Unexpected cash boost for Lawyers
Football manager vlogger raises funds
A FOOTBALL Manager enthusiast has become an unexpected source of financial support for Northern League Division Two club Tow Law Town.
With the Lawyers in the midst of contending with the financial challenges represented by the coronavirus epidemic, the discovery of an eightfoot-wide sinkhole at their Ironworks Road home was far from ideal.
After much deliberation and soulsearching, the club decided to launch a crowdfunding appeal to help raise money to ease their financial concerns.
That received a welcome boost from Youtube blogger ‘Workthespace’ after he started a video blog charting his progress as Lawyers manager in a ‘Park to Prem’ challenge on the popular Football Manager 2020 PC game.
The vlogger, who only identifies himself as Jack, can boast over 108,000 subscribers on Youtube and a further 20,000 followers on Twitter.
He used his platform to highlight Tow Law’s unfortunate situation and donations from around the globe started to arrive within days.
As of Saturday evening, the fundraising total had reached £5,765, almost treble the initial target that was set three weeks ago.
The Lawyers – who can count former England international Chris Waddle amongst their former players – have also received a further boost after they announced that their home kit would bare the ‘Workthespace’ logo – a decision that has led to the sale of over 100 shirts to as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.
Club secretary Steve Moralee revealed what the unexpected income would do for the Lawyers throughout a testing period for non-league clubs around the country.
He said: “We were a bit reluctant to go down the crowdfunding route to be honest – but then we saw other clubs doing it and it was a case of not letting them get a march on us.
“We still have overheads to account for and it’s a challenge for all of us really. Reluctantly we went for it, but then it was picked up by a lad on Youtube and it’s just went off since then.
“He has something like 108,000 subscribers on Youtube and over 20,000 on Twitter and it’s all just snowballed from there really. We have had donations from all parts of the globe, and we are over the moon with the reaction. “We haven’t had a sponsor for a couple of years, so we made the decision to use his logo on our home shirts and as soon as that was announced, a lot of his followers jumped on that and wanted shirts.
“We have now sold over 100 shirts, they’ve been passed on to Avec at Spennymoor, and I think that’s the most we have ever sold in one season.
“The donations will be used for repairs around the club and to keep us ticking over until it is safe to get back out on the pitch.”
Moralee also confirmed that the National Coal Authority have visited Ironworks Road to examine the sinkhole and the club are awaiting news on their findings.
We have had donations from all parts of the globe, and we are over the moon with the reaction
Steve Moralee