Football team’s shirt gesture for NHS
A Black Country football club has launched a limited edition shirt to net cash for charities battling the Covid-19 crisis.
Bilston Town FC has ordered a ‘charity version’ of its warm-up top and is now offering supporters the opportunity to purchase their own, with a percentage of the proceeds going to NHS charities.
The £10 shirts, in either orange, black and white, feature the message ‘Thank you NHS’ alongside the club badge.
Although matches around the country have ground to a halt, the club says staff and players still want to connect with fans.
Bilston Town chairman Denise Frankham said: “This is a way of saying thank you to the NHS and all the other health charities for the great work they are doing during the current situation.
“We’ve got the shirts as our team’s training tops. They come as ‘slim fit’ and are available in the club’s colours for fans to order direct from us. We’ve already taken around 60 orders in the last few days, so anyone else wanting to place one will have to do so this week.
“It’s been good for us as a club to get behind such a worthy cause – we’re not making anything at all from this.
“Like all other teams and everyone else out there, we’re unable to do anything at the moment due to the lockdown.
“There’s plenty of pre-season repair work, painting and pitch maintenance that needs doing, but with social distancing in force this has all had to be put on hold. We’ve also got to look at getting the players match-fit for the new season,” she added.
“Our stand was 100 years-old last year and the roof badly needs some work, but obviously there’s no income at the moment for us to start doing things.”
Ms Frankham said the club, which plays in the semi-pro West Midlands Regional League Premier Dvisiion, had recently appointed a new manager in former Wolverhampton Casuals boss Dean Gill, and staff and players were optimistic for a positive restart to matches.
Anyone wishing to purchase one of the charity shirts should email denise_bilstontownfc@outlook.com by Wednesday morning, giving details of size and preferred colour.
The club has said it is willing to post shirts out if some people are unable to collect. A standard Royal Mail delivery charge will apply.
