The Vics Column – by Pete Tonge

WITH the current COVID-19 health crisis , naturally thoughts turn to your family and local community.

This is why Northwich Victoria are particularly pleased at the moment to be helping local charity Northwich in Need Fundraising.

We are auctioning off a Vics shirt which has been very kindly signed by ex-Premier League (and Northwich Vics of course) star Gary Taylor-Fletcher.

Gary started his football career at Northwich Vics back in 1999 and made 43 league appearances for the Trickies before moving on to Leyton Orient in 2001.

However, it wasn’t until 2003 and a move to Lincoln City that he started to make a name for himself.

He scored 31 times in 90 appearances for Lincoln, then 26 times in 82 appearances for Huddersfield Town and earned himself a move to Blackpool, who were then in the Championship.

They were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the 2009/10 season and August 14, 2010, Gary scored Blackpool’s first ever Premier League goal.

This meant that Gary had now scored in each of the top five divisions of English football – a quite remarkable feat.

He spent six seasons at Blackpool before moving back down the leagues and ending his playing career in 2018 at Llandudno in the Welsh league.

If you wish to make a bid for the signed shirt (a real collector’s item) and help Northwich in Need in the process, please contact either Vics Commercial Manager Paul Bazley on 07595 329863 or via twitter @bazley10 or alternatively Graham Egerton on 07845 180927 or twitter @egertongraham.

The auction ends on Sunday, March 29, at 10pm so please get your bids for this unique item in as soon as possible.

All money raised will go to the fundraising team at “Northwich in Need” and will help the people of your local community who are in need.

‘Northwich – Your Town. Northwich Victoria – Your Club.’

Looking to the future, the return of football seems as far away as ever and no one knows when, or even if, the season will be finished.

Let’s hope it’s soon and we can all start enjoying getting out and about to matches again but, in the meantime, stay safe, look after your loved ones and we at Northwich Victoria wish you all well.