FC Halifax Town chairman, David Bosomworth, branded Friday night’s sporting dinner a success, with the club’s owner delighted with the turnout from the event, from the guest speakers to the food and the fans who attended.
Sports commentator John Helm presented the night, which consisted of a presentation of the top table guests, the meal itself, followed by two games of kings and queens. An auction and raffle took place once dinner had finished, with the night drawn to a close after a few choice of words from the speakers themselves.
Comedian Brian Newbold took to the stage after the auction, and had the audience in the palm of his hands. As said by Bosomworth: “You could hear a pin drop on the floor when the comedian was talking.”
Newbold did his job perfectly, with his jokes – some of which cannot be published – received a huge array of laughter and applauds.
The night was finished as former footballer and England manager, Kevin Keegan, took to the stage and shared moments from his footballing life with the audience. From his childhood, to playing and managing days, Keegan also had the crowd mesmerised with the stories that were told.
Amid a slight delay to the schedule, Bosomworth was left pleased with the night, feeling ecstatic that the event was able to prosper at such a great magnitude.
He said: “It has been a fantastic turnout in terms of the numbers that have attended. The room has looked absolutely magnificent. It is a real credit to Greg Stainton – who does a lot of the set up work with the banners, the team photos, the whole set up of the presentation on the tables – it has been really pleasing. To get over 400 people in the room is superb.”
The chairman believes that both speakers, who coincidentally were both raised in Doncaster, delivered perfectly to the crowd, and quite literally had them where they wanted them.
“Both speakers, both Brian and Kevin have been absolutely excellent tonight. It was a lovely combination. You could hear a pin drop when the comedian was talking and everyone enjoyed what Kevin had to say. I think he could have stood on his head and said nothing and they would still applaud him, but what a gentleman he is as well.
“Brian was excellent with some of his one liners and his little short stories. Everyone went quiet, and everyone did what you expect.
“Kevin is a legend, a genuine legend. They have both been very nice guys, They have come and have done the job to their best. He stood there, had his photograph taken, signed brochures, signed records and photographs.”
A huge amount of work went on behind the scenes in order to make the dinner a success, and Bosomworth was left singing the team’s praises with what was achieved.
“Everybody has worked really hard from those behind the scenes. It is a small team who does it, but it was such an important fund-raiser. I make no apologies for doing the dinners, golf days or whatever, because the club needs this sort of exposure, profile and revenue generated.
“It is so pleasing when people come up to you at the end of the night. We have this each year, and people say that they cannot believe what Halifax produces. We always set out to provide a first class package, and I know people here who took tables who are at Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield Town, who said that they are bowled over.”
Once the dinner had been demolished by the guests, the floor was open for the auctioneer to take to the stage. Over £4000 was raised in the auction from those who attended, with prizes including a day at the races, meetings at the Super Bike Championship and tickets to a show in London’s very own West End.
“You are always learning with this, you cannot stand still. We have introduced a silent auction to supplement our main auction and we brought in a person who specialises in doing auctions because it is a specialised art. When we have got such wonderful prizes like the Wimbledon tickets, or the cricket at Lord’s or Royal Ascot, you do want to maximise on them in the best way that you can.”
He added: “How pleasing it was that two companies have actually taken a box at the ground to support the club and having a day out with us as well. They too also probably brought in the biggest figures at the end of the day.”
Photos from the evening are available on the Shaymen Wall.
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