Fort FC close to £2,000 mark in funding push

After launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise extra cash for club funds, Fort William FC has raised almost 20 per cent of the total in just one week.

The club has begun a campaign to raise £10,000 to go towards paying for and providing the vital equipment and maintenance needed to improve the Claggan Park playing surface and to make it more resilient to the harsh Lochaber winters. In recent years, the number of call-offs to matches have led to fixture pile-ups and training cancellations which leave the squads stretched at a later stage in the season.

The club’s campaign statement said: ‘The harsh reality is this is year one and we are building all over from scratch again. If you would like to help with a donation it would go a long way to increasing our chances of remaining alive as a football club and more so competing consistently in the Highland League.’

Donations ranging from £10 to £100 and from as far afield as Australia and Canada have helped get the fundraising total up to just short of the £2,000 mark, just after a week of going live with the campaign. The club were on the verge of leaving the Highland League at the end of last season but the players and backroom staff voted to remain league members. The team were docked nine points earlier this season for fielding an ineligible player and currently sit on minus eight points and without a win so far this season.

To donate, visit the Fort William FC Crowdfunding page which can be accessed via the club’s Facebook page.