THE plight of Welshpool Football Club resonated around the UK this week, after a plea for support from manager David Jones was aired on Gillette Soccer Saturday.
Presenter Jeff Stelling (right) insisted he would keep viewers up to date with the goings on at Welshpool after reading out an email from Jones, on the popular Sky Sports football programme.
Stelling had quipped “Welshpool had met their Waterloo” following the Lilywhites’ 10-1 Boxing Day thrashing at the hands of their town rivals
However Stelling was informed of the club’s brush with extinction during the summer in an email by Jones, read out after a 7-1 defeat at the hands of Llansantffraid Village on December 29.
Stelling said: “Very well said indeed. That is absolutely brilliant putting all the club’s problems in perspective. No more taking the mickey out of Welshpool.
“Watch this space. You will hear more about Welshpool on Gillette Soccer Saturday, that’s to be sure.”
Jones now hopes the club will enjoy the fruits of national coverage via the satellite channel, similar to the fame Stelling’s “Dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions” quip bestowed on TNS.
Jones said: “Following Soccer Saturday reading out our heavy defeat to Waterloo on Boxing day I decided to send the email purely to try and highlight the struggle myself and the few others have had keeping the club alive this season, in the hope that Sky might highlight the club’s plight and generate a bit of interest and support.
The email - which was read in its entirety to millions of football fans across the UK read: “Welshpool is one of the oldest clubs in Wales at 133-years-old and this summer was going to go out of existence despite being in the Welsh Premier League only two years ago and were one place off qualifying for the UEFA Cup only five years ago.
“Following two successive relegations however Welshpool found themselves this season in the Spar Mid Wales League.
“Ten days before this season started Welshpool did not have a manager or a single player signed on and had decided to fold.
“Myself and Neil Breeze, who are both from the town and whose families have historical connections with the club, decided to take the job on to keep the club in existence.
“We managed to scramble 11 players together for the first game and have managed to keep the ship afloat to date.
“The game on Boxing Day was clearly a bad day, however on Christmas Day we didn’t have 11 players to put out due to injuries and suspensions.
“So perhaps Soccer Saturday would like to give the club a bit of exposure and positive coverage and highlight the struggles one of Wales' oldest clubs is going through and also the amount of time a small number of people are spending to keep it afloat.”