Anfield clash raises £4,000 for fan's trust

15 December 2004

MORE than £4,000 was raised -last night for Wrexham Supporters' Trust at Liverpool's Premiership clash with Portsmouth at Anfield.

Forty Wrexham fans and the club's reserve coach Joey Jones and assistant manager Kevin Russell attended the game.

A bucket collection on the Kop and on the Portsmouth away end raised thousands of pounds, said Phil Wynn from the trust.

At half time Joey Jones, a former Liverpool player, and Kevin Russell went on to the pitch to be presented with signed Liverpool and Portsmouth shirts.

Mr Wynn said: "It was very successful and the Liverpool and Portsmouth fans were very generous."

The funds will be added to the £50,000 already raised by the trust who hope to buy a share in the club, which is currently in administration.

Mr Wynn said the team shirts will be included in a parade of shirts from several football league games during Saturday's Hartlepool game which has been deemed a Players United day.

He said: "We are hoping to get a signed shirt from every one of the 92 league clubs. So far we have about 20 and they will be paraded at Saturday's game as part of the Players United day which shows that solidarity of all footballers over Wrexham's plight."

The shirts will be eventually auctioned to raise funds for Wrexham Supporters' Trust.

A plea has also been made to boost the attendance at Wrexham FC's last home game before Christmas where there will be three attractions off the pitch. Traditionally, the last game before Christmas suffers a low attendance as supporters do their Christmas shopping and make other preparations for the festivities.

But with gate receipts crucial due to the club's present financial crisis, fans are calling for people to attend. And, as well as the clash between Wrexham and Hartlepool, there will be other attractions to entertain the crowds.

A special, one-off comeback appearance by a former Wrexham legend has already got some fans in a state of excitement.

Since Wrex the Dragon took up the role of official club mascot, many supporters have spoken of their fond memories of Rockin' Robin.

Due to popular demand the red-breasted mascot will make a one off appearance at Saturday's game to entertain supporters with his antics.

Also doing their bit to put "bums on seats", will be fans Lee Williams and Andy Williams who aim to complete the monumental task of sitting in every seat in The Racecourse.

Staff at the club have asked them to count the seats as they carry out the task, as the exact capacity of The Racecourse is unknown.

Wrexham MP lan Lucas will join them at about 2.30pm in the Sainsbury's Stand to, hopefully, watch them sit in the final few seats before kick off.

Lee and Andy have already raised £1,000 through sponsorship, and hope to raise much more through bucket collections.

Half of the money raised will go to the cash raised by Wrexham Supporters' Trust, and the other half will be shared between Hope House Children's Hospice and the children's ward at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.