Baffins Milton Rovers to celebrate 10th birthday with anniversary ‘legends’ match

The club are hoping to attract a number of former players to the PMC Stadium for a ‘Legends’ exhibition match between Baffins Milton and newly-crowned City of Portsmouth Sunday League champions Milton Rovers on Sunday, August 15.

Both Baffins Milton and Milton Rovers were Sunday sides before coming together as Baffins Milton Rovers and starting out in the now-defunct Portsmouth Dockyard Saturday League in 2011.

Since then, Rovers have enjoyed a meteoric rise, reaching the Wessex League Premier Division within six years of forming.

The club won the Hampshire League title in 2013/14 - at the first attempt - and 2015/16, and also won promotion in the first season in the Wessex League Division 1 as runners-up in 2016/17.

In addition, they also won the Wessex League Cup in 2018/19 and the Portsmouth Senior Cup in 2013/14 and 2015/16, beating Moneyfields and Hawks in the finals respectively.

Baffins were close to a third PSC victory last month, only losing on penalties to Moneyfields at Fratton Park.

Baffins committee member and Milton Rovers player Sam Willett has been with the club since the very start.

He will captain and manage the Baffins Milton Legends team with another founder member and current club treasurer, Danny Rimmer, taking charge of Milton Rovers Legends.

Willett has witnessed the club grow from a Saturday League team playing on Great Salterns Fields to the work that has been put in developing the PMC Stadium with a view to one day progressing to the Southern League.

He admits it'll be great to bring some old faces back together and celebrate the club's growth over the course of a remarkable decade.

'It’s just something to get everybody together (anniversary exhibition) and, hopefully with the restrictions easing off, it’ll be something to look forward to as well,’ he told The News.

‘Baffins Milton Rovers has been going for 10 years now but the club itself started off with two Sunday League teams, so it was Baffins Milton and Milton Rovers for a number of years before we decided to form Baffins Milton Rovers.

‘Obviously, from there we’ve gone from Portsmouth Saturday League up to the Wessex Prem, so it’s been quite a quick rise.

'We’re going to try to get as many original players back together as possible and see if we can put two squads together.

‘There’ll be a lot of funny-shaped players, shall we say - there will be a few that only last 10 minutes.'

Willett, 30, and Rimmer, still play for Milton Rovers, who recently clinched the Portsmouth Sunday League title at the first attempt - the team had reformed after a couple of years of inactivity after previous title success in the Meon Valley Sunday League.

They have also reached the 2020/21 Portsmouth & District FA Victory Cup final, where they face either Jameson Arms or Cobden at Westleigh Park later this month.

Despite the anniversary match being billed as an exhibition, Willett insists neither he or Rimmer will want to be on the losing side.

Willett said: 'We spoke about it last year and had a chat we said we’d put something together.

‘We’re both being quite quiet about who’s got what players in their squad.

‘We’re both saying it’s only going to be a friendly, but it’s going to be very competitive - no-one wants to lose.

'Myself, Danny Rimmer and Tony Male (committee member), who does loads at the club, we’ve all been a part of organising it.'