Letter: Football Club's appeal for donations just to '˜survive'

What I had in mind was the glory days of Scarborough FC that included three successful visits to Wembley in the FA Trophy, promotion to the FA second division via the Conference League, the visits of Arsenal, Chelsea, Wolves and Bolton, and, over several decades, frequent individual attendances of several thousand.

What happened next? Many months of mental suffering for the dedicated fans as the club lurched from one crisis to another which led to the loss of their beloved Athletic ground/McCain Stadium, and demotion to a much lower league which included place names previously unheard of; “home” games being relegated to Bridlington. The question of who was responsible for this sad decline is probably still being debated in our clubs and pubs.

How sad, therefore, to read your report (Scarborough News, February 25) on the current financial situation at Scarborough Athletic FC. Such has been the disastrous run of results on the field, with consequential dwindling support, that the club has had to resort to an appeal for donations, seemingly in order simply to survive. How does this equate with the Weaponness proposals?

Such irony that the same issue of your newspaper features a wonderful article poignantly entitled “Benno’s (former Scarborough FC player-coach Gary Bennett) fond memories of two years when Boro dared to dream”.

Charles Braithwaite

Trinity Road,

Scarborough