The young football fan, who wrote a letter explaining his mum has no money for food, cobbled together 26p in coins and said he will come to cheer on his favourite team “one day”
Image: Twitter/Swindon Town)
Football fans from up and down the country are launching a search for a six-year-old Swindon Town fan who sent a heartwarming note and 26p to his favourite player after revealing his mum has “no money for food”.
There has been an outpouring of goodwill towards the youngster, who signed the letter “Joe, aged 6½”, and some have gone as far as pledging to find the fan and ensure he gets a chance to watch Swindon in person.
League Two side Swindon shared the letter, explaining they wanted to get in touch but had no return address and no way of locating the fan.
Step forward the football community with offers of match tickets, as well as efforts to pay for a week’s worth of food for Joe and his mum.
What did you make of the outpouring of support for Joe? Have your say in the comments section
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“Mummy doesn’t have any money to come to Swindon games because she has no money for food and has to pay for my dinner at school,” the letter read, with Joe instructing the club to give the 26p attached to top scorer Harry McKirdy.
“I like Swindon Town Harry McKidy [sic].
“I will come one day.
“Joe Aged 6 ½.”
When Swindon Town shared the letter, they explained their predicament.
“We’d really love to get in touch with Joe, but we don’t have a return address,” the club said over Twitter.
“If anyone recognises the writing or thinks they know who Joe is, please email supporters@swindontownfc.co.uk”
After the post received thousands of retweets and likes, with the League 2 Twitter account also sharing the appeal, a GoFundMe page was set up with the intention of raising money for Joe and others made their own offers.
It wasn’t just fellow Swindon fans coming forward, either.
“Preston North End fan here – if you set up a crowdfund to get Joe (and his mum) an all-expenses paid day at the match I’ll stick a fiver in,” one wrote.
One Liverpool fan said: “If you find Joe, I’ll gladly buy him and his Mum a ticket to a Swindon game, no problem”.
“Blackpool fan here. If you find him, I’ll buy a season ticket for him and a pal next season. I was that lad once,” was another of the messages sent in reply to the letter.
In addition to offers of match tickets, there were plenty pledging to help in other ways.
“I can see there are lots of offers here for Joe and his mum to come to a game,” wrote Tom Hartley, an assistant manager with Oxford United WFC.
“So, If you manage to find Joe id like to pay for a weeks worth of food shopping for them. Please keep us informed,” he continued.
At the time of writing, a crowdfunder set up by Swindon fan Mark Bevan has already surpassed its £1,000 target.
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