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Leyland Club members enjoy incredible experience at Everton thanks to sportsbreaks.com
We were delighted to have four brilliant individuals from our Leyland Sporting Memories Club as volunteers and members given the opportunity to experience a stadium tour and a matchday last week at Everton Football Club, thanks to our partners at sportsbreaks.com.
Michael Tithertington, James Costello, Norman Chaloner and Les Crawford have been part of the Leyland Sporting Memories Club for many years now, with Michael and James volunteering at the club, while Norman and Les attend as Club members. They are also life-long Evertonians, so they jumped at the chance to be part of something special at Goodison Park.
Throughout our partnership with sportsbreaks.com, we’ve provided Club members and volunteers from our Clubs across Great Britain with the opportunity to witness some of the greatest sporting events at some iconic venues, and our Leyland group were no exception as they got to visit the home of the Toffees twice in one week.
A tour of Goodison with some Toffee Icons
On 31 January, ahead of Everton’s Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur, the quartet from our Leyland Club were given a private stadium tour of Goodison Park, alongside former Everton players Barry Horne and Francis Jeffers.
Barry and Francis were on hand to share their memories of playing for the blue half of Liverpool and accompanied the members on their tour of Goodison visiting the home dressing room, the press box and making their way through the tunnel as they made their way onto the hallowed turf whilst ‘Z Cars’ was playing in the background.
They also had the chance to view the 1994/95 FA Cup, which was the club last major domestic honour, and have some pictures taken alongside Barry and Francis.
Taking in a Premier League matchday
Following their stadium tour, the Leyland Club group headed back to Goodison on 2 February, to take in a matchday as they were special guests of sportsbreaks.com again, to watch Everton take on Tottenham.
It turned out to be an entertaining clash as Jarrad Braithwaite scored a late equaliser for the hosts to earn them a vital point in their battle for Premier League survival. It was a great match to go alongside the fun activities of earlier in the week.
What it means
During the stadium tour, Michael Tithertington, who helped the form the Sporting Memories Club in Leyland, reflected on what this opportunity meant for him but also his fellow volunteer James, and members Norman and Les who joined him for the experience.
“Our Club at Leyland has around 50-60 people involved with it, and we come together every week to chat about Sport. We’ve really appreciated coming here today and being part of a fabulous day and I have to thank Sportsbreaks.com for that.
“It really was a thrill when you come out onto the grass (at Goodison Park) because it brings back so many memories, some of them good, some of them bad!
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the hospitality and being able to see behind the scenes and to share stories of our memories – I think that’s the important thing about Sporting Memories as well - is that the emotion it brings out in people, that obviously comes with sport, is just a fantastic thing.”
Find out more about our partners sportsbreaks.com and some of their incredible sporting experiences they have by visiting their website here.
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