Fans of cash strapped ice-hockey team Telford Tigers were celebrating today after raising £20,000 in four days allowing them to take to the ice next season.
Now the club is looking to its long-term future after relieved bosses revealed they have had a string of sponsorship offers.
Fans and wellwishers, some from as far away as Estonia, have also chipped in, raising thousands of pounds to save the club themselves.
Claude Dumas, coach, said today: “We really didn’t think it was possible to get the funds together in such a short time.
“It just shows people do care and realise the Telford Tigers are important to Shropshire.
“I want to thank everyone who has helped us get to this point - the fans and sponsors and all those behind the scenes who have put in time, money and effort to save this team.
“Now we have enough funds in place to see out the season, but we have a lot of work ahead to see how much of the planned squad we can salvage.
“We still want to try to bring in as many of the signed team as possible, although at the moment we are still short of our original budget.
“Our first objective was to save the team and we are happy to have done that,” he added.
“Now we have to ask everyone to carry on helping us to find additional sponsors, so we can try to get the most competitive team possible.”
Last week, club supremos feared they would not be able to compete in the English Premier League season after a major sponsorship deal fell through at the last minute.
The crisis was sparked when Cannock-based firm Eurologix pulled out of the deal just two weeks before the team were due to ice off for the new season.
Now, the team can take to the ice and begin to renegotiate deals with their players.
Crunch talks on the club’s future, attended by about 70 fans, club officials and stakeholders, were held at Telford Ice Rink on Sunday.
Following the meeting the cash started to roll in with a string of companies stepping in to save the team and make up some of the sponsorship shortfall.
Anyone who is interested in offering their support can contact the club direct by e-mail at save@telford tigers.co.uk
By Tom Johannsen
5 Comments
Well done to all for their efforts in saving a valuable asset to Telford. Long may they continue doing what they do best.
Report abuse
Am I right in thinking that the Ice rink will be demolished when Telford town centre is redeveloped along with the library and indoor market
Report abuse
People always slag off Telford and the residence but we know when to pull together and make things happen.
Well done to all.
Report abuse
Its such a relief that they will be alright, and roaring on into the new season.
Its another reason to Live Here and Love It!
Report abuse
Reply to Y Mab Darogan
The ice rink is being taken down, but not until there is a new state of the art facility in it’s place. The Ice Rink is the flagship of all leisure facilties within the borough and is the cornerstone of the redevelopment work in and around the town centre.
A new rink is to be constructed within 3 years, and it is once the new building has been erected that the old building shall be demolished to make way for further redevelopment work on the town centre to take place.
Report abuse