On a historic day of celebrations for everyone following Chesterfield FC, there were especially poignant moments for one lifelong fan attending his first game in years to see the team clinch promotion back to the Football League.
As luck would have it, the Chesterfield FC Community Trust invited Peter Makin, 87, to the SMH Group Stadium on Saturday, March 23. The club’s six-year National League drought ended with a three-nil victory over Boreham Wood.
The VIP visit was organised in collaboration with Gladstone Road’s Ashleigh Residential Home, where Peter has been residing for the last three months while getting dementia care.
Dianne Wildin, the home’s activities coordinator, went with him for the day. Peter and Dianne have become fast friends over their shared love of Spireites.
“Peter has always been involved in football and has been a fan since he was a boy,” Dianne stated. He has also had a lengthy friendship with [CEO] John Croot.
“He has a lot of other mementos in his room, including a signed ball, and he has a lot of lifelong memories of the club. It speaks to him even if he has dementia.
“To be there on the day they won the league was very emotional for him,” she continued. “This was the first game he’s been able to go to in a long, long time.” It had overtaken him.
He probably values this more than we think. We’ve already started creating a new display board for his bedroom with pictures, his ticket, and other mementos so he’ll always have that to remember it by. He can’t believe it occurred.
All day long, Peter and Dianne received first-class treatment, including a tour of the stadium, presents, and access to the executive box used by Marcus Leverton and his family, a local businessman.
“We’ve been working with the community trust for a while, attending their knit and chat group, and they’ve been into the home to do exercise sessions, so they couldn’t have done anything more to make us feel important when we wanted to arrange for Peter to go to a game,” Dianne stated.
Their generosity and friendliness from the moment we pulled into the parking lot until we left are beyond words. Everyone we encountered was sincere, which was a reflection of Peter’s feelings for the team. It’s the individuals
“Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen,” she continued. “That includes Marcus and his family, John Croot, Claire Featherstone and Kelly Beeson from Ashleigh, and Darren Parkinson and the rest of the trust team.
“The day was filled with so many moving moments, but it was really the entire experience—the emotion, the mood. I must admit, after playing it for the first time, I’m hooked.
Leave a Reply