Gary Dicker and Steven Rigg visit Brook Street School
United players Gary Dicker and Steven Rigg faced interviews with a difference at Brook Street school on Thursday afternoon when pupils from across the year groups grilled them on everything from which team they supported to their pre-match routines on a Saturday.
The visit, part of the popular Cumberland Building Society Community Ticket Scheme, takes members of the squad to those schools which will be attending the weekend home fixture as part of the pre-match build up for the youngsters.
The pupils staged a series of mini-press conferences and, of course, took full advantage of the opportunity to get autographs and photographs along the way.
“We do a lot of community work as a squad and I think we all enjoy going to the schools to see the children,” Gary Dicker said. “They don’t hold back with the questions they ask, so it can be very interesting, but they really appreciate the fact that we’ve popped along to say hello. When you see the fantastic reaction and the smiles on the faces it can only ever be a good thing.”
“They were really interested in the goal I scored at Hartlepool,” Steven Rigg said. “It was good to be able to talk to them as a local lad and it’s nice to see how genuinely interested the students are in what we do. I enjoy these visits and I know the rest of the lads do as well.”
And manager Keith Curle gave his backing to the club’s community schemes as he reaffirmed the importance of getting the players out and about on a regular basis.
“I went to an all boys school, which was very sport orientated, and we had regular visits from players from Bristol Rovers and Bristol City,” he said. “We looked forward to seeing them and I think the more involved the club is with the local community the more chance we have of getting them to come along and support us.
“Our players being out there, meeting children and other members of the community, sends a very positive message. I think everyone knows this is a family club and we need to do everything we can to enhance that message.
“There is a very good feeling around the place at the moment and I think people are sitting up and starting to take notice. There has been a perception that this club has been in steady decline and we’ve had to stop that by taking as many little steps in the right direction as we possibly can.
"Meeting the people we are asking to come along and support us, young and old, is all part of that process.”