Rotherham United make their first visit to York Road for the first round of the FA Cup to take on Maidenhead United, which will be the first time the teams have met.
Maidenhead FC came into existence in 1870 and were one of the first clubs in the inaugural FA Cup in 1871/2, when they reached the quarter finals. They were also founder members of the Southern League joining Division Two in 1894 but after finishing bottom three times they dropped out of the league in 1902 moving into the West Berkshire League and the Berks and Bucks League and joined the Great Western Suburban League in 1904.
1919 saw them merge with Maidenhead Norfolkians when they also started playing in black and white stripes and the following season saw them become Maidenhead United. 1922 saw them move into the Spartan League which they moved up until the War years saw them saw them move into the Great Western Combination League and followed that by joining the newly formed Corinthian League.
In the1960/1 season they got into the first round of the FA Cup for the first time since the formation of the Football League. In 1963 the Corinthian League merged into the Athenian League which the Magpies were founder members of the Premier Division and in 1973 the club joined Division Two of the Isthmian League and at the end of the 2004/5 season earned a place in the new Conference South.
Lately the club have reached the first round of the FA Cup in 2007/8 losing to Horsham, in 2011/12 taking Aldershot Town to a replay but again losing and 2015/16 when another replay saw them lose to Port Vale.
In 2016/17 the Magpies were promoted to the National League, where they are today, and again another first round FA Cup appearance which they lost to Coventry City.
Maidenhead’s Manager is Alan Devonshire whose playing career saw him play in midfield for West Ham United from 1976 to 1990 where he made over three hundred and fifty appearances before spending two seasons with Watford. Alan also has eight caps for England. His first management job saw him at Osterley before being in charge of Brentford Women, Hampton and Richmond Borough and Braintree Town. This is Alan’s second spell with the Magpies his first being from 1996 to 2003 before coming back in 2015.
