Coventry City Ladies will be holding a ‘bucket shake’ at the Ricoh Arena this Saturday, to raise funds to help them complete the season.
Both players and coaching staff from the team will be collecting outside the ground before the men’s team kick-off their npower League One fixture against Portsmouth at 3pm. The Ladies team currently sit in sixth position in the FA Women’s Premier League, and are the current holders of the Birmingham FA County Cup, but are still looking to attract sponsorship to help the club stay afloat for the remainder of the campaign.
Due to the lack of financial support, this will be the second time that the club has organised a bucket shake outside the Ricoh Arena. The first – prior to the match against Bury on 25th August – raised just under £1000 for the club, which may seem like a drop in the ocean to most male teams, but assisted the Ladies team massively, and manager Chris Holloway underlined the importance of raising further funds for the remainder of the season.
‘’As a club playing at this level, it doesn’t come without a massive cost. Paying for the correct standard of ground, training facilities and the travelling – with even longer journeys this season to the likes of Portsmouth and Sunderland – has become a huge cost.
‘’These are just a few things that have to be considered going into season after season, and in some ways you become a victim of your own success. We are so grateful to Coventry City for letting us do the collections and also the loyal Sky Blue fans that dig deep in an understandably tough time.’’
Last season it cost the Sky Blues – who are completely self-funded – around £37,000 to keep the club running, which included the hire of the Bedworth Oval stadium and its facilities for home matches, transport to away games and training facilities, amongst others. The club also suffered a huge blow during the summer, when they lost both main sponsors – City Link and Archer Bassett.
‘’Coventry City Ladies have been a club that has made huge strides over the last few years and all the girls wear the shirts with pride, week in and week out’’ Holloway continued. ‘’We hope that this bucket shake on Saturday can exceed the money we collected last time out. Simply put, the longer we go without sponsors, the harder it becomes to run the club.’’
Striker Courtney Sweetman-Kirk – who scored the winning goal to secure the Birmingham FA County Cup against Aston Villa in May – echoed Holloway’s sentiments:
‘’Sponsors are vitally important for the club to survive and I am personally grateful to my player sponsor Rich at Pure Properties. The last bucket shake helped us immensely and everyone at the club would be thankful if people could spare a few pounds at the forthcoming bucket shake. The money we raise helps us to do what we love.’’
Coventry City Ladies will be collecting from 1pm until 3pm, outside the Ricoh Arena on Saturday 24th November.