RETIRING a jersey is the highest accolade a club can pay to a player. It is reserved for those whose longevity of service and quality of contribution have been outstanding.

This Saturday, for only the third time in the Club’s history, we will be honouring an ex-player in this way.

Tony Redmond, or Mr Basingstoke as he was affectionately named by the fans, wore Number 20 on his jersey with pride and distinction.

He will be present on Saturday as we all salute his service to Bison Hockey before our match against Telford.

Having enjoyed two weekends with no away game, we’re back now to a more demanding schedule. Those weekends saw us say farewell to Joe Rand and welcome Rene Jarolin.

His arrival could not have gone better, linking up with Joe Greener and Ciaran Long to score 2+3 points and taking the man of the match award. He looked completely at home in a Bison shirt.

Having welcomed Grant Rounding back to the team after a very long rehabilitation, no-one expected to lose our goal-tender, Tomas Hiadlovsky, in a freak accident.

Dan Weller-Evans took over his role helping us secure a convincing win against Hull. It is still too early to know the extent of Tom’s injury, but Jon Baston is coming in for our games this weekend. We are still unbeaten at home.

After a difficult start to their season, Telford have now hit their stride and will be keen to break that run, having already lost twice to us.

With Tony Redmond watching and our Polish supporters, who presented the awards at the end of the game against Hull, adding to the entertainment with their horns and balloons, Saturday promises to be a brilliant night of hockey.