Friday, March 29, 2024
1Stirling Albion fans’ cup final plea

Stirling Albion fans’ cup final plea

By Paul Thornton

A GROUP of fans hoping to buy their club and save it from financial ruin are appealing to cup final fans to help them raise the £140,000 they need.

Fans of Stirling Albion FC have said they have the backing of all four groups of supporters involved in the Scottish and English cup finals, which are held tomorrow (Saturday).

The BuyStirlingAlbion.org.uk campaign want to buy the club which is facing administration and say that if every fan who attends the finals donates £1 they will be able to push ahead with their plans.

Spokesman Paul Goodwin said: “Over 140,000 football fans will live their dreams by attending Hampden and Wembley this cup final weekend and if every one of them donated just £1 to the campaign we think we could buy the club.

“The generosity of the family of football fans has been shown countless times in recent years so this weekend could be our cup final too.”

Mr Goodwin said the campaign – which has already raised around £60,000 – has already had the backing of all the four groups of supporters.

He said: “It was actually an Everton fan, Mark Crowley, who contacted us to suggest we do this.

“We hope that the generosity of fans of Rangers, Falkirk, Everton and Chelsea, as well as fans from every club around the world, will help us reach our dream.”

Stirling Albion FC has been up for sale for several seasons and this year finished in fifth place in the Scottish Second Division.

HM Revenue and Customs have already lodged a winding up notice to recoup a reported £41,000 owed.

If the money is not paid the club could go into administration.

An HMRC spokesman added: “At this point in time we have not reached a deadline but we are in discussion with the club as to their plans for clearing the debt.”

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