For our tomorrow, they gave their today

Sunday 14th November will, of course, be Remembrance Sunday in the UK; a day when we remember the sacrifice of our Armed Forces Community from across Britain and the Commonwealth, pay tribute to the special contribution of their families and of the emergency services, and acknowledge innocent civilians who have lost their lives in conflict and acts of terrorism.

Each one of our Pitching In Isthmian League clubs will be commemorating the event at their nearest home match to Remembrance Sunday. Their matches will be preceded by a minute of silent reflection; a time to remember, and to be grateful for the sacrifice of those who gave so much to give us the society we treasure. This will begin tonight, 5th November.

Football is not immune from conflict and loss. The Isthmian League, for example, lost seventy three players during the First World War, with each of our member clubs- Clapton, Dulwich Hamlet, Ilford, London Caledonians, Leytonstone, New Crusaders, Nunhead, Oxford City, Shepherd’s Bush, West Norwood and Woking- experiencing loss. The entire football community will be standing together to honour the fallen during the next two Saturdays.

We'll leave you with the famous epitaph written by John Maxwell Edmonds following the Battle of Kohima in 1944. Oft quoted- and in the case of our headline and many other headlines around this period, deliberately misquoted-it sums up the sacrifice we honour far better than any words we could come up with:

'When you go home, tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow, we gave our today.'