Lord's bound : Folkton & Flixton's young National Village Cup finalists [Scarborough News]
Cash strapped North Yorkshire club Folkton & Flixton are only halfway to finding the £8,000 they need to send their players to next Sunday’s dream occasion, the National Village Cup final at Lord’s.
The competition is without a mainline sponsor this season, so Liphook & Ripsley’s opponents, based near the seaside resort of Scarborough, have only received a modest amount towards their expenses for the 500-mile round trip to London.
Flixton official John Boddy moaned: “The competition is advertised as a day at Lord’s, that you’re treated like an international, but we only got £500 towards the expenses, meaning that we need somewhere between £6,000 to £8,000 to cover the costs.
“We have had some extremely generous donations, and we will be thanking those appropriately, but we are still only just at halfway, if anyone else can come forward and help us that would be great.”
Expenses like buses and accommodation haven’t come cheap, the costs are inflated around the famous old ground in London, but Boddy insists it will not put a dampener on what is sure to be a special occasion.
Flixton have been big supporters of the competition since its introduction in the 1970s, being one of the ever-present sides.
“The writing was on the wall from the regional finals really where we expected umpires to be provided, but in the end have had to consistently provide our own umpires, at further cost to the club,” added the long-serving club manager and scorer.
“We have supported this competition since its inception and we are disappointed after the treatment that teams got previously.”
“But the most important thing is the occasion, we are proud of our achievements.
“It will be the biggest game we have ever had and we will be going to win make no mistake.”
Liphook have no such issues with the team spending the entire cup final weekend in London, where they expect to be cheered on my a large local following.
Captain Charles Janczur said: “I have been amazed by the interest shown by friends, colleagues and beyond in attending the final.
“People that have previously never shown an interest in cricket are really excited about travelling up on the day to cheer us on.
“I am very hopeful we will outnumber them in numbers and in voice. I believe 95% of supporters will all be travelling up by train on the day as Lords is very accessible from where we are based.”
* ‘Neutral’ umpires are never appointed until the quarter-final stage of the competition.
The competition is without a mainline sponsor this season, so Liphook & Ripsley’s opponents, based near the seaside resort of Scarborough, have only received a modest amount towards their expenses for the 500-mile round trip to London.
Flixton official John Boddy moaned: “The competition is advertised as a day at Lord’s, that you’re treated like an international, but we only got £500 towards the expenses, meaning that we need somewhere between £6,000 to £8,000 to cover the costs.
“We have had some extremely generous donations, and we will be thanking those appropriately, but we are still only just at halfway, if anyone else can come forward and help us that would be great.”
Expenses like buses and accommodation haven’t come cheap, the costs are inflated around the famous old ground in London, but Boddy insists it will not put a dampener on what is sure to be a special occasion.
Flixton have been big supporters of the competition since its introduction in the 1970s, being one of the ever-present sides.
“The writing was on the wall from the regional finals really where we expected umpires to be provided, but in the end have had to consistently provide our own umpires, at further cost to the club,” added the long-serving club manager and scorer.
“We have supported this competition since its inception and we are disappointed after the treatment that teams got previously.”
“But the most important thing is the occasion, we are proud of our achievements.
“It will be the biggest game we have ever had and we will be going to win make no mistake.”
Liphook have no such issues with the team spending the entire cup final weekend in London, where they expect to be cheered on my a large local following.
Captain Charles Janczur said: “I have been amazed by the interest shown by friends, colleagues and beyond in attending the final.
“People that have previously never shown an interest in cricket are really excited about travelling up on the day to cheer us on.
“I am very hopeful we will outnumber them in numbers and in voice. I believe 95% of supporters will all be travelling up by train on the day as Lords is very accessible from where we are based.”
* ‘Neutral’ umpires are never appointed until the quarter-final stage of the competition.
