To celebrate their 150th Anniversaries, Kent’s Royal Engineers Association Football Club (RE AFC) and the Football Association (FA) will take to the pitch in a charity football match later this month
The match is being hosted by Maidstone United and takes place at The Gallagher Stadium on Monday 25th November, starting at 7:30pm.
The FA will be fielding a representative XI, with Maidstone United Manager Jay Saunders acting as the FA’s Assistant Manager and team coach for the night. The Royal Engineers AFC, which is made up of serving soldiers, will be pulling in players from as far afield as Scotland, Germany, Cyprus as well as local Regiments from Chatham and Maidstone. The club’s president, Colonel Andy Philips is currently serving in Afghanistan but has vowed to be back in time for the game.
The joint commemorative match was the brainchild of RE AFC Director of Football, Captain Glen Lishman: “Football and other team games epitomise what it is to be a soldier: the teamwork, sense of camaraderie, endurance, robustness and the will to win. The RE AFC, who won the FA Cup in 1875, were also one of the clubs that originally helped to set up the FA so it seems only fitting that we should play them on our 150th anniversary year.”
The money raised from receipts on the gate will be donated to RBLI (Royal British Legion Industries), a Kent-based charity which has been providing training, employment, housing and welfare support to armed forces personnel for nearly a century.
Steve Sherry, CEO of RBLI is extremely pleased to be part of events: “Although we support military personnel from all over the UK, we are proud to have a special relationship with the Royal Engineers and their families in Medway and Kent and we are extremely honoured that they will be donating proceeds from the anniversary match towards our work.”
Tickets can be bought on the gate at The Gallagher Stadium, Maidstone. The cost is £5 for adults and £1 for youths and concessions, with the under 11s going free. Pre-match entertainment will be provided by The Band of the Corps of Royal Engineers, which performs music to British troops across the World.