A SUNDAY TO REMEMBER

I shall remember today (30th October) because our U13 team won a league game with a brilliant performance against Battyeford U13s at their ground 4-1. Nothing special about this then? Well it was because the young boys and girls put in their best game since I joined them three years ago. It was team work and being disciplined that helped. They battled at Battyeford who had not lost this season and got a result. So the U13 team lies mid-table, nothing exceptional but you know... there were moments when we thought; it's working!

It was working for Everton FC too as they hosted West Ham in a league game (recently mentioned in the news for other kinds of battles).

The Toffees show continued support for the British Armed Forces and before the match this afternoon, the two teams and crowd impeccably honoured the war veterans, alive, wounded and killed, before the club's closest fixture to Remembrance Sunday.

Various "war" groups were represented on the pitch along with the Knowsley Veterans' Hub manager, a veteran himself, and they laid poppy wreaths on the pitch before the game and held the Silence. An actor dressed in WW1 uniform represented James Alex Thomas, an Evertonian, who at 15 years old signed up was the youngest "Liverpool Pal", sadly he was soon killed in July 1916. The "Everton In the Community Veterans' Hub" supports war veterans and their families living in Merseyside. The Everton team wore  poppies embroidered on their team shirts.

Established in 2009, the club's scheme, "Tickets for Troops", enables service personnel and friends discharged from the forces since 2001 to acquire free tickets to matches and other entertainment.

Club captain Phil Jagielka launched the Community's Knowsley Veterans' Hub that encourages around 150 former military personnel to engage in social and physical excercise. This initiative builds on Everton FC Community award winning "Inside Right" project which already guides local veterans and their families into new lives.

There was also a moving minute's applause remembering Howard Kendall's passing a year ago (October 30th 2015).

BTW Everton won 2-0. A day to remember.