What a day it was on Saturday (22nd January) for local side Flackwell Heath Football Club, as the club lined up for their fixture with Arlesey Town in front of a record Wilks Park attendance.
The Heathens’ Chairman, Terry Glynn, who has been associated with the Non League outfit for more than 50 years, has battled prostate cancer on two occasions, and it was revealed that he had beaten it for that second time just before Christmas on December 16 2021.
And to celebrate this fantastic news, the club had dedicated the home fixture with Broadfields on December 28th to raising funds for Prostate UK to help those battling the disease, whilst allowing fans, as well as anyone else, to attend for free. However, as is so often the case these days, government mandated Covid-19 protocols, along with waterlogged pitches meant that the fixture had to be postponed.
However, on Saturday 22nd January, the fixture was finally able to go ahead. Flackwell Heath, who usually see an average crowd of around 148, welcomed a whopping 403 fans through the Wilks Park turnstiles and raised £3,313.25 for the Prostate Cancer UK charity in the process.
And the club celebrated with a 1-0 win, battling through the entire second half with 10-men after Jamie Essex was dismissed on 42 minutes. But a cool, slotted finish from Jack Shakespeare in the 16th minute and some solid goalkeeping from Isaac Hay saw the Heathens secure the three points for Mr Glynn.
Flackwell Heath coach, Tom Burton, is Operations and Business Development Manager at Big Gun Digital, who are also Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust’s digital marketing partner was on hand to offer an official invite to the team here, and we were delighted to have been in attendance.
“Yesterday was undoubtedly the best day I’ve experienced in football”, Tom said on his Twitter page, no doubt whilst nursing a sore head on Sunday morning. “A rollercoaster of emotions seeing people I’ve not seen for years made it unbelievably special. I am proud to be part of this football club since I was 6 years old.” Addressing upcoming games, he asked, “See you all on Tuesday?”
There’s still time to donate to Flackwell Heath’s charity page by clicking here.
Photographer Charlie Carter was on hand to capture the game. Enjoy some of his shots below, and make sure to check out his Instagram here.
