In front of the club’s largest crowd of the season, on 18th October, the Bluebells and Walton & Hersham served up an entertaining game of football with the league leaders fortunate to win 2-1, in a game where Yate Town deserving at least a point.
But off the pitch there was also plenty going on:
- The club helped raise funds for their charity of the season and £344.66 was collection on the day, with The British Heart Foundation mascot “Hearty” involved.
Louise Gallard from the British Heart Foundation commented, “Hearty had such a brilliant time with you all on your busy community match day, and we are so grateful to Yate Town FC’s supporters for being so generous with donations, and of course to the club for their added contribution. Donations like this can go a long way in helping us fund groundbreaking research, critical for the future detection, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Thank you to you all for this brilliant support”.
- The club also had another mascot courtesy of DJ Bridgee”o”s Entertainment.
- The mascots for the afternoon, were a group of children from a variety of families. Part of their afternoon, before the game, included:
A visit to see the physio’s room and a question-and-answer session with the club Sports Analyst, Ben Emery, and Yate Town player, Matt Britton.
A question-and-answer session with club captain Joe Guest, who is seen signing autographs for some of the mascots. The group also met the match officials and assistant manager, Paul Tovey.
The mascots joined the team as they entered the pitch before the game.
A couple of parents commented:
“Thank you for giving Phoebe the opportunity to be a mascot yesterday, she loved it! She got her programme signed by most of the players, got a golem shirt and loved watching the match. We hope to come and watch Yate Town FC again soon!"
“I just wanted to email to say thank you very much for the mascot day on Saturday. Riley thoroughly enjoyed himself. It was a great experience for Riley. Also please pass on our thanks to JT who took time after his photo with Riley to chat to us both and asked Riley about his interest in football. Thank you again.”
- There was a face painter at the ground with Sam from BeePainting painting a number of children’s faces.
- There were extra food outlets
- Plus a fire engine was in the car park, where parents and children could look at the vehicle and ask questions.
- And our match and ball sponsors Apex Pumps and John Evan’s Stag group had a good time too.
Chairman, Mark Thorne, was thrilled with the day and said, “A fantastic day for everyone concerned. It was great to some new faces at the match and also enjoying the entertainment. The Community Day is very much part of the club’s annual dairy. A massive thanks to Graphic Packaging International for sponsoring the day and let's hope we see people return in numbers to support your local club.”
Whilst assistant manager, Paul Tovey commented, “Despite the unfortunate defeat to the league leaders it was an all-round great day for Yate Town FC, so well done to Mark, Bob, Stew and everyone else who contributed.
A healthy crowd were given an incident packed game of football to watch, and with all the off-field activities going on before and after it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves.
The mascots make a huge difference to the atmosphere, as do the young “ultras” cheering and banging the drum behind the goal.
Lots of smiles, so hopefully everyone had a good time and will come back to watch us again.”