My name is Scott Hunter and I play for Fort William FC. Some of you may know our story , others maybe not. You can learn about it here in the film "A Long Way to Winning" 📽️➡️ https://bit.ly/2X8SFDW or the recent coverage on Sky Sports 📽️➡️ https://bit.ly/2IRQ1JN ot The BBC Production "The Fort"

We have the unfortunate label of being described as the worst team in the UK. At the start of our last season our board of directors stood down , our squad was depleted to 5 first team players , we were asked to drop out of the Highland League but voted to stay and protect our history and provide a platform for our youth teams. After scraping through the last season on the back of some very dark defeats and finishing with -7 points it's hard to argue our label but it's something we are desperate to change and as soon as possible.

The factors in our decline over the years and in particular last season consist of many problems . Player recruitment , geography , finance , our facilities , our climate, even our reputation is against us. We also lost our local 11 a side amatuer league in the summer , Football in Fort William is at all time low. If im honest writing this actually makes me pretty sad as ive witnessed the decline over the last 10 years. I cant imagine what its like for the older generation where football once thrived.

Local footballers aren't keen to turn out for a side that hasn't won a game in 2 years and has so many problems off the field and it's even harder to recruit the quality players we need further afield in the Highlands. It's been described as the toughest job in world football and you can see why.

As most people will know don't have the money like many in the Highland League have , and as most people will know it's not about the money anyway but the harsh reality in football is we require funds to strengthen and improve our squad and facilities and start climbing the table.

I've set up this little fundraiser with a couple of prizes to try give the FWFC warchest a boost ahead of what will be another long and difficult season both on and off the pitch for Fort William FC. I've set the target for £1000 and the money will be used to help improve the squad and facilities at Claggan Park , provide new equipment at training , provide indoor and 4g facilities in the winter when Claggan becomes unplayable , injury and physio costs , small day to day running costs , and also be donating some of funds raised the to the Highland League Primary Stars , a local run football programme for children in Fort William which the club works closely with at Claggan

Up for grabs is one of the first new Fort William FC replica shirts , I bought it myself for my personal FWFC history collection , it has my number 7 on the back so it was hard to give up an original SH7 but I am lucky I get to wear the jersey most weeks and I know they are in high demand so thought it would be a good prize. Theres only a handful made so far and believe maybe sold out soon. If you win and would like it signed I can arrange the lads to sign it before posting.

Second prize is a signed Lewis Capaldi vinyl of his new album. I was at a small meet and greet gig recently and managed to grab a signed vinyl of his new album " Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent" which you can also win. Again I think these are quite popular so hopefully somebody would like to win the prizes.

To enter the competition and win the replica FWFC shirt or the signed Lewis Capaldi album I ask you make a small donation of £2 to the club. As above ALL the proceeds will go to the club. Simple donate £2 to the club and leave your name on the just giving page alongside your donation and we will draw a winner for each prize at an upcoming home game.

If this is a success then I have 1 or 2 more fundraisers in the pipeline , so give me a follow on Twitter if your into this sort of thing and please retweet/share. Even if you don't enter a share or retweet is just as valuable to the club.

Thank you for your time in reading and for your continued support of FWFC , as a player and on behalf of the whole squad we thank you for your faith and encouragement at these times when we need it most.

Scott Hunter

Fort William FC