The Chester City Exiles are planning to help City Fans United with a fund-raising bucket collection on Tuesday night at Kingsmeadow, when AFC Wimbledon take on Wrexham in the Blue Square Premier League.

 

A statement released by the Chester City Exiles read:

Exiled Chester fans will be staging a fund-raising bucket collection, to help build a new club in their home city, at the AFC Wimbledon v Wrexham match on Tuesday March 30.

Funds will be donated to the City Fans United group, which is aiming to have a ‘phoenix’ club playing football in Chester by the start of next season.

This follows the expulsion of Chester City FC from the Football Conference and the club’s subsequent winding-up in the High Court.

City Fans United (CFU), a Supporters’ Trust body with more than 1,000 members, needs to build up its war-chest to allow football to be played in Chester again.

Members of the Chester City Exiles, a fans’ club now in its 25th season, will be at Kingsmeadow with their buckets asking for donations on behalf of CFU. They hope for some friendly banter and generosity from local rivals Wrexham.

Exiles chair, Pauline Meakins, said: “The support shown by other football clubs, particularly AFC Wimbledon for generously  allowing us to stage this collection and the messages of support from many of the fans of our old enemy Wrexham, has meant so much to us over the past few terrible months.  It has given us a lot of strength and a real hope for the future of football in Chester. We thank everyone very much.”

City Fans United would like to thank the Chester City Exiles for their continued support, and the bucket collection further demonstrates the excellent relationship held between the two groups. It would also like to thank AFC Wimbledon & Wrexham FC for their support in this initiative to raise funds.