Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
What does a Grecian (wearing shirt number 31) earn? A chance thanks to the generous fans
CHARITY begins at home for Exeter City – where it was invented in 1931.
At Britain’s best-run football club, they already have Paul Tisdale, the league’s most sartorial manager – and, if Arsene Wenger ever clears his desk at Arsenal, they will also have the longest-serving. But the Grecians also have an innovative bunch of fans who subsidise Tisdale’s frugal transfer budget by direct debit. Around 70 mainlyexiled supporters pay £19 a month to finance signings who wear City’s No.31 shirt. They call themselves the 1931 Fund and, in tomorrow’s League Two play-off final against Blackpool at Wembley, Irish defender Pierce Sweeney – released by Reading last summer but taken on by Exeter after a successful trial – will wear No.31 with pride. And his esteem will be reciprocated by the supporters in full. Another 1931 Fund signing, Jamaican international Joel Grant, will be in the squad that’s hoping to crush the Tangerine dreamers. If Tisdale completes the remarkable feat of leading Exeter from 92nd in the league last November to promotion, he will raise a toast to Scotland Yard press officer Alan Crockford and his brothers in alms. Tisdale (right) dresses in Ted Baker gear because one of his best mates, Ray Kelvin, founded the designer-label chain – but he would not even be able to afford signings from Primark without the 1931 Fund’s largesse. Crockford, 45, moved away from Devon to pursue his career but he remained loyal to his local club when they were relegated out of the league 14 years ago and he organised the fund after they returned to the fold in 2008. Tisdale once described football as “a rotten industry where we do things differently” – and he was not joking. Crockford formed his wedge fund, with its monthly £19 subs for the No.31 shirt, as a nod to the club’s record run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1931. They are in danger of bringing football into good repute. “The whole club is owned by fans, and many of them give more time and money to Exeter City than I can manage,” said Crockford, whose last reunion with his fellow donors was at the wonderful play-off semi-final against Carlisle. “But I’m just pleased to have found a way that people like me – especially those who live away from Exeter and may only get to a handful of games each season – can do our little bit to help the club compete without a wealthy owner. “There isn’t a local butcher o r scrapmetal dealer, let alone a sheikh or an oligarch, who’s going to pour millions into new signings and make us rich overnight. “Having done this for eight seasons now, and raised more than £100,000 to help expand Paul Tisdale’s transfer budget by a modest amount, the idea of No.31 being a fans’ player representing us on the pitch has become established. “There is a real connection there and this season Pierce Sweeney has been a perfect ambassador for what we do. He’s worked hard, got better as the season has progressed and, best of all, he takes real pride in wearing our shirt.”