Brentford supporters have given their Club a Fighting Chance of avoiding relegation to League Two – after donating close to £35,000 in less than six weeks to a unique fund set up by fellow fans.
Fighting Chance, a campaign launched by supporters to raise funds for player transfers in the January transfer window, is now just £600 short of hitting the £35,000 mark – a sum that will help manager Scott Fitzgerald as he rebuilds his squad.
Campaign organisers are now making a final push to raise funds before the transfer window closes. At Saturday's game against Leyton Orient, Brentford Supporter Director Jon Gosling handed over a first cheque to chairman Greg Dyke for £33,000. Manager Scott Fitzgerald said in his programme notes:
Appeal Cheque
"A big thank you to all you Bees fans who have supported the Fighting Chance Appeal. Thanks to your support we have been able to bring in some players to help the cause. Keep your support going for the Appeal as it still remains open for the remainder of the month."
On the pitch, three players – Joe Keith, David Partridge and Michael Leary – made their home debuts and helped the Bees battle to a 2-2 draw, a result which Fitzgerald hopes will be a catalyst for an improvement over the coming months. It is an open secret that he is looking to bring a striker to the Club and the Fighting Chance appeal has played a large part in giving him these options.
A campaign that began on Brentford fans' message board The Griffin Park Grapevine late one miserable Friday night after a particularly bad defeat against then bottom-side Cheltenham Town has therefore firmly established itself as a corner stone in the Bees fight for survival. Support has come from all parts of the Football Club – Supporters Trust Bees United, chairman Greg Dyke, the board, the Football Club in running events, The Brentford Lifeline Society and independent supporters' association BIAS have all made significant contribution.
However, the biggest contributor has been the Brentford fan – with over £18,000 coming from personal donations – and all that in the busy time up to Christmas. A remarkable demonstration by Brentford fans in once again supporting the club – almost a year to the day after fans dug deep to help buy the Club in the first place.
The message now though is that the campaign continues. The scheme will run all the way until the end of the January transfer window. The BIG New Year Draw continues and the club have more auctions planned – including former captain Michael Dobson's home and away shirts, a fantastic golf weekend for two and a piece of football memorabilia that will interest all football fans.
Brentford fans are therefore urged to continue supporting the scheme as much as they can. With the fund already massively exceeding original expectations the target now is to get beyond £40,000 by the end of January.
And if you think that will be the end of Fighting Chance you could be wrong – discussions are already underway about how this can be turned into a long-term initiative.
There are three ways to donate to Fighting Chance:
By Paypal via the Fighting Chance website
By bank transfer to Account 43911543, Sort Code 20-27-48 adding your name as a reference
By cheque, made payable to "Fighting Chance", sent to :
Paul Stedman
Fighting Chance
c/o Brentford Football Club
Griffin Park
Brentford
TW8 0NT