Football supports 2011 Poppy Appeal
25 November 2011
Following last year's 100% support, all Premier League teams in 2011 have again worn poppies during their late October/early November games and many arranged collections at matches to support the Poppy Appeal. Quite a number are auctioning matchday shirts once again with details provided below.
And following much media attention the English and Welsh football teams wore poppies on black armbands during their friendly international matches on 12 November and the FA have donated the England "poppy kit" for auction in support of the Legion. Visit the Legion's eBay site for the latest auction items.
Arsenal
Arsenal Football Club marked Remembrance -
honouring those Service men and women who gave their lives for
peace - with the entire Arsenal team wearing a special one-off
shirt with a poppy embroidered into the Club's home
kit at the Gunners' 3-0 win against West Bromwich
Albion on Saturday 5 November.
Supporters now have the opportunity to bid for these truly special
shirts, with all monies going to The Royal British
Legion.
Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis said: "The response in recent seasons from Arsenal supporters to our special poppy shirts has been phenomenal and we hope that we can once again raise vital funds for this worthwhile cause."
Details of the shirt auction will be posted on arsenal.com.
Aston Villa
Villa held a special Armed Forces Day on
Saturday 5 November at their match against Norwich City. Guest
of honour was L/Cpl Matt Croucher GC (author of 90 Years of
Heroes) with a military band and poppy collections
organised. Poppy embroidered shirts worn by the team have been
auctioned and they hope to improve on the £7,000
raised for the Legion in 2010.
Blackburn
The Rovers wore poppy shirts for their match
against Chelsea on Saturday 5 November.
Bolton
Bolton Wanderers players wore a
poppy-embroidered kit for their comprehensive 5-0 win over Stoke
City on Sunday 6 November.
Chelsea
Chelsea helped launch the 2011 Poppy Appeal locally on
Saturday 29 October with collections at their home match
against Arsenal and donating half the match day raffle
proceeds. The Chelsea players' poppy embroidered shirts are
now available for auction on eBay. Search for
"Chelsea FC shirt auction - 2011 Poppy Appeal" or visit the Chelsea FC site for details.
Everton
Everton wore special poppy-embroidered shirts for their
away game against Newcastle on Saturday 5 November.
Fulham
Fulham wore poppies on their shirts for their game
against Tottenham on Sunday 5 November.
Liverpool
Liverpool wore jerseys with embroidered poppies for
their match against Swansea City on Saturday 5 November, which
were then signed and donated to The Royal British Legion. They also
held a stadium collection prior to the match with
the two teams led out onto the pitch by Royal British Legion
flag bearer Brian Fearn, with Mark Kirwan and John Cadwallader of
the Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside placing a large poppy in the
centre circle. The club also donated perimeter board
advertising and a piece in the matchday programme to the
Legion.
Manchester City
Manchester City wore specially
poppy embroidered shirts at their match against Queen's
Park Rangers on Saturday 5 November.
Manchester United
Manchester United had poppies stitched into their shirts
for their November 5 match against Sunderland.
Newcastle
The poppy appeared on Newcastle's black and white kit for
their match against Everton on Saturday 5 November. The
shirts will be donated to the
Legion for auction.
Norwich City
Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynne-Jones, Directors
of Norwich City Football Club, launched Norfolk's Poppy
Appeal by accepting the first poppies prior to kick off at the
Carrow Road match against Blackburn Rovers on 29 October. The
Canaries wore poppies on their shirts for this match and also the
following week against Aston Villa.
Queen's Park Rangers
QPR wore poppies for their match against Manchester City
on Saturday 5 November and held a minute's silence prior to the
match. The players' poppy embroidered shirts have been donated to
The Royal British Legion for auction on eBay. Search for
"QPR FC shirt auction - 2011 Poppy Appeal"
Stoke City
Bidding for signed limited-edition home shirts bearing a
poppy which were worn in the match against Newcastle closed at
midnigth on Remembrance Day generating £8,425 for the Legion.
This is a substantial increase on last year's auction and double
the figure raised when the auction was held for the first time in
2009.
Sunderland
One-off Sunderland AFC shirts featuring a poppy and worn
by players during the match against Manchester United have
been auctioned to raise money for the Legion. They were signed
individually by the players. The auction closed onl Sunday 20
November.
Swansea City
New entrants Swansea joined the rest of the Premier League and
wore poppies on their shirts for their away match against Liverpool
on Saturday 5 November.
Tottenham
Match shirts featuring the iconic poppy were worn by
the team in their victory over Fulham on Saturday 5 November and
have been auctioned raising over £40,000 for the
Poppy Appeal !
West Bromwich Albion
The Baggies showed their support by auctioning
their match shirts from the Liverpool clash on Saturday
October 29. The auction closed on Friday 11 November.
Wigan
Wigan Athletic wore poppy shirts for their match against
Wolverhampton on Sunday 6 November.
Wolverhampton
The poppy-embroidered shirts worn by the Wolves' team v
Wigan on Sunday 6 November have been auctioned and raised
£6,118.
Other football clubs
Leicester City are auctioning a number of
exclusive, one of a kind, match shirts from their recent fixture
against Leeds United. Visit their website for details.
Reading FC hosted Birmingham City on Sunday 6
November and supporters can now bid for the Royals' shirts on eBay.
RUGBY UNION
Leicester Tigers
The special poppy jerseys from their Poppy Match against
London Irish are to be auctioned with proceeds going to
the Legion. The auction of the first five shirts, starting
with Marcos Ayerza, George Chuter, Martin Castrogiovanni, Louis
Deacon and Geoff Parling, will begin on Friday November 11. Visit their website for details.
