SERVING WITH HONOUR : THE MAN WITH THE CLIPBOARD

 

To be printed in the National League South game v Ebbsfleet United on Saturday 23rd August 2025

Football is so much more than just ninety minutes on the pitch. And that was no more in evidence than last Saturday at Arbour Park.

But let’s rewind to the week before. First game of the season. Tonbridge Angels away. WhatsApp and social media buzzing with places to meet, drink and be merry. For those of us who didn’t make any friendlies, its been three months since I set my sore eyes on the Rebel Rabble.

I can almost get the bus to the ground from the bottom of my street, the Brighton ones winding their way to Tunbridge Wells before a short hop on the train. I managed to find the greasiest spoon with no fancy coffee, one tooth customers – including the dogs - wipe down tables and friendly chatter. Better than the sour dough, sour faced fancy pants cafe up the road that wanted £97 for a doorstep cheese toastie. I sat in the pub opposite the station while Tonbridge Pride weaved its way to the Castle. Presumably not to ransack it.

Me and Gaz the Sandwich (Formerly known as Gaz the Postie) hopped in a taxi and after the usual quiz from security about various musical instruments - ‘just leave me alone I’m a Morris dancer’ we joined the Slough massive in the bar. With a virtual new team, you can’t help be apprehensive, especially as every week another club in our league seems to be taking over by a rich benefactor. But blimey how quick they’ve gelled. A feast of fast flowing, in your face, attacking football where everyone scratched their heads wondering how it ended 0-0 and not with 3 points for the Rebels. Still, this was really promising.

Next up Arbour Park. Social media was alive again but this time because the supporters team were taking on a Football Managers Creators team. I’m not into computer games, and each to his own, but I really can’t get my head round people watching other people playing computer games. Still, I’m sure a few question my sanity spending my weekends watching Slough. The organiser WhyCallum had formed a bond with the club, he’d even managed one Slough game, and this was the next collaboration.

Scott McNeish head of the McNeish Media dynasty was manager and asked me to come along. He’d thrown together a rag tag of players, where dads and sons rubbed shoulders while Caz the Physio put down her two pints and rubbed magic dust into injured players – some like Cameron the Drummer broken before a ball was even kicked. I’m not sure what I was expecting but this was great fun.

There was some interesting wild card rules, where the opposition manager could sub three of our players for 10 minutes and if Superman scored a goal it counted as two! Slough really grew into the game, Alfie got a hatrick then lost his hair – much to his mums horror. Captain Martin set a world record giving away 3 penalties in one game while Andy the Plumber thought it was walking football,...but to be fair did lay on what should have been an assist for a goal (right you owe me a couple of beers now mate). Victory was sweet and companies spend thousands on trying to get this type of bonding.

Now onto the real match, which ended up being one of the worst games of football I’ve seen for a long time. In stark contrast to last weeks energy this game never got going and we lost 1-0. Our supporters never got going either - which was no doubt not helped by half of them suffering from exhaustion after their supporters game. Then the terrible news filtered through about Mark Hunter. The Hunters have been a massive part of the Slough Town family for ever. I remember Marks mum serving me sweets in the hatch at Wexham Park, Leigh goes home and away (and had just played a blinder for the supporters) and manages the Ladies team. As for Mark, well he had done just about every job possible – from kitman, chair of the supporters trust to his current role as matchday secretary. The man with the clipboard. A permanent fixture who had done so much to keep our club running over many, many years.

New research highlights that football fans feel increasingly disconnected from the modern game. Over half (53%) believe that high ticket prices are diminishing their enjoyment of the sport, with a staggering 81% not considering matches as good value for money. The research, commissioned by LiveScore and conducted by YouGov Sport, revealed the Saturday 3pm kick-off remains a firm favourite across football fans, with 58% choosing it as their top preference of match time, when it is becoming ever rarer.

This is of course music to the ears of lower league clubs who offer something different – and in Sloughs case free season tickets to anyone who plays for the club at any level. My eldest commented on just how many children were at the game.

The supporters match raised over £2000 for MIND the mental health charity and in a world where so many feel lonely, struggle with mental health, spend too long on increasingly angry social media – a football club is somewhere to go; where you can belong. Where people meet, make new friends, sort out their problems. With yet another survey bashing Slough in the headlines; this one saying it is amongst one of the least connected communities in England, what Slough Town Football Club does really matters.

No where was this more evident than how that support for Leigh galvanised so quickly, to support him and the Hunter family as best we can.

So today we pay our respects at the game for a man who truly served the club he loved with honour. RIP Mark Hunter