Dunno if people are aware of Football Aid or not but every year I see it I wonder why ICT aren't involved or maybe even run a similar event themselves.

This isn't a criticism of off-field activities before the thread descends into that, more a fundraising idea that a group, perhaps the supporters trust or supporters club, would like to adopt to raise funds for the club and charity.

For those unaware of the process it is essentially a fundraiser using football as the vehicle. Players bid for positions on the pitch for a match played at the club stadium, some are 45 min and others are 90 min, with a few 'buy it now' positions. Obviously for every 45 min position there is a substitute one too so usually about 16 players in each squad. A club 'legend' plays as part of the experience and usually the manager is also a club stalwart. Prices vary from club to club, obviously, but surely even if 30 odd players are paying ?100 to play (and you'd expect some would pay considerably more) that is ?3k instantly, along with flogging tickets to friends and family for say a fiver each (what Football Aid charge).

Seems to me to be an incredibly easy fundraiser to organise and generate a bit of goodwill which would be a lot of fun if it was played, for example, at the end of the season so there are no wear and tear issues on the pitch etc. A perfect Xmas/Birthday present certainly!

I have played in a few of these - Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Ipswich Town and Scotland (even managed to score at Hampden). It is a great idea but it is usually only EPL, Championship and SPL teams that are involved though not all of them as the facilities have to be available for use when the games are being played and importantly the club needs to want to do it.

When ICT were in the SPL there was a hope that a game at TCS could be a possibility. There was at least one thread on it as well as the possibility of a game being raised with the club through the boardroom banter facility. The club asked for further details to be forwarded but it never got any further than that unfortunately.

I still get all the Football Aid e-mails and I notice that this year there have been a lot of unsold positions - usually there are very few and they are usually 45 min slots. Currently there are still open positions at more than 10 clubs including both games at Anfield which is usually one of the first to be sold out very quickly. I assume a lot has to do with the current financial situation in the UK so getting 28 people to be willing to play (and pay for) a Football Aid game at TCS and getting the club to want to do it might be a while off yet.

Has this got any connection with Sport Relief? I was about to buy tickets for the game at Old Trafford until I realised it's taking place on the same day that we play Dundee! Something like this would be great PR. A summer night at the stadium would be excellent.

I have some recollection that ICT were in this about 8 or 10 years ago but it was cancelled because not enough places were sold.

For those who want to play on our hallowed turf for charity, try this.

5 aside tournament at TCS

I was thinking that it might be something the Supporters Club or Trust would be interested in running as a fund raiser with no involvement from Football Aid.

It seems to be a relatively low cost/high return fund raiser, assuming the club is co-operative and allows use of the stadium etc. and like Top Six says, it would be a great part of an end of season do, i.e. fans game in the afternoon followed by dinner and dance/disco kinda thing at the stadium. People could come for the whole afternoon/evening and enjoy (laugh at!) the 'footballers' on show or just arrive for the meal and entertainment later on?

This has been raised on here before (I think) as I do have a note of it on my "Fun Fundraiser Ideas" list and the Trust are due to go over what we'll be doing in that regard for next season and it will be put forward then.

One thing I will add is that we (Supporters Trust) are always on the look out for people to assist with these things and the more people we get involved the more we can do. Getting ideas is great and keep them coming, but if people could also offer up some time to assist with the running of them then that would be even better.

I suggested a Fifa 10 tournament a while back but no one came back to me on it. I'd be in to helping out with organising something.