A football game organised in memory of a Fraserburgh offshore worker has raised £20,000 for charity over the past five years.
Organisers of the annual Old Firm friendly fundraiser hit the milestone on Saturday, after the latest match at Fraserburgh South Links.
Friends and family of James ‘Suds’ Sutherland, who died of a brain tumour in March 2015, gather each year for the fundraiser.
The 51-year-old was a keen Celtic fan, so his loved ones hold the friendly match to raise cash for another cause close to his heart – Fraserburgh RNLI.
The other half of this year’s money will go to Imogen Miller, a young local girl battling a rare type of cancer.
On Saturday, the Buchan Bhoys (Celtic) beat Dave Smith Loyal (Rangers) 8-3, helping to raise £3,000 in the process.
Norman Reid, a friend of Mr Sutherland who helped organise the event said: “The weather was poor but we still attracted a large crowd. We raised over £3,000 again, so that’s close to £20,000 for the five years.
“We choose Fraserburgh Lifeboat every year as James’s family have manned the lifeboat for years. Dave Smith Loyal (Rangers) choose a different charity each year.”
The annual matches allow friends of Mr Sutherland “to remember him in this way as well as raising some much needed support for local charities.”
Mr Sutherland was a Broch fisherman after he left school and eventually worked offshore.
The keen Celtic supporter regularly travelled to games for nearly 30 years with friends and was also a founding member of the Buchan Bhoys Celtic Supporters Club.
Mr Reid admitted he had no idea how successful or popular the fundraiser would become when it was first held.
He added: “We had no idea how successful it would be.
“I decided to arrange an annual charity match for his memorial, there is also a strong Rangers FC supporters club in Fraserburgh, the Rangers lads had no hesitation in agreeing the annual match.”
