Ride to Northampton 2 taking place next week
For 12 York City fans, the fixture at Sixfields last season will live long in the memory, despite the 3-0 defeat. They formed the ‘Ride to Northampton’ team who cycled the 172 miles from York’s Bootham Crescent to Sixfields. They did so in memory of Cobblers fan David Henderson who sadly passed away following the fixture between the two clubs in January 2014.
The ride was organised by City fan, Ian Jones who was one of a number of the riders to witness the tragic events that day and was determined to do something to ensure David was remembered. A few conversations took place and ‘Ride to Northampton’ became a possibility and a few weeks later, it became a reality.
An incredible £7,233.44 was raised through donations from people across the UK as well as through raffle ticket sales and auctions of memorabilia donated by various English football clubs.
Back On Their Bikes
This year, ‘Ride to Northampton 2’, is taking place once again with the team having grown to 17 cyclists, including 11 returning members as well as two support van drivers and a media man. They will leave Bootham Crescent at 8am on the Thursday and aim to arrive in plenty of time for kick-off on the Saturday!
Prior to departure they had already raised over £1500 from donations and auctioning shirts from players including Jon Challinor, a former YCFC midfielder who donated his shirt from the York’s 2012 play-off final win against Luton Town.
Donations to the fundraising effort can be made at justgiving.com/ridetonorthampton2 and a number of the riders will be staging a bucket collection ahead of both today’s game and the return fixture at Bootham Crescent on Tuesday 23rd February.
To find out more about Ride to Northampton then visit their website ridetonorthampton.wordpress.com or see their Twitter page @ycfc_2_ntfc