Rovers fund nearing €70,000
‘PHENOMENAL’ FUNDRAISER CAPTURES THE HEARTS OF FANS HOME AND ABROAD
SLIGO Rovers has been bowled over by a fundraising campaign that has seen supporters and friends from home and abroad raise almost €70,000 in less than a week.
With the league set to resume at the end of the month and with no home gates for the foreseeable future, the Bit O’Red Supporters Trust stepped in to organise a Go Fund Me page, Sligo Rovers - The Fight for Survival which has caught the imagination of fans and friends of the club.
By Monday the total had reached an impressive €67,000 and the fundraiser is due to continue for the rest of the week.
Premier Division sides were given financial packages in the region of €190,000 by the FAI to help survive the rest of the campaign but this won’t be enough for many of the clubs including Rovers to see out a shortened 14 remaining fixture list without any income from attendances.
Controversy is also raging over the format of the relegation issue with the majority of clubs backing a one team relegation from the Premier Division but the FAI are now backing a play-off also for the team which finishes second from the bottom. (More on this in Champion Sport this week).
The Go Fund Me Page fundraiser says Sligo Rovers has a proud and rich history that is unbroken in over 90 years.
“Our club’s history is filled with a steely determination to survive all the challenges thrown our way.
“We ask our supporters at home abroad to help us in any way they can, so we can continue The Sligo Rovers story.
“Donations will be given directly to Sligo Rovers FC to help with the cost of running all football teams until the end of the season. The club has suffered huge losses due to the COVID - 19 Lockdown.”
The Supporters’ Trust says it has been amazed by the response to the campaign.
“We are absolutely thrilled and just goes to show how important our club is to so many people. We are not one of the most fashionable clubs or a club that is backed by billionaires who constantly get their way.
“No, we are a club from a small town that never quits, rolls its sleeves up and gets on with the hard work. And every now and then when we are backed into a corner we come out fighting and become stronger.
“We are over the €60,000 mark. I think we’re all going to start crying. We are so happy. Thank you everyone. We are The Peoples Club. @sligorovers will never die.”
Many of the donations have come from fans of other clubs around the country and in England. The Trust thanked the club’s “Evertonian friends who have been so supportive, without their support we wouldn’t be closing in on such a large amount of money.”