AFC Totton
PAUL MAIDEN’S 50 YEARS of continuous service to AFC Totton were recognised when the club’s Honorary Life President was presented with a silver salver by Director of Football James Beattie before Wednesday night’s Play-Off semi-final with Dorchester Town.
Paul was a commanding central defender in his youth, who was a regular for Totton Athletic before becoming an integral part of the club’s organising committee at their social club on the Queen Elizabeth II Playing Fields in Langley in the ‘70s.
It was in 1975 that Athletic joined forces with Totton FC to become Amalgamated Football Club Totton, marking the start of Paul’s affiliation with The Stags.
A pro-active approach towards fundraising and community-building helped the newly reformed club to establish itself, with a social club and bar central to encouraging fans to stay on-site after matches and to get to know one another.
Paul was a member of the AFC Totton committee, and not only carried out much of the handiwork required to maintain their Testwood Park home near the town centre, but he also played his part in ensuring it didn’t succumb to the overtures of property developers casting envious eyes over the land, its proximity to the Totton train station on the Weymouth to London Waterloo line making it highly sought-after.
Eventually, though, the time came when the club realised that they did need to consider relocation and, working with main sponsors Linden Homes, Paul played an integral role on the committee that ensured the new ground would be specified to the club’s demanding requirements.
“Linden made an impressive proposal, which included the creation of a CGI version of the proposed new ground so we could see exactly what we were going to receive. They had taken account of all the features we had requested, such as a sprinkler system and event hosting facilities, as well as meeting all the standards required at Conference South level to avoid having to make major improvements in the short-to-medium term,” explained Paul.
“We had also stipulated that the new ground had to be within the Totton boundary. What Linden then put together looked brilliant and, despite initial resistance within the committee, it didn’t take long to get everybody on board.”
There were some teething problems during the build stage, including the pitch originally being made too small, but the end result was a football stadium and surrounding facility that surpasses those at many clubs higher up the English non-league pyramid, and to this day is often cited by new players as a fundamental persuader for joining the club.
These days, Paul remains an active volunteer with the club, helping to maintain the premises throughout the week and hosting visiting club officials in the Boardroom on first team matchdays. He is also a regular on The Stags Away Day Travel minibus, and a trusted navigator.
As Steve Brookwell, AFC Totton CEO, commented: “Paul is an excellent ambassador for this football club and for non-league football as a whole. He’s a tremendous role model for anybody involved in the club to look up to, and I’m more than delighted that we have been able to recognise his tremendous contribution to The Stags over half-a-century.”
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Image courtesy of Jake Argent
