Bristol Rovers Community Trust are delighted to announce that we have been selected as the chosen charity for the 2021 Martin Belsten Memorial match sponsored by Cyril Dark & Sons. The annual family friendly charity match will take place on Sunday 26th September 2021 at Cossham St, Mangotsfield United Football Club with the match kicking off at 3pm. The memorial match welcomes a host of former Bristol Rovers Legends to play against a team of supporters, all in a bid to raise funds for a selected charity each year.
Ash Belsten, the creator of the Martin Belsten Memorial Match, organised his first match in memory of his Grandfather back in 2017 for the Soundwell based care home Deerhurst, run by Brunel Care, where his grandfather passed away.
Since the first match, the event has gone from strength to strength, raising thousands of pounds for several charities since its inception and this year, Bristol Rovers Community Trust is truly honoured to have been selected for 2021.
Belsten said. "I think the work that the Community Trust have done over that last year has been fantastic. My Grandad loved his football club, and he loved his community, so it was an easy decision for me to make. We have a massive selection of former players ready to announce over the coming days and weeks and this is certainly going to be the biggest and best one yet!"
Bristol Rovers Community Trust CEO, Adam Tutton, said "The last twelve months has been incredibly difficult for the Community Trust. The pandemic has affected our funding streams and our workload has increased as we have adapted and diversified our delivery to help those within our community, so it has been a difficult challenge. We are absolutely delighted to hear that Ash has agreed for us to be his charity of choice this year and it will help us out enormously. This really will be a really special day for all 'Gas Heads’, and we can't thank everyone enough for their generosity and efforts to make this match a fantastic success."
This year's event is set to be biggest ever with a stellar line-up of Rovers Legends confirming their attendance. Over the coming days and weeks, the Martin Belsten Memorial Match Twitter page will be announcing the Rovers Legends who will be taking part. Make sure you follow @martinbelstenm1 on Twitter and the Bristol Rovers Community Trust social media pages for some exciting player announcements.
Tickets for the match are now on sale via https://www.bristolroverscommunity.org.uk/belstenmemorialmatch2021 £5 per person (U5’s Free) and all funds will be put back into Bristol Rovers Community Trust.