Express & Star

Walsall fans chip in with £7,000

Walsall have welcomed a cash boost after receiving just under £7,000 due to fundraising efforts of supporters.

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The Walsall Supporters’ Alliance set up the Just Giving page at the end of September and after 405 Saddlers fans contributed, they raised £7,220.

After card processing fees the club has received a total of £6,899.43, which chief executive Stefan Gamble confirmed has helped support the academy structure.

“The support that the club has received from all fans during these incredibly difficult times has been very generous and nothing short of phenomenal,” he said.

“The Walsall Supporters’ Alliance are certainly deserving of special thanks in light of their fundraising efforts and significant contribution to the vital running costs of the academy. I would like to place on record my personal thanks to Rob, Chris and all at the Supporters’ Alliance for this fantastic gesture.”

Meanwhile, Alliance chairman Rob Harvey insists the fundraising was the least the supporters could do to help the club through the pandemic.

He said: “After speaking with the group, we pretty quickly decided the best thing we could do is raise a bit of money for the club. Nobody really knew what coronavirus was about, how long it would last, and what it might affect so we thought we’d do our bit and try and bring a little bit of the income back to the club that they were going to lose from having no fans in the ground.

“As it goes, we went past our initial target of £5,000 pretty quickly and although the final figure isn’t a life-changing amount, it will enable the club to pay for things that are required, such as the cardiac testing for the academy and youth groups.

“Thank you to everybody that supported the campaign and donated, it couldn’t have been done without you. Also, thank you to Walsall FC who gave us a few items to use as prizes to increase donation levels.”