Chris Kirkland Stand official opening - Saturday 7 September

Royal Wootton Bassett Town will be holding the official opening of the Chris Kirkland Stand on Saturday 7 September ahead of the Men's First Team's Hellenic League Premier Division fixture against Hartpury University. The club are honoured that Chris's wife Maureen, along with several members of the Kirkland family, will be present to officially open the stand. A hugely inspirational figure who made a remarkable contribution to sporting life in Royal Wootton Bassett and the wider community, Chris sadly passed away in March 2022. Through his infectious enthusiasm, passion for sport and a generosity of spirit that knew no ends, he bequeathed an incredible legacy which continues to benefit the town and our football club to this day. For the football club, the Community Football programme that Chris ran for many years in the town helped develop a vast number of players and enabled the club to establish and grow its youth section in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Indeed, most players who featured for the club's youth teams in those years acquired their first formal experience of learning how to play football at the Community Football sessions and soccer fun weeks that Chris organised. As a result, many within this generation affectionately knew Chris as 'Football Grandad'.  While a teacher at Wootton Bassett School – which he served with distinction for close to two and a half decades, Chris established the Holland Tour, with the first organised in 1988. The tours then became an annual event and, since 2002, have been organised through our club. For all those fortunate to have been able to take part, whether through the school or the club, the Holland Tours represent the most cherished memories of youth football and ones that will last a lifetime. Thanks to Chris' efforts and the links that have been forged with the likes of SV Loosduinen, FC 's-Gravenzande, FC Dordrecht, EBOH and SC Monster among others, strong, enduring friendships have been made with those at the clubs that we have visited over the years. Chris also organised summer youth tournaments, the template for which the club adopted in 2001. And over the next decade our club's six-a-side event grew into one of the leading, most popular tournaments held in Wiltshire. Beyond the football club, Chris' tireless efforts and generosity benefited others in our community. Through initiatives such as the Mad March Hare Fun Run and the sporting dinners that he organised as well as the numerous marathons which he completed, Chris helped raise significant funds for the town's schools and sports clubs. He also organised tournaments for local primary schools around the town's annual carnival. Through all that he did, Chris' efforts helped in more than just a material way. He was a true champion of the idea of sport for all and was a keen supporter of girls and women's football. More broadly, he made sure that there were opportunities to play and learn the beautiful game for all young players in the area regardless of their ability.  To honour Chris we have decided to name the new stand, whose purchase was self-funded by the club, in his memory as a lasting gesture of thanks for all that he did for the club and local sporting community.

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Huge thanks also go to Bristol City forward Scott Twine and his father - and long-time club sponsor - Steve Twine for funding the whole cost of the foundations and base of the stand.  While starting his career with Bassett's youth section, one of Scott's earliest football memories is attending a Soccer Fun Week organised by Chris in August 2005. A sign of the talent Scott possessed, he was awarded five stars in the Soccer Star Challenge.