Hollywood movie producer stuns Northern League side with 'surreal' donation

The answer can be found in a surprise donation made towards the County Durham outfit’s fundraising efforts as they continue to battle their way through the financial challenges caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

Those efforts received an unexpected boost in the early hours of Tuesday morning when Hollywood film producer Robert Molloy donated £1,500 to the club’s official gofundme.com page.

Molloy is the grandson of former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who passed away in July 2010.

The Steinbrenner family still retain ownership of the 27-time World Series winners and part-own MLS outfit New York City FC along with the City Football Group, who own Premier League champions Manchester City.

Molloy works in the front office at the Yankee Stadium, but has a keen interest in English football and was left frustrated in his attempts to invest in National League club Notts County in 2018.

He recently accepted an offer to become vice-president of Matlock Town after donating £3,500 to the Northern Premier League club and his generosity continued as he went on to make donations to Derbyshire-based amateur club Wirksworth Ivanhoe and Cheshire Football League side Denton Town.

Willington became the fourth club to receive a donation on Tuesday morning after social media manager and keen American sports fan Mark Welsh sent a congratulatory reply to Matlock Town’s Twitter account.

He told The Echo: “The club received a direct message from Rob Molloy after I had sent the tweet to Matlock Town and he said he had seen our own fundraising efforts.

“I love American sports, so I was aware of his connections to the New York Yankees and the New York City Football Club.

“I did a little bit of digging and saw that he had an interest in English football and that he had tried to invest into Notts County.

“He has donated to another couple of clubs, as well as us and Matlock Town and it’s just all a bit surreal.

“To think that someone with such strong connections with the Yankees and New York City FC has helped us reach our £2,000 fundraising target with such a generous donation.

“I was astonished and completely blown away by the man himself, his generosity and his knowledge of the non-league game.

“Rob has given us this as he is a football lover and wanted to help grassroots sport at this awful time.

“We can’t thank him enough and we have made him an honorary life member of Willington AFC as a thank you for what he has done for us.”

Willington’s fundraising efforts are continuing and you can find out more information and donate here.

The club have so far raised almost £2,500.