MILTON KEYNES, UK – Long-time National Ice Hockey League team Milton Keynes Thunder became the second side in the league to launch a crowd funding appeal this season, in a bid to meet rising costs and complete the campaign.
Less than a month after fellow league competitors Invicta Dynamos’ launched a public appeal, the Thunder set a £10,000 target for donations, with just under £6,000 raised at the time of writing.
The club are one of five who were effectively pressured into a new look competition just over a year ago following the collapse of the English Premier League in 2017. Of the five teams who stepped up to absorb four clubs from the competition above, Cardiff Fire lasted only one season, Invicta Dynamos and now the Thunder have had to appeal publicly for donations, and the remaining two, Streatham IHC and the Everyone Active Raiders remain in the bottom half of the table, but not in financial strife – publicly at least.
The scenario represents a major headache for the EIHA, with matters likely to come to a head at the end of the season with another league restructure in the lower tiers likely. For now though, the Thunder are in focus, and Head Coach Lewis Clifford summed up the emotions of the situation.
“The Thunder jersey represents a lot to me, more than wins and losses, more than colours (which have changed a few times over the years) it represents a family and something that I’ve belonged to for over 17 years” said the 36 year old.
“I won’t say ‘on and off with a big chunk of time in the middle spent elsewhere’, because once you’re part of a family you don’t just leave it and come back into it, you’re in it for life.
“The hockey club has given me highs, lows, some of the best times and some of the worst physical pain and mental torture, but the positives far outweigh the negatives, people who I have shared a locker room with have become brothers and as we have all gotten older and remained a tight knit unit, sometimes it’s easy to forget what brought us together in the first place.”
“None of us wants it to end like this. The single biggest reason we all have these memories and positives in our lives is because of one man, owner Dave Fairhurst. Dave has given all he can for as long as he can for all of us, now it’s time for us to get together and help him, for one final push to get us over the line to the end of the season.”
MK have confirmed that unless they are able to make the target, they will have to withdraw from the league mid-season.
You can visit the crowdfunding page by clicking HERE
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