Halstead Town to mark 75th anniversary of playing at Rosemary Lane against first opponents Coggeshall Town

Halstead Town will mark their 75th anniversary of playing at Rosemary Lane on Saturday against their first ever opponents at the ground.

Coggeshall Town will be the visitors in front of what is expected to be a bumper crowd, with the north Essex club offering free entry to pre-contacting former players as well as groundhoppers who want to check in at the Milbank Stadium (via their website or social media accounts).

The fixture against the Essex Senior League Premier Division’s basement side, who have only won twice in 31 fixtures, also kicks off the celebrations of Halstead’s 145 years since being formed.

Chairman Carl Pearse, who is hoping history does not repeat itself on Saturday with the Humbugs having lost their first game at the ground 3-1 to Coggeshall, said: “We knew it was coming up and remarkably when we were looking through the archives the first competitive game was against Coggeshall so we thought it would be fitting to celebrate 75 years at the ground and 145 as a club against our local rivals.”

The club’s sponsors have been invited along with all their youth teams and Essex Senior League and Essex FA officials.

The Halstead Food Bank will also be in attendance to collect donations from 1pm.

An Abba tribute band will also be playing in the evening.

Mark McLean’s ninth-placed side go into the game looking to bounce back from last Saturday’s frustrating 4-0 defeat at home to fifth-placed Sporting Bengal United which saw the gap to the play-off places increase to five points having played twice more.