WHAT A WONDERFUL AFTERNOON AT STOKE LANE IN THE SUNSHINE!
The weather gods looked down on Carlton Town favourably on Saturday as the heavy showers skirted round the Bill Stokeld Stadium to leave the ground basked in sunshine for the majority of the afternoon as Carlton took on their friends from Merthyr Town. There had been a real concern about the weather forecast, so many were breathing heavy sighs of relief.
A superb crowd of 203, a cracking crowd for a friendly enjoyed a fabulous afternoon, with another fantastic effort for the Food Bank with a substantial amount being donated including some from the fantastic Merthyr Town supporters.
The first act of the afternoon for our two VIP Guests was to open the new DRS Stand completed on the morning of the game, Chairman Mick Garton thanked Mad Gav for brokering the deal for the club and everyone involved with the building of it and of course in particular DRS. A few words from the Brillant Jonny Owen, then the Welsh ticker tape was cut to loud applause.
Time for act two, The Beer Garden sponsored by FINELINE MARKET RESEARCH and in memory of Olivia Hinton whose father Scot funded the project for the club. This time it was Ian Storey-Moore who made the speech after a few words from the Chairman.
With the two acts completed, it was time for an excellent Q and A with Jonny Owen before Boatsy gave some dear thanks to those who had done the most to get the projects over the line with a few little presents chucked in for appreciation. Boatsy himself was then also recognised by the club and presented with a Bombay voucher and a card of thanks.
Take a deep breath, because then we had some football to play and Carlton look in good nick running out 4-0 winners in an excellent workout. A report on the game will follow on the supporters website in the usual way.
With a beer garden to sit in ,Dan on the decks and two bands to play sets into the early evening, it was not time to go home. Alistair was on fire with the Cornet and the sun was still shining. Players from both teams had been busy signing the Welsh flag to put up in the Howard Mitchell Sportsbar in recognition of the friendship between the two clubs.
A special mention to Kat who donated a specially made Millers Umbrella which raised around £200 in a raffle for the club and to Sam from MKM who was a special guest at the game, details of their fantastic sponsorship of the club will be announced in the coming days
There is lots of coverage still to come from this remarkable day , photos ( Lou Lardi was busy) , footage which the Carlton Town Tv team are pouring through and there will be a special look back at Saturday’s day in the Match day programme for the Sheffield Fc game on 15th August.
Next summer, The Millers will travel down to Merthyr for the return fixture , for now we have a trip to Clifton All Whites to look forward to next Saturday 22nd July before another massive event at Stoke Lane.
On Saturday 29th July, the club in conjunction with Shepshed Dynamoes with play out a memorial game in memory of Jackie North, it promises to be another emotionally charged afternoon at Stoke Lane and a special Programme will be produced by Joe in memory of the Duchess of Carlton.
