SNAPSHOT TURNED COVID FUNDRAISER
APRIL 22, 2019 SPENNYMOOR 1 CHORLEY 0 National League North Attendance: 1,261
WITH the game entering its final seconds, Stephen Brogan’s inswinging corner was met by Glen Taylor who in turn nodded past Matt Urwin for his 30th goal of the season.
It gave Moors a crucial victory and broke Chorley hearts, while also handing advantage in the title race back to Stockport County.
For me, this photo sums up perfectly what Non-League is all about. The passion of both players and supporters celebrating a last-minute winner together. The ball nestling in the back of the net is the icing on the cake. I really do hope we can get back to taking pictures like these soon.
I have been Spennymoor Town’s club photographer for seven seasons and wanted to do something to help during the coronavirus outbreak. I first volunteered for the NHS Responder scheme but found that frustrating as very few jobs seem to be filtering through.
So, to mark the one-year anniversary of Glen Taylor’s now infamous goal, I wanted to come up with something else to help and the idea came to sell signed photographs for charity.
Stockport fans loved it at the time (if you haven’t seen the video of the reaction it Edgeley Park it’s worth looking up) and I think Glen even got nominated by some for their player of the season! Glen was happy to oblige so on April 22 – or ‘Glen Taylor Day’ as its now known to Stockport fans – I made available signed and dedicated pictures of the goal celebrations for a minimum donation of £15.
I hoped to raise about £150 but within an hour we broke that total and I had to arrange a second batch to be produced at short notice which Aztec Colour Print (one of Spennymoor’s key sponsors) kindly provided free of charge. We ended up raising a fantastic £940 for the NHS Covid 19 emergency fund and local charities (Solan Connor Fawcett Cancer Charity, Great North Air Ambulance and Heel and Toe Children’s Charity) with the good majority of pictures going to the Stockport area.
Special
I had no idea so many people would give so generously to get a signed picture of a player who had never played for their team! I received some lovely messages too from people telling me what the moment had meant to Stockport fans and how Glen has almost earned hero status at their club! They were so pleased to get the opportunity to get a signed picture and donate to a great cause at the same time.
One Stockport fan had offered to donate but the next day found out he was being made redundant so messaged to apologise that he couldn’t justify buying one anymore and was genuinely gutted. So I did what seemed the only right thing to do and sent him it anyway and hope it brings him luck with job hunting.
I also held a few prize draws for some large signed prints of the same photo which raised a further £230 to help Spennymoor prepare for next season.
It would be great to thank, on behalf of Glen and myself, both the Spennymoor and Stockport fans for their generosity. It’s so good that supporters of a club from the other side of the country embraced what at the time I thought was a bit of a daft idea.
For me, this picture will always be special. I got lucky at the time capturing a great moment but then to be able to turn it into something that has raised so much money to help people at this difficult time makes it all the more special.