The north-east has come to the aid of Turriff United as the Highland League side recovers from devastating weekend flooding.
Water swept through the club’s Haughs ground following torrential rainfall, turning the pitch into a pond and damaging its facilities.
But a small army of volunteers have since turned-out to help club staff stage a massive clean-up operation.
Their efforts have been so impressive Turriff may now be able to use the proceeds of a JustGiving appeal to install flood doors at the ground.
Open golf champion Paul Laurie is among those who have put their hands in their pockets to help the club recover from the latest flooding incident.
A donation appeared on the fundraising page from Mr Lawrie and his wife along with a comment reading: “Sorry to see the flooding, good luck with the clean up”.
North-east flash flood leaves months of repairs and disruption in its wake
The club raised £400 of the £500 target within 24 hours of the appeal being shared on the clubs Facebook page.
As flooding caused chaos across the north-east at the weekend, water spread throughout the ground floor of club facilities at the Haughs, affecting both home and away changing rooms, the referees room, the gym, the laundry room as well as the manager’s office.
A storage area and changing rooms used by the club’s youth teams were also affected.
A statement on the clubs fundraising page said “The clean up operation and repairs of damage will never be cheap and while we as a club are working hard to do this as cheaply as possible there are still some costs involved.”
The Highland League Club appealed to supporters, the public and families of all the players who play for any one of the teams to support the clean-up efforts.
Those who are unable to make a donation were invited to help the club with the repair works.
And Turriff chairman George Manson yesterday told the Press and Journal: “We set a target of £500 for our JustGiving page and we’ve already reached £400 which is very pleasing.
“We actually received a donation from 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, who is a close personal friend of one of one of our directors, Eddie Morrison, and his brother Brian.
“Paul has always been a good friend to our club.”
He added: “We thought that we would try the JustGiving page to see if it gained any traction.
“We set it at a nominal amount as most what is required is hard-work and the use of disinfectants and the like, but we are going to investigate the possibility of installing flood-doors at the ground.
“The clean-up operation is being undertaken by volunteers and we’re very grateful to them for helping us out.”
Mr Manson is confident the clean-up operation at the Haughs will be completed in time for the club’s next home game.
“We play Deveronvale in the local derby a week on Wednesday and by that time I’m sure everything will be OK thanks to the marvellous effort put in by so many volunteers.”
Travel around the Turriff area may be disrupted for weeks as Aberdeenshire Council has closed off Gorrachie bridge, South Mains Bridge, Mill Croft Bridge, Bridge of Fortrie and Balmaud Bridge.
All were damaged in the flooding.
Repair works have already started on the bridge at Burn of Litterty and the Bridge of Bruntyards.
Donations to support the clean-up costs for Turriff United can be made by visiting www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/turriffunitedfc.
