Bring Me The Horizon bring in the fans on special day for Maltby Main FC
A FOOTBALL club pulled in its biggest crowd in years thanks to special guests from the world of rock.
More than 500 spectators turned up at Maltby Main FC on Saturday to take in the game against Wombwell Town attended by members of top band Bring Me The Horizon.
Maltby-born drummer Mat Nicholls plus guitarist Lee Malia posed for selfies with fans from as far afield as Edinburgh and Birmingham.
And while Maltby couldn’t deliver a victory to crown the day, going down 2-1, it was still a success and delivered the sort of shot in the arm to the club that Mat and his bandmates want to see.
"A lot of places in South Yorkshire, especially mining towns like Maltby, have fallen on hard times,” he told the Advertiser.
"When I was a kid the communities were buzzing. People came specifically to work in Maltby and now obviously with the coal industry being non-existent it’s hard.
"As a band we don’t want to just put our names on the shirts. That is easy. We are trying to bring people together and get the community involved a little bit."
Bring Me The Horizon won a BRIT award last year and are up for Group of the Year award this year.
Even though they travel the world playing to big audiences, Mat hasn’t forgotten his roots.
"I was born and raised in Maltby, he said. “I went to Lilly Hall School and Maltby Comp and I still don’t live far away.
"It is easy for me. My mum still lives here. All my family lives here. I love it here and as mad as it sounds, Maltby to me is home.”
Fans were still queuing outside up to 20 minutes after kick-off to get in to see the Northern Counties East League Division One fixture. Camera and radio crews mingled among the crowds.
Mat added: "It’s easy for me to help out, because I can. I don’t mean that in a big-headed way or anything like that but I have a little bit of a platform to be able to get the club’s name out there a bit more than it could probably do on its own. It’s good. I like it.
“Football and music are two things I love a lot.
"I’m also a Rotherham fan, so I’m a glutton for punishment, but I love football and music and it’s nice to bring them together.”
Among those at the game was Eve Campbell, a 17-year-old Bring Me The Horizon fan.
She said: “You can’t get this close to them at a concert – the crowd figures in the arenas are huge – so to see them in person was a bit weird but brilliant.”
Maltby lost 2-1 to a late goal but ended the day with a much higher profile.
Chairman Kieron White said: “It would be lovely if it was as busy as this the whole time.
"It’s hard, especially when Rotherham are at home, but people came from everywhere for this one and hopefully we’ll see some of them again.
"For what you pay for a football ticket at our level, it’s not bad value to watch a game and have a meet-and-greet is it?"