Getting sick of posting these things for football clubs...last time York, now the Grecians...please help if you can
Dear friend,
This is a brief but impassioned plea to you as a past or present fan of either Exeter City FC or just football in general.
You may have seen in the media various reports of problems at the club since it was relegated to the Conference at the end of last season. Boardroom problems, directors arrested on suspicion of fraud, serious financial difficulties.
Having worked hard for many years to get representation for the ordinary fans of the club on the board, a dedicated band of supporters known as the Exeter City Supporters Trust have not only succeeded in doing so, they have actually taken on the running of the club completely (on a temporary basis at first) following the departure of the whole of the previous board.
They have inherited a club in a desperate situation. £2 million-plus in debt (in football terms, around the equivalent to David Beckham's left foot), winding-up petitions about to be heard, and a very serious chance that they will not survive to start their new season in the Conference.
Unless....
A MASSIVE fundraising initiative is under way, led by the Trust, but with hundreds of ordinary fans doing all they can to raise funds and awareness. The first week of the campaign has borne fruit to the tune of £25,000, so the task is NOT impossible!
As a fellow fan, whether or not you support Exeter City, I am sure you can understand the anguish longstanding supporters of our club must feel at the possibility of losing it forever owing to past poor financial management. We now have the chance to show that a community-run club can succeed where others seeking to make a profit have failed, but we don't have much time.
Here's how you can help:
Become a member of our Trust; go and check out their website - http://www.ecfcst.org.uk
The subscription is only £24 a year, and the one member, one vote policy means that you will have a say in future as to how the club is run.
Make a donation: having looked at the web site, send them a donation of as much as you can afford! The membership fee is obviously not going to save the club on its own, although in the longer term it will make a difference. Every penny counts RIGHT NOW!
Tell everybody you know - PLEASE forward this email to anyone that has any connection with football. Again, every penny helps. the Trust has even been receiving donations from our bitterest rivals, Torquay and Plymouth supporters. If they can do it, anyone can!
To see the depth of feeling of the fans of our club (which celebrates its Centenary this year by the way) take a look at the forums on
http://www.exeweb.co.uk - plenty of passion there!
Please help in any way you can - we don't have much time, so whatever you do, please do it soon!!!
A football fan
PS If you own or run a business, please also check out the "Last Grand Stand' campaign on the Trust web site. For a donation of just £1,000, you have the chance to have your company's name emblazoned across one end of the ground for the whole of next season!
PPS - please put this up on mailing lists and boards at your own club that you're on - every little helps!
― Dave B (daveb), Friday, 30 May 2003 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)