Ryan Maxwell has high hopes for Walthamstow FC after their summer rebrand, with the Northern Irishman targeting promotion from the Essex Senior League this season.

It has certainly been a busy few months for Maxwell off the pitch, with the team changing its name from Waltham Forest to Walthamstow FC to coincide with the club’s 150th anniversary, in a bid to grow their fan base in the local area.

Since that rebrand, the club have certainly backed its boss in the transfer market, with Maxwell bringing in prolific striker James Peagram, who scored 29 times last season, alongside experienced duo Craig Pope and Lee Flynn, among others.

It proved to be a tough campaign for the Stags last season, with the team being involved in a relegation battle and they only maintained their Essex Senior League status on the final day thanks to a crucial 3-1 win over Ilford.

Given last season’s struggles, some may have expected a year of consolidation for Walthamstow this campaign, but ambitious Maxwell has other ideas.

He said: “The signings I’ve made are quite well known to people in the Ryman Football pyramid. They haven’t dropped down to help their mate – they’ve dropped down to win.

“We’ve come in early and we’re preparing right and preparing in the right way if you’re trying to achieve something. If we’re not up at the top and knocking on the door, then I would be disappointed because that is what the goal is.

“The lads I sign know that their mentalities have got to be slightly different and the boys that were here last season started that mentality towards the end. In our last five games, we went unbeaten with three wins and two draws.

“The aim for this season has got to be to get this club into the Ryman League, which is where it should be.”

Maxwell was also consulted about the club’s rebrand over the summer and he believes the move will hopefully be the start of a bright future for Walthamstow both on and off the pitch.

“We had a little over 105/110 people at the last game of the season and we were in a relegation battle at the time. These people were from Walthamstow and it just made sense for the club to identify itself with the town, rather than the borough,” he said.

“I think the people of Walthamstow need a football club. We’ve been busy behind the scenes, myself included, trying to get people from Walthamstow and businesses interested in the football club. We’ve got a couple of sponsors in the background.

“I just think it’s a fresh start and a clean slate. We can forget about last season’s relegation battle and we’ve got a completely different brief this year.”

The Northern Irishman’s bold ambitions can be further evidenced through his decision to start pre-season training earlier this year, in a bid to enhance their chances of earning promotion.

Walthamstow’s players have been back in training for over a month now and they kicked off their preparations for the upcoming Essex Senior League campaign with a 6-0 defeat to National League side Dulwich Hamlet just over a week ago.

The team enjoyed better fortunes last weekend, though, as they picked up their first win in pre-season with a 4-2 victory over Billy Cove’s Epping Town.

Matches against Enfield Town, Grays Athletic and Billericay Town, among others, are also lined up in the coming weeks and Maxwell has been pleased with the way that his players have returned for training.

He said: “We came in early mainly because we had foreseen that there may be a bit of upset with the World Cup and staggered training sessions.

“We came in on the 16th June and I think it was a good decision because we’ve managed to get plenty of work done in that time on the fitness side of things and it’s given me a chance to see lads that I didn’t really know from people’s recommendations. I’ve had a chance to look at them in more detail before the games have kicked in.

“I’ve got a really good group of boys. Their attitude has been superb and numbers have been good. We’ve started to whittle it down a little bit now but it’s going very well.”