FINAL PUSH FOR DONATIONS

Well the FA Cup final is just over a week away and Runcorn2wembley appears to have run out of help from the organisations, clubs and the FA.

After receiving great support from fans and the non-league and small league clubs since the start and along the way, it's sad to keep hitting a brick wall when trying to get help from the big clubs, The FA, councils and police.

Football, and in particular the FA Cup, is meant to be about the fans, but money is now the only factor in professional football in this country.

After travelling over 3,000 miles to every corner of the country and meeting so many true fans of the game at places like Runcorn, Guiseley, Kendal and Nuneaton, how pathetic that clubs like Chelsea and Aston Villa either ignore emails and phone calls, or dismiss a charity campaign without even looking at the history of it.

Runcorn2wembley is in memory of our dad who died when Rob and I were still in primary school. As an amateur footballer with clubs like Marine, Runcorn and Skelmersdale, our dad played for the love of the game, not for the money it could give him.

I know he would be disgusted at how the game has developed since he played in the 1960s.

The 'investment' at clubs like Man City and Tottenham can make fans happy with the relative success it achieves, but at what cost? Who pays for the disgusting wages of £100k a week for people who don't care about the club they play for, like the fans do?

That's right - the fans pay for it in ticket costs and the various refreshments etc available at matches.

In the Premiership money is bringing the game to the brink of disaster. Just look at Portsmouth with debts of £138m and the real threat of the club folding.

This shows money is the only thing that matters to the people who run these clubs and campaigns like Runcorn2wembley will find it harder and harder to find support.

Which brings me on to the main point of this post, to ask for a final push for Runcorn2wembley to reach the target of £5,000 for Cancer Research. We need just over £750 to reach it.

Any donations will make such a huge difference to the help Cancer Research can give to finding solutions to the many cancer deaths every year.

I'll update next week and hope to have good news on the donation front.

FA CUP SEMI FINAL DAY

So today is the first day of the FA Cup semi final weekend and it's the first game Runcorn2wembley will miss in this season's competition.

Everyone associated with the campaign raising money for Cancer Research is extremely disappointed not to be at the game, let alone not being allowed a collection.

But what's even more frustrating is the lack of coverage on the FA's website. Despite being told the FA website couldn't put up news about Runcorn2wembley, on Thursday I was notified via Twitter that a similar campaign following the FA Vase was on the website.

Click here to read about it. The cause is fantastic and I congratulate the fans for doing such a campaign. It's a shame the FA couldn't help with similar coverage for a charity campaign for it's most prized competition - The FA Cup.

The semi final Runcorn2wembley is still following is Aston Villa v Chelsea and both clubs have shown a similar stance to all other organisations with the campaign.

Chelsea has not replied to emails or phone calls while Aston Villa have refused to have anything to do with the campaign.

The FA commercial department has provided some help with the Facebook account and the promise of allowing a collection at the Trophy Tour when it goes to the two finalists. I thank them for the assistance they guys have given, it's much appreciated.

Unfortunately Brent Council, the Met Police and The FA have all refused to permit a collection for Runcorn2wembley at either the semi final or final.

And that coupled with no tickets being allocated and no help from the clubs involved means Runcorn2wembley is unlikely to reach the £5,000 target. We're just under £800 short.

Still we live in hope and a number of the fundraisers will donate a set fee for the 'ticket' price for today's semi-final and we hope the FA Cup Trophy Tour will raise funds too.

Finally I would like to thank everyone involved with the collecting and donating for the invaluable help.

A special thank you to all the non-league clubs, who's help has far outweighed that from League and Premiership clubs.

I will update this blog next week with news on the teams we've followed during the campaign, as many are involved with a fight to be promoted.

SEMI FINAL ANYONE?

Well it's been an interesting journey from the start of the Runcorn2wembley campaign and we're now reached the semi final stage at Wembley.

Unfortunately no-one seems to be taking responsibility for giving permission to collect from fans before the Aston Villa v Chelsea game.

Brent Council, Wembley Stadium, The FA and the Met Police have all said they can't give permission. They've all mentioned one of the others as being the organisation to give the permission.

So with a week to go before the semi final Runcorn2wembley has no tickets, no collecting rights and no chance of reaching the £5,000 target. It's very frustrating as we're just £800 short.

What's most annoying is the 'big' clubs are providing no help at all to the campaign, completely the opposite to the smaller clubs earlier in the campaign.

Speaking of the 'helpful' clubs, Easter Monday provides an exciting clash for Guiseley FC as they face promotion rivals in the Unibond Premier League, Bradford Park Avenue.

I, along with a couple of other fundraisers, will hopefully be able to see the game and catch up with the people at Guiseley who helped us so much in the early stages of the campaign.

On a final note Runcorn2wembley will hopefully be at the FA Cup Trophy Tour when it visits Chelsea on Friday 9th April.

NO HELP FROM THE VILLA

With the FA Cup semi final between Aston Villa and Chelsea just over two weeks away, it's a disappointed editor that writes this update on Runcorn2wembley.

Aston Villa are the team the campaign is following to Wembley after the 4-2 win at Reading in the quarter final.

I've had a couple of weeks break from the campaign as my partner Sarah and I have been having scans on our first baby. Sometimes your priorities can change a little, but I'm back on the case for Runcorn2wembley and battling for coverage and donations to reach the £5,000 target.

Despite communication with Aston Villa the club has declined requests for any help with informing Villa fans about the campaign.

The club supports The Acorns Children's Hospice and has refused to help Runcorn2wembley in any way.

The Acorns Children's Hospice is a fantastic organisation and I don't want Runcorn2wembley to distract from that at all. Therefore I understand why Aston Villa wouldn't want to give lots of backing to the campaign, but to offer nothing is very disappointing.

I've had more contact with The FA and hope to have a little more help from them for the semi-final.

On a final note I'll be missing the spring Frodsham Beer Festival to be at Wembley for the semi final so hope Runcorn2wembley will collect a big amount as we look go from the current total of £4,195.81 to the target of £5,000.

After 11 rounds of the 2009/10 FA Cup, Runcorn2wembley takes to the round again this weekend for the quarter finals.

So far we've raised £4,118.31 for Cancer Research, just over £800 short of the £5,000 target.

The campaign will again be watching a Reading home game, this time against Aston Villa, which could be the Berkshire club's toughest game so far.

This will be the fourth Reading game we've followed after the match against Burnley and two versus West Brom.

A fantastic performance at The Hawthorns in the fifth round replay has given Reading a superb chance to reach Wembley.

Unfortunately Runcorn2wembley won't be collecting any money before the game on Sunday as the club has refused permission to do so.

To make matters worse Runcorn2wembley is having to pay for tickets AND membership to be able to watch the game. The club has put something in the matchday programme, but this happened in the first match we watched Reading and resulted in no donations.

Indeed when we were allowed to collect at the Reading v West Brom game we raised almost £900.

It's disappointing and frustrating the club has taken this stance and we can only hope football fans can go online to www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles and donate.

I will be joined by only one other member of Runcorn2wembley at Reading v Aston Villa, because there's no collection, tickets prices, travel costs and the 400 mile (8 hour) round trip.

But we'll be there and after this game only two trips to Wembley remain, providing there's no replay!

See you tomorrow!

SIXTH ROUND PROSPECTS

With just two rounds of the 2009/10 FA Cup to go before the final at Wembley, Runcorn2wembley is facing the possibility of having no pre-match collections for the rest of the campaign.

Reading has denied us permission to collect before the game against Aston Villa, as the club limits collections from a charity to one per season. The club has also refused to allow any tickets to be set aside for Runcorn2wembley, even if the volunteers pay for them.

This means we'll be lucky to get any tickets for the game, which would mean the campaign misses out on its first game in this season's FA Cup.

Having been to the previous 11 rounds of the competition, this would be very disappointing.

The only hope we have now collect another £800 to hit the £5,000 target for Cancer Research, is for fans to donate online - www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles

More updates later this week as they come in.

REPLAY PROVIDES EXTRA EXCITEMENT

A cracking FA Cup replay at The Hawthorns on Wednesday night overshadowed the darker side to the night.

The extra-time 3-2 victory for Reading was fully deserved as they showed much more incisive football in the penalty area than West Brom.

The negative side was not being able to collect for Runcorn2wembley which meant only £35 was raised for Cancer Research through the donation of tickets from West Brom to me and Chris Horner.
I can't understand why West Brom didn't allow a collection, but the campaign was grateful for the tickets.

West Brom scored very early (not as early as the first game's nine seconds) before Reading made it 1-1 after just nine minutes.

A howler by the Reading keeper gave West Brom a 2-1 lead early in the second half before a great goal in the third of four added minutes sent the tie into extra time.

Reading's winner was excellent and they could and should have had more. The fans singing at the end while the team threw their tops over the sea of stewards was a memorable scene.

So Runcorn2wembley now goes to Reading for the third time as the sixth round draw pits them against Aston Villa.

I'm talking to Reading about a collection and hope we can have one. With just over £800 left to reach the £5,000 target, a collection will probably take us over the target.

With the semi-finals at Wembley, permission to collect around the ground before the game is proving difficult, which is why I hope Reading allow the collection.

I'm also hoping Reading 107fm will feature the campaign again, as this resulted in many people donating.

Updates will appear on here. Don't forget the match is in just nine days on Sunday 7th March at 1.45pm.

MIXED REPLAY NEWS

Just over 24 hours until the FA Cup fifth round replay between West Bromwich Albion and Reading.

Runcorn2wembley is unable to collect for Cancer Research before the game but will be attending thanks to the donation of five tickets by West Brom.

It's a huge blow to our collection target of £5,000 just ten days after collecting a record total for the campaign before the game at Reading. Almost £900 was donated by fans of both clubs taking the current total to £4,153.31.

If West Brom win and play Aston Villa in the quarter finals, a collection won't be allowed due to the proximity of the clubs. So everyone associated with Runcorn2wembley is hoping for either Crystal Palace or Reading to win.

If you would like to donate please go to www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles

The attending members of Runcorn2wembley will be highly visible in blue or white t-shirts at The Hawthorns tomorrow night.

See you there.