Peterborough United chairman is 'happy' to see his team written off before the season has started
Chairman Darragh MacAnthony insists he is happy Peterborough United’s season has been written off before it’s started in some quarters.
The bookies don’t rate the Posh chances of winning promotion from League One – they are 14th favourites of 24 teams to go up with SkyBet – and social media critics have been vocal in their condemnation of some pre-season performances.
The 2025-26 campaign follows the worst third tier finish (18th) in MacAnthony’s near 20-year era at London Road.
"We have been written off by some already and I’m happy with that,” MacAnthony said on the latest edition of his Hard Truth Podcast. “There will be ups and downs as there is every season, but I am sure there will be more ups than downs.
"Every year we are in League One we aim for promotion and this year is no different. There are some big clubs knocking around as there always are, but there’s no point in saying we will keep our powder dry for the following season. If we had done that in the past we would never have beaten the likes of Leeds, Brighton and Sheffield United to promotions.
"Social media is best ignored. It’s a very small percentage of supporters active on there. I’ve had to laugh at some comments after some of our games because, as Barry Fry keeps telling me, pre-season results don’t mean anything. The only time we stayed up in the Championship in my time at the club we lost pretty much every pre-season game.
"Some of the performances could have been better. We didn’t play great against a very strong MK Dons side who will probably win League Two by 15-20 points and yet we found a way to win. I love the attitude of players who kept going and scored twice in the last 10 minutes to turn a result around.
"There are a lot of good sides this season. Huddersfield have shown intent with the backing of the owner and the investment they’ve made in new signings. Cardiff and Luton will be strong as will Wycombe and Plymouth, while Orient have a great manager and the usual promotion suspects like Barnsley, Bolton and us are in the division.
“We’ve spent money as well and we will spend more. We’re among the biggest spenders of the last three seasons and I’m happy with our recruitment. We’ve had knockbacks along the way, but we’ve signed most of our first choices. We rarely sign finished articles, but this is the third transfer window of our re-build and I’m satisfied how it’s going.
"We have some juicy games to start the season, but promotions are not won in the first month. I’m energised and excited about what lies ahead.”
MacAnthony was speaking before the weekend friendlies with Colchester United (2-2) and Grimsby Town (2-3) were played and before a potentially serious injury to new goalkeeper Alex Bass was confirmed.