Stars join bid to save Binos

May 13 2009 by Stephen Robertson, Stirling Observer Wednesday

A FANS’ campaign to buy Stirling Albion has continued to gather backing from high-profile supporters and from other fans around the globe.

The Buystirlingalbion campaign, launched last week, received the early backing of club chairman Peter McKenzie.

FIFA world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo – a shareholder with Soccerade, one of the buyout scheme’s sponsors – also issued a message of support following the launch.

Now further celebrities have announced their backing for the campaign to make Albion the UK’s first league club to be totally owned by a fans’ trust.

Snooker legend and seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry, footballing brothers Gary and Steven Caldwell and top chef Nick Nairn have all pledged their support for the scheme.

Stephen Hendry said: “Having practiced at Spencer’s Snooker Club for most of my professional career, I know how important Stirling Albion Football Club is to the local community and I wish the trust well in its efforts to ensure the long-term future of the club.”

Celtic and Scotland star Gary Caldwell also sent a good luck message. He added: “Please give your backing and join the fight to save Stirling Albion.”

His brother Steven, of Championship side Burnley, said: “I think it is really important that every community has a local football team and fully support the campaign to save Stirling Albion.”

Nick Nairn said: “My brother and I have always supported our local team and will do our utmost to make sure this campaign is a success.”

In the first 48 hours of the campaign there were 250,000 visits to the BuyStirlingAlbion.org.uk website from 38 different countries – a response which has delighted trust members.

Paul Goodwin from Buystirlingalbion said: “We knew there would be interest in the campaign but the level of interest from across the world has blown us away.

“To get support from Mr McKenzie, the club’s chairman, is very important to us as we are all now working towards preserving the future of Stirling Albion.”

He added: “The campaign was always going to be a long game and it would never have been won in the first few days but we are delighted by the support we’ve been receiving from Stirling Albion fans and from fans of other clubs too.”

The trust hope to secure more than 20,000 memberships at £40 each to achieve its goal and says the investment is “low-risk”. It says that £35 will be returned to supporters if the bid is unsuccessful, with the remaining “modest amount” being retained for campaign expenses and things such as bank charges.

For full details of the campaign visit www.BuyStirlingAlbion.org.uk.