Article from City v Hartlepool programme.

S31ZE THE DAY!
The 1931 Fund today increases its backing for City to £17,000.

A few days after Exeter City won at Rotherham in 2009 to secure promotion to League One, a group of supporters got to wondering how the Grecians would cope at the higher level.

One of those supporters, Darren Drew, explains: “I’m sure most managers basking in the glow of promotion get slapped on the back by a chairman who, drunk on the acclaim of the fans and the champagne in the boardroom, promises a whole load of extra money to compete at the higher level.

“It dawned on us that, without a sugar daddy to throw cash at the challenge of adapting to League One, it was down to us fans – aka the joint majority shareholders - to dig a bit deeper.

"We knew that our impact would be limited, but if at least we could pay for one extra squad player then we’d have done that bit more to help Exeter City prosper.”

It didn’t take long to find likeminded supporters, and the result was The 1931 Fund.

The Fund’s members pay £19 per month to finance the total cost to Exeter City of an extra player in Paul Tisdale’s squad. The £19 monthly payments and the choice of shirt number 31 for their player are references to City’s famous FA Cup run of 1931, when a record crowd of almost 21,000 packed into the Park.

“That 1931 game against Sunderland was 80 years ago next month”, says Alan Crockford. “I’ve read about it so often that I’m pretty much convinced I was actually there!

“I have an idea about trying to keep the 1931 Fund going for another 20 years so we can mark the centenary in 2031, but in truth we’re dependent on the generosity of our members and all we can do is ask from year to year whether they want to crack on for another season.

"We've been knocked a little by the recession and people losing their jobs, so we're really asking anyone who can possibly help support the Fund to get in touch now. In particular, people like me who don't get to the Park as often as they like may want a rewarding way to give some money to City as an alternative to the cash we'd normally pay at the turnstiles.

“If the whole payment is a bit steep, maybe some little pockets of three or four exiled fans could find a few quid each to make up the £19 subs on behalf of their group.”

Membership of the fund hovers around the 50 to 60 mark, bringing in around £1,000 per month. This is sufficient to fund a young professional for the number 31 shirt, which has been worn during the Fund’s first two seasons by lightening quick striker James Norwood.

The 1931 Fund paid £10,000 to Exeter City via the Supporters Trust last season and, at half-time today, a group of the Fund’s members will hand over a further £7,000 to cover the cost of Norwood until January 2011,

The Fund are committed to bearing the cost of their number 31 until the end of 2010/11, by which time over £20,000 will have been donated by members and paid to Exeter City.

Darren Drew is already looking forward to next season and the opportunity to bring in another player for the number 31 shirt.

“We said at the start of last season when our members voted to finance James for a second year that, whatever happens with James, we’d look to bring in a new young player for 2011/12.

“That’s certainly something that we’ll do, but we could be a bit bolder in the amount we promise Paul Tisdale if we can find 10 or 20 new members to chip in their £19 a month.

“If there are any City fans who would like to help us to support Tis, please email us at exiles@sky.com and we’ll talk about it. We know priorities can change, and people can cancel their monthly subs whenever they like, but if anyone can spare a few quid then we think we've come up with a great way of using that money.

“Honestly, if you’d seen us at Elland Road when our bauy came on as a sub and ran at the terrified Leeds defence, you’d agree that our 1931 Fund payments are worth every penny.”

QUOTES FROM MEMBERS

“I've been in the position for a lot of years now, like a good few others, where most of my gate money payments have been to our opponents, as just about every away game is more convenient than home games to us Yorkshire based Grecians.

“Consequently, I was attracted to the 1931 Fund idea of a group of fans chipping a bit extra in each month to help the club (post ‘Red or Dead’). I'm hoping that lots more fans will join us so that we can aim our support a bit higher in future years.

“That said, James Norwood has lived up to my expectations as an inaugural 31 and I'm currently hoping that he'll get the chance to score a league goal for City before this season is through."

This picture is me, with daughters Ellie and Daisy, on holiday in Brussels last summer. Brussels! It wasn’t the most glamorous location, it was quite cold and it was for just four days, but we decided that we’d rather support City every month than have a fancy holiday once a year.

Kristoffer Sandnes of the Exeter City Supporters Club of Norway, said:

“Lots of our members were at the Charlton game last week (pic) but being in Norway it’s hard to get to more than a handful of games. Paying into the 1931 Fund is one way of knowing that even in the months when we can’t get to Devon, we are still helping City.”