East Kilbride YM netted over £10,000 towards the running of the club after a hugely successful speakers’ night attended by Liverpool legend Phil Thompson to mark their centenary season.
The amateur side, founded in 1921, have been hit hard by Covid restrictions but they were delighted to host their first fundraiser in three years on Saturday night to officially kick-off their 100 year celebrations.
Comedian Des Clarke provided plenty of laughs, while broadcaster Peter Martin was the compere for the event at the Murray Hall, where Thompson – who amassed three European Cups, two UEFA Cups, one Euro Super Cup, seven Premier League titles and two FA Cups in an illustrious career – took centre stage.
A selection of football memorabilia including jerseys from Rangers legends Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup and Celtic heroes Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, Scott Brown and Kyogo Furuhashi helped the club raise a fantastic sum.
Delighted EKYM treasurer Graeme Robertson said: “It was an excellent night.
“This was the official opening of our centenary celebrations, which were delayed due to Covid and halls not being available.
“We had 140 people there and the success of it was outrageous with what we managed to raise and the support we received from everyone who was there.
“We raised over £10,000 on the night through the generosity of everyone in the hall.
“We’ve not had any fundraisers for three years so this will go towards the general running of the club.
“We’ve just been getting by before, but this will allow us to sort buses for away games and things like that.
“Phil had some great stories about his European exploits with Liverpool and Des Clarke and Peter were very good.
“We got a lot of items donated to us which really helped us raise the fund we needed, so that was great.
“Tops from ex-Rangers and Celtic players did really well.”
The club are now planning for a race night, golf day, end of season trip to Benidorm next summer and their annual Old Crocks match - a clash between players past and present - on Monday, January 3, 2022 at Kirktonholme.
Graeme added: “We’ve only just got started. There’s still a lot of things to happen to mark the centenary season that we are really looking forward to.”
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