FINAL HURRAY

With England and The FA now concentrating on the World Cup, the curtain has been finally drawn on the 2009/10 FA Cup.

This also means the fantastic charity adventure Runcorn2wembley is also at at end. After following the FA Cup from the very first round, the campaign was still collecting for Cancer Research despite not being allowed to the semi finals or final.

I managed to get to see every game (including replays) up the semi final, which makes the decision by the powers that be to not allow us to attend either semi or final very annoying.

Thank you must go to all the clubs we visited, their fans and the following people who came along to collect at the games. Rob Knowles, Sarah O'Brien, Chris O'Brien, Patrick O'Brien, Lawrence Whiston, Jonny Lewin, Andy James, John Horn, Chris Corse, Peter Bowers, Simon Baggeley, Neil Goodwin. If I've missed anyone off let me know.

A special mention to Chris Horner, someone who we didn't know before the campaign started, but offered to help us collect after reading about the campaign at the Guiseley v Kendal game. He then attended every game until the semi final.

The biggest thank you goes to everyone who has donated, it means so much to me and my brother Rob.

The fundraising and donations page is still open for people to donate and we hope the current total of £4,415.00 will continue to increase.

So as I now prepare for watching England go out of the World Cup in the usual dismal fashion in the 2nd round or quarter finals, I know following the FA Cup will have to wait. With mine and Sarah's first child due in July we've got more important things to think about.

I'll leave this blog on two points:

1 - Support your local non-league football clubs as they deserve you're hard earned cash much more than the bigger clubs.
2 - The FA and big clubs are only interested in football for what they can get out of it, financially. Unfortunately this means fans are meaningless in the modern era, but become more important the lower you go down the leagues.

SEASON FINALE

So the 2009/10 FA Cup has finished for another season, but the charity campaign that followed it from the start wasn’t there at the finish.

Despite clocking up thousands of miles following the competition, Runcorn2wembley was unable to complete its mission at Wembley.

The campaign, organised by brothers Richard and Robert Knowles has raised almost £4,500 for Cancer Research, but is short of the £5,000 target.

The duo started the campaign in August at Runcorn Linnets, all in the name of their father who played for a number of amateur clubs but died from cancer when they were young children.

Despite pleas to local councils, the football clubs, police and The FA, Runcorn2wembley was unable to carry out the main fundraising activity of collecting from fans outside the ground before the game.

The campaign was unable to collect or attend the semi final or final and therefore has fallen short of the £5,000 target.

Richard, from Frodsham, said: “We’re delighted to have raised so much money for a cause close to our hearts, but disappointed with the reaction of various organisations to Runcor2wembley attending the semi finals and final at Wembley.

“Being denied permission to collect at Wembley has meant we’ve not reached our target, although credit must be given to the fans and clubs that have been very welcoming to Runcorn2wembley.”

Robert, from Southport, is hoping online donations will continue to boost the total. He said: “The FA Cup may be over for this season, but fans can still donate online.

“I’m not sure we’ll be doing this again for the foreseeable future as Richard and I will both be parents by the time next season’s competition beings.”

To donate simply go to www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles

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.