Paul Musgrove pleased to take Bury Town back into community as pre-season begins at Stanton FC in John Webber Cup
Assistant manager Paul Musgrove believes Bury Town’s participation in The John Webber Cup at Stanton FC on Saturday has helped put the club’s name ‘very much back in the community’.
Alongside boss Cole Skuse, he ran the rule over two different Blues sides as they overcame Sporting 87 with an Ethan Mayhew goal for 1-0 and the hosts, managed by his brother Matt, 2-0 with Ben Curtis and Ollie Canfer on target, to win the tri-team tournament.
The two 50 minute-long matches against the Suffolk & Ipswich League (SIL) sides formed the first stage of Bury’s pre-season programme with a trip to Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division outfit Ely City on Saturday (3pm). It comes ahead of the visit of Vanarama National League North club King’s Lynn Town next Tuesday to their newly-named Getaway Cars Stadium (7.30pm).
“First of all it was nice to do something community-based, If I’m honest it’s something I don’t think the club have done for a while,” said Stanton-based Musgrove.
“We felt that was important and we obviously incorporated it into 25-minute halves.
“We took two different teams over so players got 50 minutes of football and that was ideal for the lads really.
“It was better than a training session and was nice to get in a game situation and give credit to Stanton and Sporting, they equipped themselves really well.
“It served a purpose and apart from the weather it was really good to see so many youngsters up there beforehand playing football and there was just a good community feel to it.”
The tournament was named after a well-known face and voice on Bury St Edmunds’ market over the years who was there to enjoy the thank you gesture.
“John Webber has done a lot for Stanton as a village and the football section,” said Musgrove.
“He ran a fruit and veg stall by McDonald’s and me and my brother have known him for years and along with the club we thought it would be very poignant to just celebrate what he's done while he’s with us still.
“It was good to see him and he thoroughly enjoyed it.”
He added: “It was good on all fronts really, it served a purpose for the lads and put Bury’s name very much back in the community rather than just going to play teams higher up.”
With a number of players, including new signings Taylor Parr and Mikey Davis, not available, the two sides included a number of the club’s under-18s as well as two trialists. The unnamed players, a defender and a wide player, are both set to be involved against Ely.
Saturday’s tournament also saw Tom Thulborn, who had been out with a broken leg and ankle ligament damage since January, make his return to action, coming through one game well.
Meanwhile, Bury learnt on Friday they will host divisional rivals Felixstowe & Walton United in the Emirates FA Cup preliminary round on August 17 (3pm) and travel to Leverstock Green in Hemel Hempstead in the Isuzu FA Trophy first round qualifying on September 7 (3pm).
Like last year, the Blues will hold an Open Day on July 20 from 12-2pm with a chance to meet the managers and players as well as watching a training session.
