Fit again and firing: Pritchard gives Maidenhead United a timely boost

Harry Pritchard in action against West Ham United u21s at York Road. Photo: Ian Longthorne

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Harry Pritchard scored a wonder goal in Maidenhead United’s pre-season friendly win over West Ham United u21s on Saturday, reminiscent of a similar strike against Bath City at the Canal End of York Road nearly 10 years ago.

And chairman Peter Griffin believes that if the club can manage his minutes effectively this season, they’ll have an asset on their hands that could potentially help fire them to National League South promotion.

Having joined initially in the summer as a new strength and conditioning coach, Pritchard has been working his way back to full fitness after a debilitating back injury left him unsure if he’d be able to play football at a decent level ever again.

Last summer, Pritchard took the difficult decision to take a step back from the game to manage the injury and potentially save his career. At the time he said he hoped it wouldn’t bring a premature end to his playing days, and Maidenhead United have given him the chance to prove that can be the case.

After 15 months on the sidelines, he’s been playing a full part in Maidenhead’s pre-season, featuring for the first time in their 4-0 friendly win at Flackwell Heath two weeks ago and scoring and assisting in Saturday’s 4-2 win over West Ham United u21s at York Road.

Playing on the left side of the Magpies’ midfield Pritchard was an integral member of the squad which achieved promotion as National League South champions back in 2017. Having scored an impressive 41 league goals across 217 appearances for the club he moved to Blackpool in 2018 and then to Bradford City in the EFL in 2019 before more recently playing a key role for Barnet in their bid to get out of the National League. The Bees achieved that goal while Pritchard recuperated last season, but he played a vitally important role in laying the groundwork for last season’s title win.

Speaking before Pritchard’s fantastic volley in Saturday’s win, Griffin said: “We were going to be using him as a strength and conditioning coach, and he was an addition to the team that we were really excited to get on board.

“But he made no secret that he wanted to get back to playing and still felt he had something to offer.

“It just came down to fitness and he’s working really hard and looking really good. When we had him last, he was our left winger and sometimes filled in at left back but over the years he’s moved into the middle and now he’s a centre midfield player.

“We came up against him at Barnet and we could see how good he is. If we could get some good game time out of him, and realistically, we can’t say he’ll start every game, but if we can keep him fit and enable him to contribute, we’ve got a fantastic signing there.

“We have got a good mix of experience and exciting youngsters, so let’s see how they blend.”

United continue their preparations for the season with friendlies against Boreham Wood and Eastleigh at York Road tomorrow (Tuesday, 7.30pm kick-off) and on Tuesday week (July 29, 7.30pm kick-off) and away to Oxford City on Saturday, August 9, before giving themselves a week to refresh ahead of their league opener at home to Chesham United on Saturday, August 9.

“It’s a funny one pre-season because it is about fitness and blending the team and trying to work on different formations,” said Griffin. “And sometimes you get the best tests in not the most glamorous of ties. Yesterday we played Oxford United’s u21s at their training ground.

“That’s a really good work out. But it’s all about getting ready for August 9. You want to hit the ground running with as many of your squad match fit and with choices to make on that first day.”