Aldershot Town celebrate and commemorate Remembrance Day tomorrow with a full afternoon of events as we host AFC Fylde at the EBB Stadium.
The Club, along with its major sponsors, have donated 300 tickets to members of Aldershot Garrison, with Clark Caterers also offering two drinks deals to serving personnel on production of valid ID.
The game has been designated a ‘Shots BAFTA’ match, with supporters encouraged to Bring A Friend To Aldershot, to help cheer the team to victory and honour our Armed Forces.
The pre-match ceremony will begin at 2.50pm, when standard bearers of the Royal British Legion, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Parachute Regiment will lead the two teams out through a Guard of honour formed by members of the Ash Manor School Combined Cadet Force. The AMSCCF will also perform duties as ballboys during the match.
The matchball will be delivered to the centre spot by Aldershot-based Normandy Veteran Lewis Trinder and John Shannon Sr, who at the FA’s Respect Awards in July was named ‘Supporter of the Year’ for his voluntary work with the Amateur Alliance, having spent most of his life in the Royal Navy.
Club Chaplain Rev Mike Pusey will lead the ceremony with a poignant introduction, before a lone bugler will sound the Last Post, followed by a two-minute silence and Reveille.
Members of the Aldershot Branch of the Royal British Legion, led by Shots season ticket holder Mick Mills, will make a collection in aid of the 2017 Poppy Appeal. Shots fans have raised over £1800 in the last three years, and your generosity is again much appreciated.
Aspire Defence Services Limited – who yesterday confirmed a deal for The Shots to train at the Military Stadium on Queen’s Avenue – will be recruiting cyclists to join their official Guinness World Record attempt, in aid of Children in Need, for Most Electrical Energy Produced by Pedalling on Static Bicycles for 24 Hours. The attempt is being made at the Garrison Sports Centre next Thursday, 16 November, with all of Gary Waddock’s first-team squad and the Club’s office staff already taking part.
Ethical medical supplies manufacturer, and sponsors of the East Bank and Shots Youth Department, GlucoRx will be offering free diabetes tests to all supporters. It is a disease which affects over 3 million people aged 16 and over in the UK – around 850,000 of whom, it is estimated, are undiagnosed, with the total expected to rise to 4.6 million by 2030. The Club continue to work with the Woking-based company to raise awareness and promote preventative measures, such as increased exercise and a healthy diet.
Half-time will see a presentation made by Brian Lee, Chairman of the National League Trust, to Shots Foundation Manager Mark Simmons, of a cheque for £24,000 to mark the Trust’s funding of the Shots Foundation’s two inaugural projects, in Walking Football and Girls Football.
Our award-winning matchday programme, The Shots, is a special commemorative edition tomorrow, featuring all the usual great content – including exclusive interviews with Fabien Robert and Mark Smith – plus memories of Aldershot’s links with two World War One centenaries, the Battle of Passchendaele and formation of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, and even more on our friends in Aldershot Garrison and the Royal British Legion.
The team will once again be wearing our special poppy shirts, which are available for auction until Tuesday, with large poppies adorning all four stands at the EBB Stadium.
