Melksham Town hosted the full Bristol Rovers first team at the Oakfield Stadium sponsored by Hadley on Friday 30th June, in front of 2,014 fans.
Joey Barton’s side won the game convincingly by 9 – 0 but to see the likes of Scott Sinclair, ex Manchester City and Celtic star; Aaron Collins, named in the 1st Division Player of the Year team; George Friend, ex-Middlesborough and Birmingham City; and rising star Jevani Brown to name a few, was a joy in itself.
The feedback that we got from Bristol Rovers was amazing with them paying tribute to the pitch and the organisation of the game, saying the car parking, catering and hospitality were first class. They have already said they look forward to next season. I must say Bristol Rovers were first class in having photos taken and signing autographs from the moment they arrived to the minute they left.
Although the gulf in class was all too evident, it is still a great workout for the Melksham lads, playing in front of 2,000 people but also getting minutes into the legs and plenty of running as well without the ball.
Big games coming up against Forest Green and Swindon Town
It’s a special week for the club, with games at home against Duncan Ferguson’s Forest Green Rovers on Wednesday 5th July with a 7.30pm ko and then hosting Wiltshire’s only professional football team, again at the Oakfield Stadium, when Swindon Town visit us for a 3pm kick off, on Saturday 8th July.
Both teams have promised they will be bringing their full first team squads and we are anticipating a very large crowd on Saturday. We urge all supporters from Melksham to walk, cycle or get dropped off and arrive early. You can pay on the gate for both games.
Financially the games are good for us in hosting pre-season games against Bristol Rovers, Forest Green Rovers and Swindon Town. What it also does is give us a good relationship with the clubs and it could also hopefully help the manager and his staff out if we possibly need to bring in loan players during the season.
Report by Darren Perrin, club chairman.
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