Silsden’s gargantuan efforts to get their last home game on so that they could go through with their official opening of the ASDA Foundation Stadium that has cost over a million pounds is still the talk of the village.
The Cobbydalers applied for and received two grants but they had to cover ten per cent of the total of both hand-outs from the authorities.
There were some strenuous fund-raising events completed, including fanzine spokesman Rob Grillo running the Pennine Way.
A defeat on the day – Silsden went down 3-0 to Bacup Borough on December 11 – did nothing to stop the club celebrating a huge achievement.
Club official Jim Rosser said: “It was a fantastic day and despite the conditions on the roads up and down the country, we had a massive turnout.
“We had invited over a 100 former players and asked through the media and internet for others we had lost touch with to join us.
“People came from Bristol, Carlisle, Nottingham and loads of other places just to be with us. There were some fantastic stories flying about and it was really frustrating because you couldn’t catch them all.
“A few of the team that played against Bradford City in that friendly all those years ago – we have the picture of the line-ups at the start of the game hanging in the clubhouse – made it and they were guests of honour.
“We had 83-year-old Eric Inman, Jeff Atkinson at a young 78 and master of them all Arthur Tillotson, who is the oldest of that team at 85. Arthur once scored nine goals in one game for Silsden.
“There were players here from the teams of the 60s, 70s and 80s as well. They were all mingling together and stayed for ages. It was a great day that will live long in the memory.
“One man who has worked so hard for it all is our chairman Sean McNulty and he was determined to get the game on, even borrowing a tractor with a snow plough and working for two days solid on the pitch.
“As chairman he knew he would be cutting the ribbon before the officials led the players out onto the pitch. We had a huge cover over the sign above the stand and Sean thought it was going to read, The ASDA Foundation Stadium.
“When he had cut the ribbon and made his little speech he was dragged out into the middle of the pitch and the cover was dropped. It said The McNulty Stand and it is dedicated to him and his dad who have done so much for the club down the years.”
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