NORTHWICH Victoria fans have been telling of the heartfelt gesture made by the club's manager Steve Wilkes and some of his players at the weekend.

Volunteer Pete Tonge, who writes the Vics’ regular column in the Guardian, explained.

“So, the weekend would have seen the last of the North West Counties League matches taking place with Vics having a home match against Runcorn Town,” he said.

“But instead we were sitting at home, enjoying the sunshine, and staying safe while helping the NHS by being sensible during this traumatic time.

“So there I was, about 4pm last Saturday, wishing I was down Wincham Park cheering on the Vics when I received a phone call.

“I nearly didn’t answer it as it was a number I didn’t recognise, but I thought surely PPI and insurance scams wouldn’t be phoning now, so I said hello, and heard a voice reply: “Hi Pete, it’s Saul Henderson from Northwich Victoria”.

“Saul is our star striker (sorry Tommy Kilifin), and it turned out that himself, midfielder Ryan Winder, club captain Joe Camozzi and Manager Steve Wilkes were phoning around the Northwich Victoria club members, (especially the older ones….not sure why I was included then!) and seeing how they were coping during the lockdown.

“What a lovely thought that was to take the time to think about the fans, and make the effort to ring around and spend time chatting with the fans.

“I know from reading the Twitter posts later, that everybody really appreciated the calls, and that it had made their day knowing that they weren’t alone.

“It shows how close as a club we have become over the three years since we became supporter owned and run.”

Ian Egerton, Vics chairman, appreciated the selfless effort put in and said: “ I just wanted to say a massive thank you to our amazing Northwich Victoria manager Steve Wilkes and his players as they spent the day ringing round our fans to check in how they were doing in this tough time.

“Even Silk FM got on board during the day to put Steve and the boys on the radio to talk about what they were up to. Class act boys, and thank you to club captain Joe Camozzi, Ryan Winder and Saul Henderson especially for helping the gaffer out with the calls.

“The club thanks Steve and the players for this fantastic gesture at this tough time. Keep safe and we hope to see our fantastic supporters very soon. Stay safe, stay home and save lives”

Tonge concluded: “Thank you Steve Wilkes for taking time out to organise this wonderful gesture, it really means a lot to us, the supporters, and we’ll all be there at the start of next season, whenever that is.”