Steve Cooke Charity Shield 5th May

We are excited to announce the details of the 2025 Steve Cooke Charity Shield to be held at Anchorians on Bank Holiday Monday 5th May.

This year Anchorians FC is looking to raise funds and awareness for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Every day, people are diagnosed with Crohn's or Colitis, the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease, this disease is sadly life changing, and one of our own Ron John has been bravely battling for a little while now. Ron was a much-loved manager/coach at the club for over 6 years, being the first Anchorians manager to take a team to the Kent County Cup Finals. Everyone at Anchorians is rooting for Ron to remain strong and overcome the challenges he’s currently facing, so he can start the new chapter of his life with his family & friends. For more information on the IBD please visit https://ibduk.org/ or https://crohnsandcolitis.org.uk/ 

For those of you who are new to the club, the Steve Cooke Charity Shield was set up in 2013 to give something back to the local community and generate monies for a chosen local charity or someone/something with a connection to our club, over the seven years it has run we have raised over £32,000, which is phenomenal achievement.

There are two games a Women's match that kicks off at 11:00am and Men's game that kicks off at 13:00pm which is 11aside game with parents vs coaches (parents are the current holders of the shield by the way). Over the years has seen over 100 people spectating at each event, with the hope this year we will see a record number of people coming to watch and cheer on their parent, coach or friend and take our overall fundraising total past the £35k mark.

The Steve Cooke Charity Shield

Steve was part of our volunteer workforce undertaking the role of Assistant Manager for our boys Archers team.  Steve sadly passed away on Boxing Day 2020 from Covid-19, Steve was 35 and left behind his partner and 4 young children. Steve was a kind and generous person, giving up his time to support the team over a 6-year period, always with a smile on his face. Steve always went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that everyone can play football in a fun, friendly environment, he would be up the club 4 times a week and texting his teams coaches group chat daily with new ideas and suggestions. Steve would be at every training session and match, even if his son couldn’t attend, he would still be there, showing what a true grassroots hero, he was. Steve is dearly missed at Anchorians FC. He was an amazing Dad, Partner, Coach and friend who was loved by all.

Steve’s enthusiasm and humour made a difference to the lives of everybody that he met, and we will always remember him. 💜 

We look forward to seeing you on Monday

the 5th May.