It’s that time of the year again when the Stan Veness Memorial Trophy gets dusted down and we rejoin battle with our age-old adversaries and landlords, Tilbury FC, in this traditional season curtain raiser.
This time last year, Tilbury were the victors and they will be keen to retain the silverware. At the time of last season's contest, Tilbury were about to adjust to life in the Essex Senior League - and they did so in magnificent style, engineering an immediate return to the Isthmian League, as ESL champions, winning the title by nine points. Grays Athletic on the other hand, endured a season of struggle in Isthmian 1North, but rallying under the new leadership of Darren Manning, to finish in 16th place, well below original expectations.
This year’s SMVT encounter is taking place in support of brain tumour research (www.braintumourresearch.org ) a charity Grays Athletic are proud to be associated with - and we are delighted that Tilbury are joining us tonight in this endeavour.
Two of our supporters, Jamie Lush and young Dottie Rees, are both suffering from this condition and the club is doing everything we can, in return, to support them and their families. Both will be at the game this evening as our guests and we hope they have a great time - with Jamie joining Darren in the dugout for the night, no doubt offering his thoughts and wisdom !
Members of the BRT charity will be in attendance at the stadium on Tuesday evening to talk to spectators and raise awareness of this life-threatening condition - please give generously to them.
As we all know, the Grays Athletic v Tilbury FC fixture is one of the longest-standing local derbies anywhere in the world - a rivalry that has stood the test of time over many decades. Over the years, both sides have had periods of dominance but recently things have been more evenly balanced. And there is, of course, a long history of players pulling on both jerseys across their careers. Tilbury now have several faces in their side that will be familiar to Blues fans, whilst Grays in recent years have had their fair share of ex-Dockers.
Whatever the coming season brings for both sides, bragging rights in “El Chavico” is massive to both sets of fans - so there is a lot at stake, even in pre-season.
Come on You Blues !!