Peterborough United chairman wasn't down for long after an awful season - his enthusiasm and passion has returned

MacAnthony joined his club’s fans in bemoaning a dreadful end to the 2025-26 campaign. A 3-1 home defeat on the final day to Grant McCann’s Doncaster Rovers meant Posh ended the season with a run of 1 win in 15 games after starting it with a run of no wins in 9 matches.

But MacAnthony’s belief in his team’s ability to get back among the League One frontrunners next season remains undiminished.

The chairman’s recent Miami summit with his fellow board members, Posh boss Luke Williams, assistant manager Ryan Harley, CEO Dawn Gore, commercial guru Alex Harris and Academy chief Dan Robinson and others has convinced the main man the good times will return.

MacAnthony, who celebrates 20 years of Posh ownership early next season, admitted plenty of soul searching had been done.

"We had two 11-12 hour days and covered a lot of ground,” MacAnthony revealed on his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast. “We went over last season, what we want to do this summer, the importance of the Academy, the reduction of the debt, who we want to move on, our overall aims and we all learnt that we have some amazing people working for our club.

“Alex impressed everyone as he always does, but every head of department is aligned and dedicated to the club enjoying success. So many people are doing such a good job.

"There was some soul searching, some cleansing of the soul, as we strive to make sure we never again end up in the position we found ourselves in at the end of last season. The players coped from November to February, but after that they could barely lift a leg. They hit a physical and mental wall. It’s unacceptable for any Peterborough United team to win just 1 of 15 games no matter who we have playing and no matter what division we are in.

"It was a slog. It was exhausting to watch and I’m sure our fans felt the same. We became awful as soon as we hit 8th place in the league. The last game against Donny was also awful, but I had my enthusiasm back 24 hours after that game. Sure there are things we have to learn from last season, but there were also some positives. Nothing goes perfectly all the time at any club.

"Two seasons ago we got to within a win of the play-offs and collapsed, and then last season we got to with a win-and-a-half so, while there are problems we have to solve, like the number of injuries our defenders suffered, there are things to build on. Five of the eight main injuries we suffered were to defenders.

"We have already made staff changes. Two new physios have been hired and will be arriving when the ones leaving have worked their contracts. We have a new kit man coming and we are hiring a set-piece coach so Luke will have more of his own people, and not such a hangover from the previous gaffer’s regime.

"The players will have an intense pre-season to ensure we are very fit and healthy from the start of the season. We’ve not had the benefit of that for a couple of years. We are heading to Southern Spain, I think on Monday, July 11, and we will be playing two Spanish teams while we are out there including one on a Friday night in a stadium.

“I love being in the football industry. My heart is ready to explode with excitement again, or it’s ready to be broken again, but actions speak volumes rather than words. You won’t be hearing much from me this summer.

"I’m excited about the challenge of making us favourites to go up, and to restore our reputation for scoring lots of goals. We are all driven to change that narrative and the work has already started.”