> Football fans unite for Clubs in Crisis
>
> THOUSANDS of football fans are putting aside tribal differences in a day
> of
> unity for clubs on the brink of financial ruin.
>
> On Saturday 29 January fans from all over the country will descend on
> Wrexham's Racecourse Ground - for their match against Doncaster Rovers -
> in
> a mass display of solidarity to tell the Football Association and Football
> League: "Act now or clubs across the land will go out of existence".
>
> Two months ago more than 10,000 fans gathered at the same ground in a Fans
> United day to draw attention to Wrexham's FC's own plight. The 132 year
> old
> club is in financial administration, has been docked 10 points by the
> Football League and faces eviction from its ground in just 183 days, on 21
> July 2005.
>
> Unless a buyer for the club is found Wrexham faces liquidation and will be
> the first football league club to go out of existence since Aldershot FC
> in
> 1992.
>
> But Wrexham is not alone.
>
> Clubs the length and breadth of the UK are in a similar plight: Brighton
> and
> Hove Albion, Burnley, Bury, Cambridge United, Dover Athletic, Hendon FC,
> East Stirlingshire, Gateshead, Grimsby Town, Rotherham and even former
> Premiership giants Leeds United are all currently facing uncertain
> futures.
>
> Fans from all these clubs are now being invited to gather at the
> Racecourse
> Ground and stand in their team colours alongside Wrexham and Doncaster
> fans
> in what promises to be a festival of a day.
>
> Supporters from other clubs are also urged to attend to show their
> solidarity in the biggest display of fan unity ever seen. Those that
> cannot
> get to the game are asked to send a scarf, banner or team shirt to show
> support.
>
> A Fans United spokesman and Brighton supporter Nic Outterside said: "It is
> 12 years since Aldershot FC went bust and in that time many other football
> clubs have gone to the brink. In many cases these crises have been due to
> mismanagement or sheer greed by club owners or chairmen.
>
> "The danger of Wrexham folding after 132 years of league football is real,
> and others are close behind in what could be a domino effect which would
> see
> many towns lose their football clubs forever."
>
> Simon Johnson of the Wrexham Supporters Trust added: "Football fans have
> had
> enough of being ignored. These are our teams and our stadiums and we won't
> let the incompetence or greed of a few wealthy individuals take them away
> from us.
>
> "Let us all stand together and show the powers-that-be that we are
> desperate
> to safeguard our clubs for future generations and we need their help."
>
> The game against Doncaster Rovers is particularly poignant as the South
> Yorkshire club were themselves on the brink of extinction in 1998 with
> spiralling debts, relegation to the Vauxhall Conference and their owner
> Ken
> Richardson jailed for conspiring to set fire the club's grandstand.
>
> Bob Gilbert, an organiser and veteran of Doncaster Rovers own fight for
> survival, said: "Like at so many other clubs, nothing more than personal
> gain lay behind the ruin of Donny Rovers.
>
> "In seeking that gain one man trampled on the dreams of thousands. And
> neither he, nor the FA nor the Football League ever cared.
>
> "So I urge you, passionately, to turn up at the Racecourse on 29 January
> to
> show all these people that millions and millions of us do care."
>
>
> Notes to Editors:
>
> 1. Any club who wishes to donate a scarf, banner or shirt to the day of
> action are asked to send their item to: Wrexham Supporters' Trust, PO Box
> 200, Wrexham LL12 9WG
>
>
> 2. Further information:
>
> Email: Nic Outterside seagullnic@...
> Bob Gilbert bob@...
> Simon Johnson simon.johnson@...
>
> Telephone: 07891 397636 (Nic Outterside)
> 07981 151958 (Wrexham Supporters Trust)
>
> website: www.clubsincrisis.com
>
>
>
>