Strays Player Pledge Adds To Funds

26 April 2010 13:33
During the season, a band of Aldershot town supporters have been donating small amounts of money towards a "Player Pledge Fund" which has been run by us here at Stray Shots Towers. Last week, we made our first donation. While not particularly 'over' promoting their scheme, the Stray Shots have been running a "Player Pledge Fund" this season, which has been aimed at supporters pledging small amounts (a minimum of 50p per pledge) for any given event. Whether supporters fancied donating 50p for each goal scored by The Shots, appearances by their favourite player, clean sheets or times that Marvin Morgan would be offside in a match, it was up to them! The aim of the fund has been to give those who didn't feel that they could afford to donate 'larger' amounts to the Player Transfer Fund, the opportunity to help the club pay for new signings and last week, the Strays Player Pledge was able to make its first donation of £500 to the fund. Speaking to the clubs official website, The Shots Online Mike Wray, editor of the Stray Shots website said: "The idea was stolen from the AFC Bournemouth Exiles supporters group. I read on their website at the end of last season how just 51 of their supporters managed to raise £6000 back in 2005 and I thought that it would be a great idea to try and do something similar at Aldershot. "I knew about the Player Transfer Fund and thought it would be worth trying to do something on a far smaller scale which would appeal to people who didn't think they could spare larger amounts on a regular basis. It can appear less daunting if you're donating 50p here and 50p there, so thought I would test the waters and gave it a go. "Although we only managed to convince twelve people to join, the generosity of those supporters has amazed me and especially as I know that many of them support the club in other ways too. "I haven't had to do much chasing up to collect their donations either which has been a help - even the one person who hasn't paid any of his pledge asked me when he needed to pay the money by when we were at Cheltenham at the weekend, so along with everyone else who have been making regular contributions, it has been great to see that the interest has remained when it could quite possibly have tailed off after the first month! "I told Nick [Fryer] about the pledges just after Christmas when we hit the £600 mark and offered the money to the Transfer Fund which they were happy to have at their disposal. "We made our first donation of £500 at the end of last week and with any luck, once all the money has been collected at the end of the season, we'll be able to make a similar one when needed. "I would personally like to thank everyone who as taken part in the scheme this season. I know they won't want their names to be mentioned as they aren't doing it for the publicity, but I would urge everyone to look at who they are as I've listed them all on the Stray Shots website! "There were a few jokes posted on Shotsweb when I first started posting the running total at the start of the season and the funds stood at about £20, but there has been nothing but positive feedback the longer it has gone on and it's this time of the season that people start to take an interest when they see the results so with any luck, we'll get a few more pledges in ahead of next season. "With only a few games left, I think we'll manage to get around the £900 mark by the end of the season and that is with just a handful of us involved - imagine how much more we could raise if there were a few more in 2011/12? Just think, someone out there could help fund the next Marvin Morgan for just 50p!" Shots Press Officer Nick Fryer, who is also one of the faces behind the Player Transfer Fund added: "There is no doubt that without the Player Pledge donation which we added to the one from the Player Transfer Fund, it would not have been possible for the Football Club to bring Dean Morgan in on deadline day. "We are really grateful to everyone who has made pledges and it goes to show just how much of a difference can be made by schemes such as this." Shots Chairman John Leppard concluded by saying: "Both myself and Kevin stated in the press last week about how supportive we are of the player fund. "I would like to thank the contributors from the Stray Shots Player Pledge - it just goes to show that every single contribution counts, however large or small. "There is no doubt that the fund strengthened our squad at vital times this season, please keep your support going."

Source: FOOTYMAD