AFC Fylde will pay tribute to club stalwart this afternoon

Ahead of kick-off, all at Mill Farm will pay their respects to Bob Davey, the club’s much-loved and admired matchday secretary, who died this week aged 80.

A driving force behind the 1988 formation of the merged Kirkham and Wesham club, which would become AFC Fylde 13 years ago, Davey continued to serve the Coasters on matchdays until the final weeks of his life.

Manager Jim Bentley knew him for only a couple of years but this dedicated clubman left a lasting impression.

Bentley told The Gazette: “The club will do the right thing in paying its respects to a fellow I got to know straight away when I arrived here and have always admired as one of the stalwarts of the club.

“Bob was an absolute gentleman who had time for everyone. He is someone I got close to and we'd speak regularly about his life and charity work.

“Bob travelled to numerous away games with us on the coach and he will be sadly missed. My heart goes out to all his loved ones.”

Once the game kicks off, Fylde’s attention will turn to extending their unbeaten home record to 18 games, a run which stretches back to March last year.

The sequence began with a goalless draw in the National League against Solihull Moors, who will be the next visitors to Mill Farm in a fortnight for an FA Trophy third-round tie.

Bentley added: “It’s now over 600 days since we lost at home and hopefully that record will still be intact when Solihull Moors come here.

“They will look at it as a difficult draw and we’ll view it as an opportunity to test ourselves against a team from the level above.

“We have aspirations to play at their level again next season and we look forward to pitting our wits against them.”

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