Walsall Football Club would like to place on record its thanks to Walsall Supporters Alliance who have raised and donated £6899.43 to the Club.
The supporters group set up a JustGiving page with the initial aim to raise £5000 to help the Club during the COVID-19 Pandemic that has seen the club go a whole year without being able to welcome supporters to the stadium.
Walsall Supporters Alliance Chairman Rob Harvey set up the page and was delighted to have surpassed the £5000 target and the way Saddlers fans got behind the initiative.
“We set a target of £5000 to start off and I didn’t expect to get that but everyone rallied round and we got there quite quickly so I extended it and we thought as we got close to £7,000 to round it off,” Rob said.
“When fans were due to come back but were then told we weren’t coming back, that’s when we had the idea. We’ve got a WhatsApp group and I said that we should do something and we got the crowdfunding page set up. It was then just a case of promoting it on the group’s twitter page and my twitter page.
“The money that we would have spent at the kiosks for example and at the stadium was down to nil. While £7000 isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things compared to what the club might have got, if it’s something they weren’t going to have, hopefully it’s a little bit of help and going to a good cause.
“I’d like to thank all Saddlers fans for their support and donations.”
The money raised will be used to help the Club’s Academy and Walsall CEO Stefan Gamble was grateful to Rob and the Supporters Alliance for their fundraising efforts.
“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 Supporter’s 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.”