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HUGE! was one of a number of goodwill
fan's initiatives organised in Portugal during Euro 2004. What
started off as a suggested kickabout on one of the beaches in
Ericea (Lisbon Coast Area) grew from a mere posting on the
englandfans fans forum, into a large scale 5-a-side tournament
and a charity auction in a massive beer tent on the beach.
HUGE! itself was an outstanding success, and
ran without a single glitch. We have had so much positive
feedback from the Portuguese and also our own fans who would
like to see more events similar to HUGE! organised in the
future. Roughly 30 teams competed in
the football competition, and the FA even arranged for the
official England Supporters Band to attend and keep everyone
entertained. A local Portuguese side won the tournament, but
before the final, the band actually led out the teams onto the
pitch and started with the English National anthem which went
down particularly well. The trouble was that they didn't know
the Portuguese National Anthem and had to
settle with Ole, Ole, Ole!!!
The auction was also particularly well
received and supported, with a signed England shirt fetching
1100 Euros (about £796), and a signed David Beckham Shirt
fetching 950 Euros (about £664). A really nice touch was one of
the organisers paying about 500 Euros for a signed Portugal
shirt and then donating it to a Portuguese Hospital that looks
after children who have
Leukaemia. The local Mayor was also very supportive and
successfully bid for a signed Eusebio T-shirt, before giving us
the money and donating the T-shirt to be auctioned again.
As you can see from the Photo's section
(Euro 2004 General Section), we even managed to convince our
Auctioneer and also
our Interpreter to strip in public for the cause! I have been
assured that Mr Ian Potter will be seeking his revenge on a
certain Mr Arana though!!! Hopefully, some other photos from
throughout the day will also appear in this section.
Anyway, SKY Sports News covered the whole day
- haven't seen any coverage but apparently they emphasised the
positive effects of events like HUGE! when compared to the
idiots down in the Algarve and past incidents at previous
tournaments on the continent. The biggest National Portuguese TV
station also covered the auction and interviewed both the local
Mayor and
one of the Portuguese organisers of the Beach Party. Both gave
positively glowing reports of the English fans in general and
welcomed us back any time in the future for our holidays.
Onto the funds raised from all the events
connected with HUGE itself. At the time of writing (12/07/04) We
currently have some Interim accounts and cannot guarantee any
amounts yet until we have all the money cleared and converted
into the correct currency. However, I can say that after
expenses, more than £3750 is hoped to have been raised for the
LRF and also for a
Portuguese Leukaemia charity. This makes a rough total of £7500
(after expenses).
Through the success of HUGE!, I think we proved to everyone that
the majority of English football fans don't conform to the image
that UEFA, FIFA, and the Press seem to have of us. I know it
sounds a bit too idealistic, but after Portugal I truly feel
that English Fans can continue to 'spread the word' and turn
things round - not temporarily but for good.
Thanks to everyone involved in arranging and supporting HUGE.
The list is endless, but without all of your help the event
wouldn't have even got off the ground.
Shame about the cheating Swiss Ref though :-)
Regards
Ade Clarke
SCEF
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