An ex-Hanley Town player and men’s reserve manager is running 10 kilometres every single day until August 16 – the day the regular football season would normally start – to raise money for the North West Counties Football League outfit.
Sean Hancock from Ball Green will run a combined total of 1,030 kilometres over 103 days to help his beloved club stay afloat financially after it, like most non-league sides, lost a vast amount of revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This distance is almost the equivalent of running to Germany, with Sean having already started this incredible feat on Monday (May 4).
“I have been associated with Hanley Town for over 10 years, playing for most of that time and then managing the reserve men’s team for the last two years,” he told Sport in Staffs.
“I have now stepped down as manager for work reasons, however I still have as much to do on match days as I can and even still put a strip on, on the odd occasion.
“Hanley Town is a club close to many hearts in and around our community for many reasons, so for any way possible I will help out where I can.”
Although he said he wasn’t an ‘experienced’ runner, Sean has ran lengthy races before.
“I am not an experienced runner really, I have ran a few distances in the past and did the Potters ‘Arf Marathon a few years back to again raise money for the club! This time I want to go further and raise more money!”
Sean encouraged people to donate to his gigantic fundraising effort, stating: “I would just ask people to give as little or as much as they can to a club which is loved by the community, from kids clubs on Saturday mornings to the adults games on Saturday afternoons.”
He is uploading each run to his ‘Go Fund Me’ page, where people can donate and keep track of his progress.
On the page, Sean wrote: “As you may know Hanley Town is local football club with two senior teams and an academy for younger football enthusiasts.
“With the current pandemic hitting a lot of people, it’s not just businesses that are affected but also sports teams. I am going to run 10 kilometres everyday until the beginning of the season (if it starts on the normal day, August 16), that is 103 days (as of May 4 when I started).
“I hope everyone can help as much as possible to keep Hanley Town FC running smoothly and prepare for the upcoming season.”
Upon hearing the news, Hanley Town tweeted:” Wow! What a fantastic gesture! Good luck to Shorty and a huge thank you from everyone associated with the club!”
Within just two hours after publishing his donation page, a total of £150 had already been donated.
To donate to Sean’s fundraiser, click here.
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