Exeter City's first team physio Adey Saunderson has praised the East Devon Grecians for raising £10,000 over a two-year period to go towards a host of medical equipment at the Cliff Hill training ground.
Consisting of almost 200 members the supporters’ group, which was founded in the 2005/06 season, have held regular Q&A sessions, presentation evenings as well as conducted quizzes, all of which involve forms of fundraising for the football club.
The medical department, and the club as a whole, have benefited from equipment such as a resuscitation mannequin, physiotherapy iPads, GPS tracking equipment and match analysis software amongst other things.
Adey was delighted to receive help from the supporters who have made a huge difference to the medical department as the club continues its development off the field.
He said: “The medical department of any sports club is possibly the most loved, but simultaneously, the most hated department in my opinion. On one hand you get people fit and everyone loves that, but you also want to spend a lot of money on expensive equipment that you hope to never use.
“It’s necessary for that one time that something really terrible happens, so to look to those guys (the supporters) to help us to try and improve the service that we can provide and make sure that, not only the players are safe, but the staff are too.”
Adey also revealed that when recommending what sort of equipment is needed at the training ground, that he has been looking for items which will be able to help the club’s long-term future.
He continued: “I’ve tried to ask for things that are going to stay at the club, and really invest in the club. Some of these things cost thousands of pounds but they’re not going to go out of date and they’re not something that will stop being used. They’re (the supporters) reaching into their own pockets, doing their own questionnaires and quizzes, whether it’s £50 they raise or £300 they raise at a game.
“It’s the fans’ money. Not only are they paying for a ticket and their beer, their food or shirts they’re all putting in what they can to help us push the club forward.”
Gareth Hughes, who is the East Devon Grecians’ chairman, was pleased to see the money raised go to good use at the football club.
He explained: “When we do raise the money, we try to go to what’s needed at the Cliff Hill training ground and we fundraise in various ways.
“We have social evenings, raffles and quizzes and bingo nights. The training ground is our main aim and we’ve managed to raise £10,000 over the past couple of years.”
Exeter City would like to thank the East Devon Grecians for their continued support of the football club.