Welcome to the first game of the 1967/68 season, we all know that feeling of hope and expectation, often quickly replaced by disappointment!
Peterborough vs Scunthorpe match day programme
Watched by a crowd of 6,984, this opening day fixture ended in a 1-1 draw but a good run in September saw Peterborough reach the top of the table for a couple of weeks. Then the disappointment set in and, when the curtain came down on the season, Peterborough had finished 9th.
The chances of finding a Peterborough United programme that mentions Michael Maynard, their first black player, are slim. Born in what was then British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1947, his Football League career spanned just three appearances (one of which was as a substitute). Throw in one FA Cup game, a 5-2 home win over non-league Falmouth Town, and there you have it – a first team career that started on 25th November 1967 (away at Gillingham) and ended on 15th December that same year (away at Scunthorpe). Prior to Peterborough he was on the books of non-league Hounslow Town and Crystal Palace (where he didn’t make the first team) and after leaving the Posh he played for non-league Brentwood Town and Chelmsford City.
Mike was on Peterborough’s books at the start of the 1967/68 season but isn’t mentioned at all in the programme for the opening day game against Scunthorpe.
One black player who is mentioned is Peter Foley who played in the number 11 shirt for Scunthorpe that day:
There is no mention of Peter’s colour in the pen picture in the programme, which is probably as it should be.
He is simply described as ‘a clever two-footed player from whom much is expected. Born Edinburgh.’ Peter has famously said that throughout his career in the Football League (which lasted from February 1965 until August 1969) he never had a black team mate or faced a black player on the opposing team. He might have broken that duck when Mike Maynard played his final game for Peterborough at Scunthorpe but Peter was missing from the Scunthorpe line up that day.
You can see an interview with Peter on our ‘films’ page: https://footballs-black-pioneers.com/about/films/