All Golds Update

On the 31st January, a charity match was held at Gloucester Old Boys in honour of Beverley James & Gareth White featuring Welsh captain Jordan James and raising over £2000 for the Anything for a Life charity.

The BUCS second side defeated league leaders Swansea 36-30 at the Prince of Wales Stadium on the 4th February.

The first side were back in action for a pre-season friendly on the 8th February with an experimental line-up consisting of several BUCS players facing a brutal encounter against Hemel Stags who featured ex captain Mike Stewart. All Golds 18-36 Hemel Stags.

A nightmare to shoot this match with a dodgy Nikon lens, but the BUCS first team battled hard to comeback against Oxford, winning the match 30-22 and facing a title decider in Loughborough two days later, meaning three games in four days for certain players!

The All Golds Business Breakfast at the Growth Hub on the 13th February saw the visit of former MD of Cheltenham Racecourse Edward Gillespie, and Rugby historian Tony Collins who delivered a very interesting talk about the role of Cheltenham in history of sport.

Get behind the Robins!

Since moving to Cheltenham I'd like to think that I have adopted the Robins as my 'lower league' club, backing them on failed accumulators, attempting ambitious campaigns with them on Football Manager & FIFA, staying up until stupid O'Clock until the end of the Football League Show and praying they'd get Leeds at home when a cup draw is being made.

I've only made it to two Cheltenham Town home matches, a bland 0-0 draw against Newport County during their first season back in the Football League, and a lively televised JPT encounter against eventual finalists Bristol City, loosing 3-1. This season started relatively well for the Robins, unbeaten for the first six league encounters, and destroying League 1 Swindon Town 5-0 in the FA Cup. However that form failed to last and they parted ways with manager of 5 years Mark Yates just before being knocked out of the cup by non-league Dover Athletic.

Currently the club is managed by Paul Buckle, laying 21st in League 2 and sporting an patched up squad of loaned players from across the leagues, only attracting an average of 2,717 supporters to Whaddon Road. In a light hearted attempt to boost these figures, Murry Toms created a crowd funding campaign on the internet for a billboard to be placed in the town, and within 11 hours the £650 was raised. Quickly erected on the side of the United Services Club on North Place today, the message implies that Cheltenham are better than Manchester United through 'We beat them' theory after fellow League 2 outfit Cambridge United earned a replay at Old Trafford against the three times champions of Europe following a 0-0 result in the FA Cup fourth round.

The social media hype around this campaign has already resulted in noticeable support for the around the town, namely at the local Sue Ryder charity Shop, where shirts, scarf's and other 'club shop tat' is on display (not for sale). Currently there are plans to place a second edition of the billboard, as the crowd funding page has reached over £1000!

We will know on Saturday at 3pm if this venture has really been a success, when ex-Leeds striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink brings his high flying Burton side to Whaddon Road for a league match in front of a newly inspired audience. It is also a test for Buckle's flurry of loan players, including the Welsh u21 forward Wes Burns, to show their worth and avoid the drop to the Conference, and into next seasons League Cup draw at home against the mighty whites.