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.
Showing posts with label Chelsea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chelsea. Show all posts
Friday, 7 May 2010
Saturday, 10 April 2010
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.
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.
Friday, 2 April 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
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.
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.
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