Hi General. Had an email (below) off a chap I know, Hereford United fan, that makes me proud to be Villa. Hats off to all at the club, specially the person involved; another example of the direction Mr Lerner et al are taking us in. Not just the best named club in football (with the nicest colours) but the best reputation too! UTV.
"My 16 year old cousin John went out to Gambia with his school to build a basketball court for the local community. He came back thinking he could help the kids out there by getting football clubs to donate shirts for them. He (with sister and his Dad) set about dilligently writing to every one of the English 92, and most of the Scottish clubs too. Last time I was over there it was fun going through each and every rejection letter, marvelling at the shiny beauty of some of the letter headed paper, mocking those lesser fortunate clubs and their tatty photocopied fare. As of a few weeks ago he'd received about 50 odd rejections without anyone donating so much as an old pair of socks.
Their responses were almost eerily similar - stock lines about getting lots of requests like that so only working with partnership charities. Fair enough really - they aren't to know whether it all ends up on ebay otherwise.
But.. Last night I heard that one club had come through for him and flown in the face of every other club in the land. Yep - Aston Villa FC. They didn't send a shirt though - they sent six shirts, six pairs of shorts, and a pair of socks.
Aston Villa: The nicest football club in the world? No coincidence this is also the club that gave up a multi-million shirt deal to help a charity out. They have made some Gambian school kids very happy indeed - and Villa for life I dare say."
