July 30, 2021
We have dedicated our new away kit for the 2021/22 season to a Cheltenham Town legend.
It’s our tribute to Roger Thorndale, who passed away last year during the lockdown.
Sadly we have been unable to say a proper goodbye because of the effects of the pandemic, so this summer we’ve dedicated our new strip to our record appearance maker.
Roger started his Cheltenham Town career in 1955 and went on to make an unprecedented 703 appearances, a record that’s unlikely to ever be beaten.
The new design is stripped back to reflect the style of kit that the ever present right-back would have worn many times on his travels. The royal blue shirt will be matched by blue shorts and white socks, as it would have been back then.
We’ve etched his signature into the neckline of the shirt alongside his incredible record to inspire our current crop of players on the eve of our fifth campaign in the third tier.
Roger was described by Echo reporter Derek Goddard as: "not the quickest player but possessing a very good football brain and positional sense as well as being one of the best tacklers anywhere." A popular character among supporters and fellow players alike, Thorndale was a big part of the positive spirit within the club for seven decades.
His impact at Whaddon Road went well beyond his playing days and is still felt today. During the 1974/75 season he was appointed assistant manager by Denis Allen and went on to manage the reserves, bringing the likes of John Murphy and Steve Cotterill into the club.
Murphy remains a club director while Cotterill went on to secure promotion to the Football League, mentoring current boss Michael Duff along the way. The rest, as they say, is history. In later years he rarely missed a game and was a regular in the boardroom until passing in May last year.
As part of this launch we’ve made a film and it features some precious memories from his son Rob and Murphy, a former teammate and good friend. It also includes some rare cine footage of Whaddon Road during the 1960s, supplied by lifelong supporter Chris Carter, and is thought to be the oldest in existence. It’s a grainy gateway to a bygone era at the club.
One long lost moment features Roger as the players take to the pitch on Boxing Day, sporting a white kit before a brief glimpse of the game itself, lined by snow. A reminder of the transformation at Whaddon Road follows, shot when the new stand was completed in 1963 and then there is some cup action towards the end of the decade, played out in front of a sizeable crowd. We have created an extended version of our launch film to feature each story and every second of the footage, capturing them all for posterity.
Music producer and overseas supporter Nigel Groom has been working with us again, providing his own composition for the project.
By Cheltenham Town FC
