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First home game of 2013 ticks all the boxes

The arrival of the first football of the New Year to Gigg Lane saw FCUM raise its game, on and off the pitch.

The Pound for the Ground sellers were out early and with two regular sellers on the absent list, early subs were called up to strengthen the team. Thanks to magnificent support from the fans, a season record of 950 tickets were sold on the day. As usual, the draw was made at half time and the winning ticket, number 756, was claimed by our very own office and turnstile volunteer Pat Shaw - who promptly put £100, half of her winnings, in the nearest barrel. Congratulations to Pat and a big thanks for her donation. A special mention goes to Dave "lucky" Keelan, who sold the ticket. As per the normal rules, the remaining £750 will be paid into the Development Fund towards our new ground.

The £100 swelled the barrel collection to a total of £256, but the story doesnt end there, as there was a veritable cornucopia of foreign notes and coins amongst the normal loose change. Various Swedish, Mexican, Cuban, Polish and Hungarian banknotes were sorted and will be exchanged for around £90 with our friendly postmistress Jackie and will add to the next barrel tally. Finally, also amongst the change were 20 euros and an assortment of foreign coins which will be sorted and swapped at a later date.

Which got us thinking, that maybe supporters could collect amongst friends and work colleagues any foreign notes and shrapnel that they bring back from their holidays and trips abroad. My daughter has a box in her office at work, and in a few months it has gained us around £18 - multiply that by the number of supporters we have and we could amass an awful lot of cash for the DF.

Thanks to the football team, the buckateers, PFTG team and you the supporters for a superb performance. If we carry this spirit of positivity through to the season end, who knows what the outcome might be! Not forgetting of course, some support from a certain judge . . .

Report by Mike Platt



First Posted ~ 17:12 Mon 14 Jan 2013
News ID ~ 4674
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021