A group of Championship Rugby side Leigh Centurions supporters "united in aid of their beloved club," according to James Mutch of the LEIGH JOURNAL. The club suffered financial problems "following the disappointment of missing out on promotion" to the Super League last season after dropping down from the top division the year before. In order to "alleviate the pressure" on the Centurions, David Raines asked fellow supporters to "donate funds to a scheme to pay for sponsorship for players for the upcoming season." The scheme amassed more than £2,500 ($3,200) to sponsor forwards Nick Gregson and Andy Bracek. Raines said, "As supporters, we just wanted to do something to help the club. There was a post on a Facebook group asking if there was something fans could do to support the club. I put a post online on Sunday, December 23 asking people to pay £25 ($32) in order to win a signed shirt and would go towards sponsoring a player at the club. Within a day, enough money had been donated to sponsor one player." The group set up to sponsor the players is called Leigh Centurions Fans Forum Player Sponsorship. A comedy night at Leigh Miners Welfare Institute on March 1 was also organized to raise more funds for player sponsorship (LEIGH JOURNAL, 1/6).
