Express & Star

Mayor gifts signed West Bromwich Albion shirt to pub in Walsall

The owner of a pub in Walsall has donated £500 to charity after being gifted a signed football shirt by the mayor.

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Pictured from left, The Mayor Of Walsall Councillor Rose Martin, her consort Jim Martin, Albion fan and loyal customer Paul Blick and owner of The King Arthur, Kam Chohan

The piece of kit features the signatures of the 2022/2023 West Bromwich Albion team.

And it was gifted to The King Arthur Sports Bar and Grill by The Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Rose Martin, with the owner deciding to donate the sum to her chosen charities as a thank you.

The councillor, who previously served for the Paddock ward where the pub is located, said: "The King Arthur is a very good local pub and is very popular with the residents and the West Bromwich Albion fans.

"It is very much at the heart of the community – I used to be a councillor there for many years so it was a natural place to put the shirt.

"I would like to thank the owner for his kind contribution towards Walsall charities."

The donated sum will provide support for several charities, including Well Wishers which supports the work of Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Community First Responders who attend emergency calls in the area and the Walsall Community Network who support the wellbeing of residents.

Kam Chohan, who is the owner of the Liskeard Road venue, added: "It's a community pub, we have been there for about seven years now, all the locals use it for watching sporting events including West Bromwich Albion – it's a nice, pleasant crowd.

"We've got other shirts there, I have one of Ronaldo and Messi that we bought at an action and this one will go right next to another Albion one.

"It's an Albion pub, although we do get a lot of Aston Villa supporters as well, but the Albion fans will appreciate it.

"Mayor Rose does a lot of charity work and she is a regular at the pub, we are going to host a dinner evening with the mayor so we do tie-in work with her if we can, so whatever we can do to help we would love to do that and support charities in the community anyway we can."