Football community rallies to support young goalkeeper on loan from Bury Town FC after serious leg injury

Dozens of people from the football community have shown their support to a young goalkeeper from Suffolk who suffered a double leg break in a match at the weekend.

More than £1,000 has been raised for George Bugg, who was playing for Whitton United, on loan from Bury Town FC, against Dereham Town in the Emirates FA Cup on Saturday afternoon when the accident happened.

George, who is in his early 20s, has since undergone an operation on his leg and is now believed to be recovering from the surgery.

Russell Ward, Bury Town chairman, said: "Obviously as a club we were devastated on Saturday afternoon when we heard what happened to him."

He added: "We will help him to come back as soon as he can and we will help him financially.

"We will do what we can as a club to assist him. Hopefully he will come back as soon as he can."

As George is likely to be 'out-of-action' on the pitch while he recovers from his injury, dozens of people have rallied to make sure he doesn't have any added financial concerns in the weeks to come.

Fellow local footballer Ben Mayhew said: "I have known George for three or four years. As a goalkeeper for Bury, I have trained with him and played with him.

"He's still a young lad and I have seen his progress. He hasn't had a good chance to play real senior football but I think this year's going to be a good breakout for him with a loan at Whitton United.

"I have had high hopes for him, so when I saw about the injury, I was absolutely gutted – my heart dropped."

Ben, who posted his suggestion of a fundraiser for George on Twitter yesterday evening, added: "I know he's not going to be able to work for a while, and we're coming up to Christmas and with the whole Covid thing, hopefully this gives him a few quid until he can get back to work again."

A JustGiving page, which was set up yesterday evening, has, at the time of writing, raised £1,010 – with dozens of messages of support from the local football community.

"It's overwhelming how much money we have received already – it's come from all over Suffolk," Ben said.

"A big thank you to those people. A lot of them don't know him, they just love local football.

"It's quite humbling to see that, we never expected it to hit £1,000.

"That money will mean a huge amount to George, that will definitely lift his spirits."

To donate to the fundraising appeal, go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/GeorgeBugg .

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