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Milton Delighted as First Team and Bosses Become Academy Friends
Milton Delighted as First Team and Bosses Become Academy Friends
Saturday, 12th Oct 2013 15:36

Town academy sponsorship manager Simon Milton is delighted that the Blues’ first team squad and boss Mick McCarthy and his assistant Terry Connor have all become Academy Friends, pledging £10 a month to the Academy Association.

Town launched the Association earlier in the season in order to raise £500,000 a year as the Blues’ youth set-up looks to take on Category One status for the 2014/15 campaign. Currently the total stands at more than £100,000.

Milton told TWTD: “Alan Lee was the driving force behind it. We sat down and talked when he came back about the change in the academy and the fundraising side and one day he came in with his form and said ‘I’m going to do my bit’. He was the first player to sign up.

“And then he said he might mention it to the rest of the players and I think it was better coming from him than me going into the dressing room and saying ‘Right lads, you should all do this’. It came from within, which was really good.

“He spoke to a couple of them and they said yes and then they started doing it en masse, and then TC and the gaffer as well. It’s a really nice thing for them to do.”

TWTD recently signed up for the Academy Association’s Ramsey Package aimed at businesses and is running a competition in which those signing up as Academy Friends can watch a game from the directors’ box along as a guest of former midfielder Milton.

Also amongst those to sign up to the Association recently were Blues-supporting darts stars Kevin Painter and Keith Deller, who will be holding a darts night at Greshams in Tuddenham Road on Tuesday 18th February, full details nearer the time.


Photo: Action Images



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brian_a_mul added 17:26 - Oct 12
Fair play Alan Lee! Good to see senior players and coaches making a conscious effort to improve the club and contribute to the academy!

Keep it up!
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thebeat added 18:38 - Oct 12
Wow a whole £10 a month from each player and the management team, however will they be able to afford their mortgage's now?
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J2BLUE added 19:11 - Oct 12
thebeat if my employers asked me to contribute to the running of the business from my pay packet, I would tell them where to go.

Appreciate a nice gesture and stop being a div.
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blues1 added 19:12 - Oct 12
the beat/ what a total idiot you are. they are giving the amount that the academy are asking for, for 1 thing. and also, they didn't have to give nething at all if they didn't want to and I for 1 say well done to them for making this gesture. doubt there are any players from other clubs putting money into their academies so shows what our players think about this club. really wonder why you bother to support this club as you've never got nething good to say about it or ne1 involved with the club.
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thebeat added 20:04 - Oct 12
blues1 your talking total rubbish i always give praise when its due, i only gove constructive criticism if shall we say we throw a goal half time lead away or something along those lines, before you spout off just have a look back at all my comments in the past, i only criticizw when its deserved.
The reason i "bother " to support this club is because it used to be a great family club with traditions and great fans who understood the game, now we have a club run like a poorly run business with no regards to the fans hence the stupid new ticket system.
Ive been coming to Portman Road for 30 years and for 25 of them i travelled 330 mile round trips to home games, i even moved my family here so i could have a season ticket so i think im entitled to my opinion.
My comment was meant as a joke, come on £10 to them is like a penny to us, its hardly worthy of praise is it?
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thebeat added 20:06 - Oct 12
*throw a 3 goal half time lead away* ^^^^
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blueboy1981 added 20:17 - Oct 12
..... literally a drop in the Ocean for players on £K's per week - same can't be said for some of the punters tho' ...

No doubt a few 'tin pot tycoons ' will disagree.

Having said that - I think it is a good scheme - but it would be much more encouraging for us all if we saw Mr Evans release the purse strings a bit more.

Spot on: thebeat.
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blueboy1981 added 20:28 - Oct 12
...... Phil - not sure I like 'blues1' continuously calling people idiots (not the first time by far) - everyone is entitled to their opinion on this forum without being the subject of such abuse - WHICH IS WHAT IT IS.
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Ipswich24 added 21:11 - Oct 12
I hope the club has set them up on direct debit so when they leave they hopefully forget to cancel!
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blues1 added 22:22 - Oct 12
The beat. Seems i owe u an apology for calling u an idiot. Wasnt suggesting ur not entitled to an opinion. Just dont get why ud criricise the players, etc for making a gesture they had no need to do. It may also be the case that you have praised at times but ive not seen them thus my assumption u only criticise. Have to say tho that ur criticism about thew derby match was far from constructive. We not the 1st and wont be the last team to concede a 3 goal lead. We ourselves have come back from 3 goals down.i agree its a paltry amount that they are paying compared to what they get paid but thats the amount being askes for. And no1 has to pay it if they cant afford it. Also, while i agree its a shame the club isnt run as the family club it once was, the fact is, if it was then the club would prob not exist. All clubs have to be run as a business nowadays. And yes there are things that are done not to my liking neither but id rather that than have no club to support.
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HARRY10 added 19:25 - Oct 13
Any chance of a translation into English of the above post ?


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Davin44 added 07:22 - Oct 14
im afraid i cant be bothered to read all the comments in full above but it seems that thebeat has recieved some unfair criticism for his comment.

personally i find this insulting, suggesting that because they have done it they want us to. i pay hundreds a year for my season ticket, i pay for beer and food in the ground, i buy from the club shop and as well as going to some away games when i can get time off work i also encourage as many of my mates to go to games as i can. so if the club thinks im putting another tenner in a month they can do one frankly!
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MaySixth added 10:38 - Oct 14
Is my £30 every other week not good enough?
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Fen69 added 13:22 - Oct 14
1. Players get fed, watered & accommodation for free (when playing) away + thousands of pounds in wages as well in a lot of cases, so £10 a month might only be a couple (or) three hours interest on their bank accounts each month!

2. Fans and there could be a lot of them on near minimum wage which I think you will find is less than £10 per hour at the moment & they don't get free food, drink & accommodation to save their tiredness from commute from their employers!

3. I pay my £9.75p into the academy every month and at the start of this sponsorship a few years back we would get a free corporate ticket to a home friendly at the start of the season (WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT THIS YEAR?), even more insulting this season is the stadium is half empty most of the time for league matches so a freebie match in non-corporate would have been a nice gesture instead (or) will ours now go to the players first now?
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blues1 added 17:16 - Oct 14
fen. if you cant afford it you don't have to do it. no1 will disagree with you about the players wages, etc. but, at the end of the day, this is a gesture they did not have to make but decided to. maybe if they'd been asked for more they would have given it. but at the end of the day, they are employees of this club who in a matter of time will leave to ply their trade elsewhere so I believe its great that they've all shown a commitment to this club that I cant see players of many other clubs doing. I know for sure that if my company asked me to give them money for some scheme or other id be telling them where to go, and our players had every right to do the same but chose to give. players come and go, so their commitment isn't likely to be the same as us fans who are here long after they will have departed. so instead of criticising them, I think everyone should give them some credit.
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blues1 added 17:19 - Oct 14
oh, and fen, regarding ur point about ur free ticket for the friendly? we were unable to have a home friendly this year due to the pitch renovation. but, I would have thought youd have known that. so why the "so what happened to that"?
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