Welling United manager Ryan Maxwell tells his squad they are playing for debatably the biggest club in the Isthmian Premier and wants them to embrace the challenge

Manager Ryan Maxwell welcomes Welling United’s status as one of the biggest names in the Isthmian Premier.

The Wings were synonymous with the top two tiers of non-league football before dropping to Step 3 in 2025.

They were on course for successive relegations until pulling off a great escape under Maxwell at the end of last season, and now they’re looking to rise again.

Welling, who start the new season at home to Whitehawk on Saturday (3pm), are likely to have a target on their back as they bid to mount a promotion challenge.

But Maxwell, who took charge in November last year with the club deep in relegation trouble, wants his players to embrace that.

“It’s something I’ve told my players - I said you’re playing for debatably the biggest club in the league,” said Maxwell.

“History tells you that, by the fact it’s spent most of its time of late in the higher regions of the pyramid, so that’s something we have to take on the chin.

“That’s why I came here, to be honest, because it has the history behind it.

“Yes, we’ve had to come in to change it, in terms of where it was going when we came in last November.

“We’ve done that and now it’s about getting it back to where it has been for long periods of time.

“The players know how big the club is, I know a lot of teams already know when they have Welling - they’ve looked for that fixture - and it’s something we have to welcome and run with and not let it be a negative. We have to make it a big positive.

“I’d rather be a team that people talk about or are conscious of having in their league campaign than not.

“We’re well aware of who we are and what we need to be, and we’ve got to keep our feet on the ground.”

Maxwell immediately set out top-six ambitions after leading Welling