Football fans came together to spur Stanley on and raise money for Accrington charity Finley’s Friends Appeal.
ASFC reduced ticket prices to £5 and £1 for under-12s for a special fundraising match as they took on AFC Wimbledon at the Store First Stadium last night.
The evening was a double win for the club as they scored a 4-0 victory and raised more than £700 for the appeal in ticket sales alone.
Sponsors Store First matched the ticket sale proceeds to donate a total of £1,400 to the appeal, which aims to raise £20,000 for Holly House, where Finley learned to walk against the odds.
A further £200 was handed over by Geoff Parkinson from donations collected in the Crown pub from the Official Supporters Club.
Finley’s mum Kelly Rosbotham said she was moved to tears by the support the club and community had given to her appeal.
She said: “It’s been such a special night. It’s moved me so much to see everyone coming together and showing such kindness towards our appeal, I feel proud of my town.”
Finley’s brother Mackenzie was presented with the cheque at half-time from Store First operations director Stuart Laverty and owner Toby Whittaker’s sons Archie and Harvey.
More than 2,000 fans flocked to the stadium to take advantage of the reduced entry price and enjoyed a half-time flash mob from performing arts students from AccRoss College and Accrington Academy.
ASFC managing director Rob Heys said: “What a fantastic night, an incredible result and a wonderful amount of money raised for a local cause close to our hearts.
“The atmosphere was electric and it definitely made a difference to the lads on the pitch.”
