The club’s Memorial Garden, which is a space dedicated to remembering fans and former representatives of the club, will reach its ten-year anniversary in 2024.
Governing officer Pete Whiteley played a crucial role in the creation of garden and continues to be involved in the maintenance and development going forward.
Pete said: “When we were moving (from Saltergate), we realised there’d have to be something down here. Because we were starting from scratch, we could do whatever we wanted here.
“We put it out as an appeal and actually raised the money necessary in seven months. That didn’t come from the club or the Trust, it was actually fans’ money so it’s always been a fans’ project.
“Although we had a plan, it also developed as we went along because we’ve added the war memorial, the players’ wall with all the names on it so it was never a set in concrete plan.
“It’s very popular with our fans, we have people’s ashes being put in it all the time, we have plaques on the wall. It is something that’s at the focus for celebrating lives.”
On the importance of the Memorial Garden to fans of the club, Pete said: “It’s turned into something that we probably never envisaged.
“Where it is outside the café and the HUB, people in there can wander over on a nice sunny day and have their lunch. It’s not a morbid place, it’s a place for celebration.
“It’s something I’m very proud of and something the club, Trust and fans can be proud of.”
The garden contains several different areas, each dedicated to remembering certain people in different ways.
Pete added: “We thought it was somewhere the fans could be remembered, that was the starting point.
“We knew we had people who’d died in the wars who were players or officials at the club. Suddenly we had a war memorial there that’s a fully recognised and registered memorial.
“Everybody that’s every played for us, we’ve got a debut number for them. Once we knew we had a number for everybody, we knew we could remember all of those who are no longer with us. It’s added another dimension.
“You’ve got plaques, you’ve got one for Gordon Banks for example. It will develop as it develops and we are raising money to commemorate Ernie Moss.”
On the future plans for the garden, Pete said: “We’d like to extend it to the northern side towards the path through to Tesco and have it with more furniture, so it becomes like an outdoor eating area.
“It’s not like walking through a graveyard when you go there, people will sit there and have sandwiches.
“If we can extend it and have some picnic tables beyond there, that’d be nice to do.”
