Charities share windfall from farewell clash

EVO-STIK League Stamford AFC have handed over nearly a thousand pounds to be shared between two charity projects.

The Daniels Foundation and Cancer Research UK have both received donations following the Premier Division club’s recent ‘Legends versus All Stars’ match, one of the last games to be played at the Vic Couzens Stadium before their move into a new dream home in August.

The game, which saw the Legends run out 3-1 winners over the All Stars, was watched by over 200 fans and saw £900 raised for good causes. That money has now been distributed in a 50-50 split between the charities.

The Legends team, made up of former Stamford players covering a 40-year period, was led by Malcolm Hird who skippered the Daniels in the 1976 FA Vase Final at Wembley. Hird returned to the twin towers four years later to lift the FA Vase after masterminding a 2-0 victory over Guisborough Town.

Lifelong Daniels fan Gary Hopkins – a man well known in the region’s footballing scene with more than four decades of service to the club under his belt, including a spell in charge of Stamford’s reserves in the late 1980s – managed the All Stars, made up of former local players, members of the club’s coaching staff and representatives of the club's sponsors.

Paul Pepper, the club’s commercial director, is pictured handing over the cheques to representatives of the two charities. He said: "The money has been delivered to both charities and the Daniels Foundation will look to put it towards something that will benefit all age groups.

"It was a fantastic occasion and a very competitive game. It was played in the right spirit but with a bit of bite as well. It was the first time a lot of the legends have played in years – it was the first time I’d put my boots on for 22 years and I could certainly feel it the next day!"