Peterhead players and staff are scaling Ben Lomond this weekend to raise money to help midfielder Gary Fraser and mental health charity Back Onside.
The Blue Toon player dislocated his kneecap in December. Initially, it appeared the 26-year-old would not require surgery.
However, Fraser recently suffered a repeat dislocation and will need an operation.
In an attempt to take the financial burden off the club, Peterhead boss Jim McInally, assistant David Nicholls and players have embarked on a fundraising drive to fund Fraser’s operation privately.
As well as climbing 3,196 foot peak, Ben Lomond, tomorrow, they are also holding a socially distanced raffle evening at Derek Lyle’s pub and an online auction which will run until June 18.
The auction items include McInally’s shirt from the second leg of the 1987 Uefa Cup final between Dundee United and Gothenburg, Simon Ferry’s Swindon Town League Two winning jersey and a golf day at St Andrews next May.
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) June 3, 2021
The prizes keep rolling in, with Scotland goalscorer Kevin Nisbet agreeing to donate his shirt from Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Holland to the cause, while Dundee’s Charlie Adam and Motherwell’s Tony Watt have also put up jerseys they wore during the season.
bids welcome https://t.co/sjzsvYsLco pic.twitter.com/QLpWWT8yeH
— Peterhead FC (@pfcofficial) June 3, 2021
Fraser’s operation and and rehabilitation are expected to cost between £5,000-£7,500, but anything raised beyond that will be donated to mental health charity Back Onside, which former Peterhead attacker David Cox is a patron of.
McInally said: “Gary dislocated his kneecap again about a month ago doing a gentle exercise.
“I think he’s been a wee bit of a victim of Covid where he hasn’t had proper treatment.
“We feel pretty strongly we need to help him, he’s going to see a specialist later this month and we’re pretty sure he’ll need an operation.
“The club has been good enough to give him to contract and, with the current restrictions on crowds, we’ll lose about half our income as it stands.
“So we’re going to see what we can raise to try to help fund Gary’s operation.
“He’s a popular boy Gary and we wanted to try to help him.
“Anything that anybody is willing to donate would be greatly appreciated.
“It’s tough time for everyone, but we just feel as if we could take the burden off the club a little bit it would be a good thing.
“If we end up raising more than we need then the money we have left will be donated to the mental health charity Back Onside, who have an excellent support to David and many others.”
Anyone who wishes to donate can do so here.