This weekend the Cheltenham Town Former Players Association is delighted to welcome back defenders John Brough and Steve Elliott for the Newport County game at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium.
Both were solid and imposing centre-back’s during separate time periods with the club, enjoying lengthy spells which helped endear themselves to the Robins faithful.
Brough made 165 appearances for Cheltenham between 1998 and 2004, where he was a part of the successful Steve Cotterill years - scoring 14 times.
The Ilkeston born defender made the move to Gloucestershire after impressing at Hereford United and due to his physicality, was also often deployed as a centre-forward too.
In his first season, Brough played an integral part in the dramatic injury time comeback victory at Rushden and Diamonds that secured promotion to the Football League.
After going behind to their promotion chasing rivals, Brough scored and then playing a part in the winner as Cotterill’s men won 2-1 in front of a packed end full of travelling fans.
Following his time with the club, Brough also played for Saturday’s opponents Newport and returned to Cheltenham as the Head of Youth in 2013 before going on to manage a few local non-league sides.
Another burly centre-back to thrive in red and white was Steve Elliott, who spent five years at Whaddon Road, four of which playing under Mark Yates.
A popular figure amongst fans, he was already an experienced Football League defender when he arrived from Bristol Rovers in 2010 – in a career where he nearly racked up 500 appearances.
By the time Elliott left Cheltenham in 2015 after 190 appearnces, he had played a part in two League Two play-off campaigns – as the Robins lost the 2011/12 play-off final to Crewe Alexandra following a sixth placed finish.
The following season Elliott was a mainstay in the team again, as Yates’ side finished fifth and amassed a run of 20 league home games without defeat.
But they soon suffered play-off heartbreak again, this time at the hands of Northampton Town in the semi-finals.
After his playing days, Elliott was Assistant Manager with Cheltenham and makes a return to the club with Brough as special guests this Saturday.
Both players will be interviewed on the pitch at half-time and will be present around the ground, so make sure you give them a warm welcome back ‘home’.
You can buy tickets for our hotly anticipated home clash with the Exiles (November 24, 3pm kick-off) by clicking here.
A reminder that we also play host to Ebbsfleet United on Tuesday night (November 20, 7:45pm kick-off) in an FA Cup first round replay – join us at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium as Michael Duff’s side look to make it six matches unbeaten.