On the 1st September 2018 our our main striker Dane Ballard suffered a serious knee injury while playing for Deveronvale FC against Rothes in a Highland League match. The club is semi-professional and so all of our squad of players have other jobs where they make their main living. When players are self-employed injuries can have a direct impact on their incomes especially if the injury affects their day to day activities and mobility.

Due to the well reported NHS delays in obtaining appointments with the appropriate doctor and arranging a scan his injury was only recently diagnosed as an ACL rupture and grade 3 tear of the lateral meniscus some four months later. No date has been set by the NHS for surgical referral and we believe that it could take up to a year for this to happen as waiting lists are long.

The club wishes to raise the funds to pay for surgery now in the private sector so that Dane can start his rehabilitation as soon as possible and also return to play for the club as soon as he is fully fit to do so. As a self-employed person, this will also enable Dane to continue with his work rather than risk have the injury deteriorate and perhaps impact negatively on this over time.

We have obtained quotations for surgery and the ongoing management of the injury and its rehabilitation and so the funds raised will contribute directly to these fees.The club is at the centre of the community in Banff, Scotland and while the well-being of our players is vitally important to us, our well managed but financial challenging position would not allow us to pay for this ourselves.