Bumper crowd witnesses special day for Guisborough Juniors/Non-League football

Family, GTFC, Guisborough Town, Non-League Day, Priorymen

Despite a narrow 1-0 loss for the Priorymen in a close fought affair versus the Steelmen of Redcar Athletic at the KGV Stadium, it was a great day both for Non-League Football and the Guisborough Town FC Junior Teams.

From the expansion of the Priorymen’s junior set up from 10 teams back in 2018, to approaching 30 junior teams currently, Town are continually looking to engage the local community and develop future talent through football. All of this is down to the club’s dedicated, selfless volunteers.

Another key event happening in the football calendar this weekend was the celebrated Non-league day event.

Guisborough Town and Redcar Athletic players greet each other — The essence of Guisborough Town’s Junior’s Day is captured in this picture by Dan Clark showing the thrill of Guisborough’s young players meeting the senior players before the derby between Guisborough Town and Redcar Athletic

Set up and launched by James Doe in 2010 as a social media experiment, Non-league day encourages people to go to their local club. Furthermore, it also aims to support and attract new fans of grassroots football.

The importance of non-league to the beautiful game was acknowledged across most football media and television, notably on Football Focus, where Alex Scott and her guests visited the home of north east team Scarborough Athletic, Guisborough’s opponents in last year’s North Riding Senior Cup final.

Although the Priorymen suffered a narrow defeat against Redcar Athletic on the pitch yesterday, the atmosphere all around the KGV was electric. More than 760 people attended the match, easily a record number for Guisborough this season, with many supporting the club in the clubhouse bar and in the stands.