Gladiators: ‘Let’s make Causeway Lane a fortress,’ says The Matlock Town Fan

This week will be a little different due to the weather (I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it appears somebody has dropped sugar all over everywhere) so with no matches to cover and not much going on around the club, I thought I’d spend my time and column inches to appeal to the people of Matlock Town.

I’m a firm believer of the crowd being the 12th man, the driving force behind the team making the players believe anything is possible and you showed up in your droves for the Mansfield Town and Luton Town games, all walks of life, ages and ethnicity’s standing together and backing the lads.

But this needs to continue. I fully believe Matlock Town FC has potential to be something that we can all be proud of and if we can get as many people as possible donning their scarfs and bringing their singing voices to the ground then we can help this club move up the table.

The club has recently being commended for its Affordable Friendly Football promotion drive on Twitter, asking people who perhaps have never thought of attending a Matlock match to get down and get involved.

It has proven to be a great success and seeing fans popping up all over the country, including a man in a town over a 100 miles away proudly wearing the club colours, and when asked about his story he simply said: “The team I support weren’t playing so I decided to make the trip down to Causeway Lane and I fell in love with the club”.

With MTFC TV, fans can enjoy video highlights of the game just hours after the final whistle, and it is being viewed by over 30,000 people in 64 countries, leading to followings of the club popping up in the USA and Canada.

We might not have had the best success at home this season, and that can not be denied, but let’s turn Causeway Lane in to a coliseum where other teams dread to come because they know they will not only be facing the 11 men wearing the club’s colours but the supporters too.

So I simply ask you this, if you’ve never thought of attending a Matlock Town match before then give it a try.

What else can you do for £9 that will see you get 90 minuets of entertainment in a fun family friendly environment, and the chance to be part of something that we should all be proud to have in our scenic town?

I’ll end with this little poem piece by a Matlock Town fan - who wishes to remain unnamed - but I feel it captures the tone of this weeks column rather nicely: “Causeway Lane is our coliseum and we are The Gladiator Nation, we will cheer our side to victory come rain or shine and the noise we shall make on match days is a sound that can be heard from miles around!”