Sheffield Wednesday (SWFC) have praised the efforts of fundraisers as £25,000 has so far been raised for the Bradley Lowery Foundation following an incident involving a fan last week.
£25,000 has been raised by football fans across the country after a Sheffield fan was pictured holding a photograph up of former Sunderland mascot Bradley Lowery before he died in 2017.
Pictures circulated on X, formerly Twitter, showing two men laughing at Wednesday’s Hillsborough Stadium, with one of them holding up a picture of Bradley to the camera.
Read more: Bradley Lowery: Man admits public order offence over photo
Now, in a news article posted on the SWFC website, the club has highlighted how fans have "come together to shine bright" following the incident they described as "distressing".
Leanne Wood, a member of the Sheffield Wednesday Women’s Supporters Group started up the fundraiser and spoke to the club about how pleased she was at the result.
Leanne told swfc.co.uk: “I saw the images circulating and they made me feel sick.
“So I had the idea of a fundraiser to combat this and show that those actions do not in any way reflect us as a fanbase. I put the idea to the Women’s Supporter Group and they said they would support me all the way with this.
“We’ve got some of the best fans in the country, home and away. Wednesday fans, and the people of Sheffield in general, have hearts of gold and I had no doubt they would get behind this.
“Bradley’s family and the Bradley Lowery Foundation reached out to say how grateful they are – these donations make a massive difference to the foundation, to help raise awareness and research to combat this terrible disease is vital.”
Read more:
- Sheffield Wednesday fans used Bradley Lowery image against Sunderland
- Judge rules fans mocking Bradley Lowery "utterly deplorable"
- Bradley Lowery: Donations flood in from Sheffield Wednesday fans
Dale Houghton, 31, admitted a public order offence at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court following an incident at Sheffield Wednesday’s clash with Sunderland on Friday (September 30).
Houghton, from Rotherham, was bailed and will be sentenced on November 17.
District Judge James Gould told him “Your actions are utterly deplorable” and that all sentence options were open, including a prison sentence.
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