By Harrison Kidd
THE Wales supporters team played an Alternative Wales XI in a charity football match to support David Brooks and Daniel Barden.
After the news of Brooks’ and Barden’s cancer diagnoses, host of the Alternative Wales podcast, Ryan March, organised the game from which all money raised went to Tenovus Cancer Care.
March, who managed the Alternative Wales XI, came up with the idea to stage the game and said: “The idea came about as the Wales supporters’ team normally play fans of the opposition team, which in this case was Belarus.
“Despite this, Belarus didn’t bring any fans so I decided as a podcast to make a team to take on the supporters’ team.
“We wanted to make sure we did it for charity ands we were toying about with which charity to choose.
“But once the sad news about David Brooks and Danial Barden came out, we decided it was best to donate to Tenovus Cancer Care.”
Tevonus Cancer Care works closely with the FAW with both organisations recently becoming partners.
They launched two limited-edition wristbands ahead of the 2020 European Championships. The wristbands were available to buy for a £1 charitable donation.
Here they are, the first ever Alternative Wales squad.
Good people, questionable footballers.
📸: @ADowlingPhoto pic.twitter.com/mxGnVTXIgi
— Alternative Wales (@alt_wales) November 14, 2021
“The target was around £500 which we thought was realistic. Thankfully, the link to the donation has gone all over the place which enabled us so far to double our target,” March added.
“The plan now is keeping the donation link going around social media and get to £1500 or £2000. We’ve already smashed the target, anything we get now is a bonus.
“It’s important to donate to these types of charities because the charity isn’t a cancer research charity it’s a cancer care charity. This is for the people who have cancer and don’t have the support network they can get. The money we donate will go a long way.”
May not be the best looking bunch but always a pleasure playing with the lads. Cheers to @alt_wales for arranging and putting up a good contest. And good to see @NoelMooney13 getting stuck in too pic.twitter.com/ox43bgaYtX
— Nathan (@NathanDavies93) November 14, 2021
The match between the two teams ended 3-2 to the Wales supporters’ team.
March added: “The standard of the game wasn’t particularly good, but we all had a laugh.
“The game had everything from big challenges to missing sitters right in front of the goal. But overall, it was played in good spirits, we all had fun.”