No less a luminary than American President Ronald Regan said; “There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.” Then again Regan never experienced Coronavirus. I am however pleased to report that we have made significant progress here at the heart of Plymouth Albion.
First up I am happy to announce the launch of our ‘Albion 2020 Heroes’ Crowd Funding opportunity later this month. The initiative gives fans, sponsors and a wider audience of community supporters the opportunity to step up to the plate and help Plymouth Albion through our current cash flow challenge.
The ‘Albion 2020 Heroes ’Crowd Funder makes it easy to donate a forward payment from as little as £15 for entry to a game, £17 for entry to SW Comms stand and £25 for your name on a brick in the‘2020 Heroes’ plaque to permanently mounted in the club once Coronavirus is all over.
For those wishing to donate more to the cause the ‘Albion 2020 Heroes ’ Crowdfunder offers a Season Tickets from £225 – Individual Position Sponsorships @ £500 – Albion Away Shirts @ £40 – Club membership @ £50 plus a wide variety of other Albion goodies up for grabs.
Our ‘Albi 2020 Heroes’ Crowd Funder will go through a dry launch this week to allow our Tech team to bed in the systems and it will go live on Tuesday 28th April. Full details and links will be posted in due course.
I would so like to throw some names into the ring of coaches in negotiation with us for the top job as Albion’s Head Coach. Prudence, however, necessitates that I respect the confidentiality of those candidates in advanced talks until a firm appointment can be confirmed.
I can confirm that we have three key applicants in particular who are vastly experienced players at the highest level of the game. Allow me to stress again that we are working hard to secure the right man to help build on Albion’s traditional values whilst developing a vibrant new culture embracing sustainable elite level rugby club harnessing Plymouth Power as the beating heart, personality and character we stand for.
I suspect Coronavirus will be a catalyst to change the face of English club rugby forever. Let’s face facts, the Premiership is up and gone to a level virtually unattainable for the chasing of Championship Clubs. Winning promotion is one thing, but having the multi-million-pound budget required to recruit a squad able to live with the currently established clubs is a pipe dream for all but a few oligarchs and the super-rich. Indeed the RFU slashing central funding for the Championship clubs presents many serious challenges and questions that need to be answered.
Plymouth rugby fans can be sure that Albion are very much in the game and at the forefront in the political arena. We are closely watching developments in Professional Rugby, following the wider RFU intentions for the future of the club game and monitoring closely the seismic developments that just might be emerging from the woodwork as the season unfolds.
On another positive note, I am delighted to confirm that star players Connor Eastgate, Alex Ducker, Josh Skelcey, Javiah Pohe, Herbie Stupple, Dan Pullinger and the returning Will Norton have committed to be with Albion for the 2020/2021 season and beyond.
That’s it for now. ‘Albion 2020 Heroes’ about to launch, – Negotiations for our new Head Coach close to completion and the bulk of our playing squad committed to the cause. The future is bright, the
future is Plymouth Power with Albion proudly carrying our City’s rugby colours throughout their nation.
Managing Director, Max Venables
