A grassroots football club that had vital equipment destroyed in a suspected arson attack has been handed a massive boost through the help of Everton and club partner Davanti Tyres.
MSB Woolton FC - which with 151 teams is thought to be the biggest amateur club in Europe - lost goalposts, balls, kits and dozens of boots loaned to children unable to afford them when fire ripped through container units at the club’s Camp Hill base.
The club has been boosted by an immense community response and now a £3,000 donation from Davanti - one of whose key figures used to play for the south Liverpool outfit. The money was handed over after volunteers and players were invited to train at Everton’s Finch Farm training complex.
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Club manager Colin Windrow was among those from MSB Woolton who attended Finch Farm earlier this week for what was initially pitched as a special chance for around 40 junior players to train with club coaches. It was while they were enjoying that session that the club was surprised with the donation. Speaking to the ECHO, Colin said: “It was amazing. Everton had just invited us to come down with some of the kids so they could receive some training from professional coaches and then this happened. I was blown away. It was amazing - people don’t have to do this but they really pulled the stops out.”
It was during Everton’s Sunday night game with Manchester United last month that Colin received the call from the emergency services to say there was a fire at Camp Hill. When he attended the scene the next morning he was devastated at the sight of melted equipment crucial to thousands of players MSB Woolton caters for. The destruction caused him to cry but he has been overwhelmed by the offers of help that have flooded in since the incident - including from Everton. He added: “It’s been an incredible response to what happened. Everyone has come together and the grassroots community of football has convinced me to say ‘let’s go again’.”
The donation follows the success of an online fundraising campaign on the club’s behalf and supporting MSB Woolton was of particular interest to Chris Saunders, UK brand manager for Davanti Tyres. He said: “I live locally and as a kid I played football for Woolton at Camp Hill, where the incident occurred. When the news came through it was very shocking, so it’s even better for us to get involved. It means a lot more to help out. We are a big, global brand but our roots are local, so any opportunity we get to give back to the local community, we take. Through our partnership with Everton, we’ve been very lucky to do that now on a few occasions over the years. It’s very difficult to keep clubs running and buy equipment and it’s absolutely devastating what happened, but we all look after ourselves in Liverpool and we are very happy to be able to give something back.”
MSB Woolton have a long-standing affiliation to Everton but have seen talented youngsters progress to clubs across the north west. The junior session hosted at Finch Farm was overseen by Ian Lavery, Everton’s academy recruitment trialist manager, who heaped praise on what Colin and the nearly-300 volunteers at the club do week-in, week-out..
He said: “We can’t do our job without these boys. Everyone starts out at a grassroots football team and Woolton is a good place to start. I remember years ago, Woolton first started with just a small number of clubs and now they are arguably the biggest in Europe. We like what they do. They fit our family values by being a really family-orientated club and we have had good connections in that time. They have supplied us with players, as I’m sure they have with most clubs in the north west.
"We just buy into their ethos and you couldn’t imagine their feeling when they turned up on that morning and there was no hut, equipment or anything. Their life’s work went up in smoke, so to see the boys’ faces here and, through our contacts, to be able to add to their funding is unbelievable. Davanti have been brilliant. They were the first to say they wanted to help – as did we - and it was a pleasure to be able to do so.”
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