Pitching In Northern Premier League Marine announces the celebration of the first anniversary of the biggest game in the club’s history, against Tottenham Hotspur in the Emirates FA Cup 3rd Round.
The game took place at the Marine Travel Arena on Sunday 10th January 2021, screened live by the BBC and enjoyed by an audience of millions worldwide.
A delegation from Marine have been invited to attend Spurs’ Emirates FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Morecambe on Sunday 9th January. Club officials are delighted to have been given the opportunity to attend the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to thank the many thousands of Tottenham Hotspur fans who bought virtual tickets for last season’s momentous game, and to highlight the friendship forged between the two clubs as a result of the fairytale FA Cup pairing.
In the past twelve months, our wonderful community club has gone from strength to strength both on and off the pitch. Marine in the Community has thrived, helping a great many local people feel a part of something special whilst bringing together people from all walks of life, from different ages, genders, and backgrounds to create a social hub of involvement and participation.
Facilities at the Marine Travel Arena have received significant investment and, following a summer refurbishment, the club now welcomes a huge increase of people enjoying the clubrooms both on matchdays and throughout the week.
On the pitch Marine sit top of the NPL West with a tremendous home record, attracting people from all parts of Merseyside and beyond to enjoy their football along with the sense of belonging and friendship that our club has always strived to achieve.
This is reflected in a tremendous increase in attendances this season as a result of the surge in local, national, and global interest in the club. Almost 18,000 fans have attended Marine home games in the season to date, with an average attendance of 1,110 across 16 games in all competitions. The club welcomed an incredible capacity crowd of 2,150 for the recent league game against near-neighbours Bootle, which is the highest gate for a league fixture in Marine’s history.
Marine is a warm Club with an open heart and a global welcome. Long may it continue to be a safe space for everyone to share in their love of football, and in our desire to gain promotion and continue to flourish at the very heart of our community. Anyone and everyone is welcome at Marine from all walks of life, and we look forward to welcoming you all in the future to our special friendly club.
Marine Chairman Paul Leary said:
“Tottenham Hotspur and its fans have been amazing since the day the Third Round draw was made, producing the most magical Emirates FA Cup fixture in the 150-year history of the FA Cup played exactly a year ago this Sunday at Marine. Despite the footballing gap [161 places] between the two sides an immediate friendship developed between the two Clubs, and Spurs fans around the world rallied unbelievably to support our club’s virtual ticket appeal launched as a result of our final four games in the competition having to be played behind closed doors due to Covid restrictions. 32,202 tickets were sold, the majority to Tottenham Hotspur fans living in 45 countries around the world. This has changed our Club in such a massive way enabling us to plan and invest in facilities to a level that we previously could not even think about. It has transformed our volunteer-run football club and has furthered our ambitions dramatically.
We have accepted an invitation from Tottenham Hotspur to attend their Emirates FA Cup 3rd Round tie on Sunday against Morecambe, and this has given us an opportunity to say a massive “thank you” to the Tottenham Hotspur directors and their fans for the amazing support given to us last year. We shall make a special presentation to acknowledge that and to recognise the very special bond that remains between the two clubs.”
Marine President Dave Thompson commented:
“We at Marine jumped at the chance to come to the Tottenham Stadium on Sunday to say a huge thank you to all the Spurs fans who have helped to change our club hopefully forever. With the help of Spurs and other global football fans who bought so many virtual tickets for a game nobody could attend, it has changed our club’s future.
The monies generated have helped us transform our small stadium and facilities, with new and improved boundary fencing and applications in for a new pitch, terracing, access gates and working towards increased capacity. None of this would be possible without the support of Spurs fans and we want to be there on Sunday to applaud and say “thank you”.
We have already created a virtual ticket wall at the Marine Travel Arena which displays the names of those who bought tickets, and this remains open as a permanent dedication to all those who supported us.
We are all excited for Sunday’s occasion, and I am really looking forward to this opportunity”.
