John Terry

John Terry has stepped in to save Senrab, his boyhood football team, after a campaign to keep it afloat.

The financial plight of Senrab was first highlighted by ELL in 2009, after an interview with club secretary Tony Carroll.

This week the Daily Mail launched a campaign to save the club, causing Terry to step in with a ‘significant, but undisclosed donation’.

Having helped launch the careers of a string of top-level professionals, including Fulham’s Bobby Zamora and Tottenham’s Jermaine Defoe, the money is said to be enough to keep the club going for the ‘foreseeable future’.

Terry is also in talks with suppliers to provide kits for the club, which was one of the main problems highlighted by Mr Carroll when he spoke to then-ELL writer Laurie Whitwell – now at the Daily Mail – in December 2009:

“This is where some of the footballers could really help us out where they haven’t. A set of kit comes to £600 with all the printing – what’s that to a footballer?”

Senrab club secretary Tony Carroll

The club, which runs up to 23 different teams, got into difficulty after Tower Hamlets Sports Council cut their funding from £2,500 to £800 and the cost of hiring training pitches rose dramatically.

In the past Mr Carroll has had to pump his own money into the club to keep it afloat, with running costs estimated to be at least £12,000 a year.

The news of the donation is said to have delighted Mr Carroll who told the Daily Mail: “Thanks to John, the weight of the world has been lifted from our shoulders.”

Senrab could put out a side packed with talent from their former players. Graphic: Laurie Whitwell