that the club became Maidenhead’s second team.

Neil McGuinness stated that, while Maidenhead United were doing well as a team, there was nevertheless a void in the community. While there were a few football clubs in Maidenhead, Holyport F.C. had grown in the last few years from having only two teams: the First Team and the Vets Team for older players. A reserve team was created to establish a pathway for people from aged 16 onwards into men’s football. Other teams who had previously been part of other groups (e.g., Maidenhead Boys and Girls, Maidenhead United Juniors) had approached Holyport F.C. Neil McGuinness believed that this was down to the club’s values and beliefs of “do[ing] things the right way”, namely the methodology, enjoyment and comradery, and getting people to become part of the club. From this, Holyport F.C. experienced some success with over 200 players.

Neil McGuinness informed that he came across a statistic from a few years ago which stated that 80% of children stopped playing football at 16 years of age, surprising him. Based on this, Neil McGuinness sought to ensure that the young players, whether within Holyport or other places, would go through development. As a result, there was some success with a few players as they had gone onto semi-professional football, such as two players (Kai Walters and Daniel Bailey) playing for Ascot United at Wembley Stadium in the last season.

Neil McGuinness added that Holyport F.C. had ties to other establishments, notably BCA (Berkshire College of Agriculture), whereby some players came through BCA, then through to either Maidenhead United or Holyport F.C., and then onto other places.Richard Tyrell elaborated that the connection to BCA had started five years ago when it became clear that there was a large gap to get into Maidenhead United’s level. He explained that Holyport F.C. gave 16-, 17- and 18-year-old boys an opportunity to go into men’s football, becoming a pathway for players to develop.

Richard Tyrell then informed that, as Maidenhead’s second largest football team, Holyport F.C. had a loyal following from the local community, seeing crowds grow from around 50-to-60 people when he first joined to an average of 120 residents. The club supported women’s football by hosting Maidenhead United Women’s First Team home games, but Maidenhead United Women’s Development Team now mostly played their games at Summerleaze.

Richard Tyrell stated that Holyport F.C. was about creating a bond from when players joined as well as to develop them so that they understood what the club was about, where they would then hopefully go through to the adult teams.

Neil McGuinness stated that Holyport F.C. was self-sustainable whereby it received money through subscriptions, some advertising and its own fundraising. He added that the club was not seeking to make a lot of profit but rather fundraise in order to expand itself without diluting its ethos and message as well as being able to reach out and support the community. For example, the club lent out the football pitch for free to certain fundraisers; and, to use a specific example, support some media university students by building a gantry on the pitch to allow them to livestream football matches.

To conclude his presentation, Richard Tyrell informed that Holyport F.C. had limited space and facilities, as well as deteriorating changing rooms. He mentioned that the Local Borough Plan (if approved) would include a provision on improved sporting facilities. From there, he hoped that Section 106 funding could be provided for better training facilities, improved changing rooms and possibly a clubhouse. He conveyed his appreciation in being invited to the Forum.

After thanking Neil McGuinness and Richard Tyrell, Councillor Reynolds, having visited the club alongside Councillors G. Singh and Coe a few months prior, suggested to have a catch-up with Holyport F.C. in the next few weeks and see how things could be pushed forward. Neil McGuinness and Richard Tyrell supported the suggestion.

Councillor Baskerville asked whether Holyport F.C. would be able to have a team in the FA Youth Cup. Richard Tyrell answered that Holyport F.C. had an Allied Counties Youth Football League match around four-to-six years ago; though the club struggled as it was a relatively new club. Despite this, the club sought to bring another team from the Allied Counties to the pitch; however, an issue the club would likely experience was the amount of games being played on the pitch which could deteriorate it. While an astroturf would facilitate the teams and matches, the costs of installing one inhibited this.

Neil McGuinness added that while the club was confident in its abilities to keep nurturing the young players, placing them in a general park was not good enough. Nevertheless, he envisioned that the club could bring its teams to the more established FA cups in the next two years.

The Chair thanked Neil McGuinness and Richard Tyrell for attending the Forum meeting and that the Council was open to suggestions to support the club. He commended the work of Holyport F.C., stating that there was a lack of youth sport facilities around Holyport and Furze Platt. Appreciative of the comments, Neil McGuinness reiterated that the club would like to be part of the agenda and discussion at the Borough, adding that the club was flexible with any opportunities to take its activities on a larger scale. He stated that Holyport F.C. would like to be sustainable going forward and continue to organically grow in the right way rather than stagnate.

Robyn Bunyan advised that Holyport F.C. could tag the Make Maidenhead social media pages on Instagram and Facebook, in which football matches and other activities could be promoted. She also highlighted that there was a boot swap at A-Plan Insurance (now known as Howden on the High Street) in which some young players could acquire a pair of boots.

The Chair asked whether Holyport F.C. ever had Maidenhead derbies (football rivalry) with, for example, against Maidenhead United. Richard Tyrell replied that Holyport F.C. had played against Maidenhead United in a pre-season match around a year ago, which highlighted the Holyport F.C. and provided some fundraising. While Maidenhead United was open to retuning for another match, they did not return in 2023. He stated that the closest derby which Holyport F.C. had would be Burnham F.C. Richard Tyrell hoped that some matches with Holyport F.C. would take place in the new year (2024).