Fists Up
for Frankie
I am now a few weeks
in to my journey on The Road to Wembley from Scotland and I have seen three great
matches all involving three teams from the Northern League. I have been struck
by the friendliness of the rivalries and the way in which visiting supporters
are made welcome when travelling away to watch their team in action. This is in
sharp contrast to some of the vitriolic rivalries in the SPFL that I have
become accustomed to. There is a real sense of community in the Northern League.
This sense
of community has helped to raise awareness of a devastating instance of
childhood cancer. Frankie Sherwood is a three year old whose parents are avid
football supporters. Frankie has an aggressive form of childhood cancer known
as stage 4 neuroblastoma.
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| Frankie Sherwood suffering from stage 4 neuroblastoma |
I first
became aware of the plight of this young fella when I took a pic of the Penrith
Stadium Announcer Craig McGlasson and he asked to be photographed with the
hashtag #fistsupforfrankie
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Penrith Stadium Announcer shows his support for Frankie
|
The idea is
quite beautifully simple. Pics are taken with the subjects raising clench fists
to show solidarity with the plight of Frankie Sherwood. The footballing
community of the Northern League have backed this campaign to the hilt and
below is a selection of the pics that have been taken in the last few weeks to
publicise Frankie’s fight for life.
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Penrith showing fists up for Frankie
|
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Sunderland Ryhope Community Association show their support
|
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| West Allotment Celtic with 'fists up' |
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| North Shields raising awareness |
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| Heaton Stan FC have fists up for Frankie |
The
situation as far as I can gather is as follows: Neuroblastoma can not be
treated in the UK and the cost of getting effective treatment in the US is
going to cost something in the region of half a million pounds. Full details of
Frankie’s situation and details of how to donate can be found via
https://www.gofundme.com/28mzxuk and
also via the twitter feed @helpfrankie
and also on twitter you can check out the hashtag #fistsupforfrankie. So far
the campaign has raised £100,000 in less than two months – so go check out the
links above and make a donation. Every little helps.
From a
footballing perspective, soccer sometimes gets bad publicity due to the conduct
of the players and officials involved the beautiful game. This really is a heart-warming
story of the non league community in the north of England working together to make a
very positive contribution. Good luck to Frankie and well done to the member
clubs of the Northern League for their support.
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