SWINDON TOWN: Robins grateful for Red Army's fundraising but won't dip into the kitty yet (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SWINDON TOWN: Robins grateful for Red Army's fundraising but won't dip into the kitty yet

6:00am Saturday 12th January 2013 in Sport By Sam Morshead

SWINDON Town are well aware of the money sitting in the Red Army Fund kitty but have not requested access to the cash just yet, according to Trust STFC chairman John Ward.

Around £10,000 is available to manager Paolo Di Canio and the County Ground board, should they require a little extra help during the January transfer window, after more than £500 was contributed by fans over the course of the past seven days following the Swindon boss’ suggestion he was willing to stump up £30,000 of his own money to strengthen his squad this month.

Ward has been in contact with Town chief executive Nick Watkins to ensure the club know the funds are there should they need them, but he was told there was no need to release the balance of the account just yet.

He said: “I have spoken to Nick Watkins and said it is available if they need it and he said ‘thank you very much, we will certainly tell you if we do but there’s no need to write a cheque just now’.

“It is there, the club know it’s there and if people would like to contribute and particularly if they would like to set up standing orders, it’s great to have it there for when it’s needed if it’s not needed now. The best thing to do is to go on the Trust website.”

Ward admitted that the work of the Trust has been minimal in recent years, as Swindon fans wallowed in the on-field success provided by the Andrew Black- Jeremy Wray-Paolo Di Canio triumvirate.

He said: “To be honest, it’s not just the Red Army Fund that’s been having a sabbatical, it’s the Trust. “It’s the same as trade unions, when there are problems everybody needs a union. When there is something to campaign against, as there was before this present board and owners took over, everyone is interested, everyone joins and they help with the campaigns.

“When the club is in good hands they concentrate on what is going on on the field instead of off it and it’s a case of keeping the Supporters’ Trust going in case we need it again. That’s what we’ve been doing.

“It’s the same with the Red Army Fund. The last time it was called into operation was the loan of Gordon Greer and we gave the club £30,000, which is more or less what was in the kitty, because they said it would be helpful to have it.

“Since then we haven’t actually done any fundraising for it but people do contribute standing orders and we’re now up to nearly £10,000 because we’ve had £500 donated in the last week. On the one hand that’s terrific; on the other hand it is a drop in the ocean.”

Anyone interested in making a donation to the Red Army Fund or setting up a standing order should visit: www.truststfc.com/raf/contribute.