CREWE Alex fans will soon be able to gaze admiringly at a new scoreboard at Gresty Road helped by the launch of a fundraising club.

The first project of the The Red Lion Club will be to realise the many requests the club has fielded over the years from supporters wishing to see a state-of-the-art electronic scoreboard placed in the ground, says director Stuart Whitby.

Fans are being offered the chance to win £100 in a draw every Friday by signing up for membership at a cost of £5 per month.

There are also some "money can't buy prizes" waiting for winners too, which could include training ground visits and one-to-ones with boss Dave Artell when restrictions allow. All the Red Lion Club members are also entered into summer and Christmas draws for £400 prizes each.

The club's funds will help pay for the scoreboard project, while 10 per cent of club proceeds are heading for a great local charity in St. Luke's Hospice.

Within 24 hours of the Red Lion's launch at a fans' forum last Thursday more than 250 fans had signed up.

Stuart said: "The Red Lion Club is a fantastic way for fans to help the club and fund the new scoreboard.

"The Alex have been through some really tough years. It's a year since the new board was elected and despite Covid the club has done well to get through it.

"The scoreboard is a luxury, we don't really need one, but the reason we're doing this is because it is one of the things that supporters have always asked the club for.

"There is always a fan at a forum who comes up with the question, 'when can we have a scoreboard?'"

To help pay for the project, sponsorship deals have been lined up with Nantwich Veneers and KPI Recruiting, while local firm Pioneer Construction has agreed to complete steel ground work (almost as costly as the scoreboard itself) at half price.

The board is being designed by a firm who work with Premier League clubs and could be up and running by June.

The development of the club's fundraising arm is part of the remit of a commercial committee set up within the club's new board in which new directors Whitby, Railwaymen Supporters Group representative Mark Beavan and Tony Davison have linked up with the club's commercial manager James Beckett to explore new revenue streams.

Among other projects on the agenda is a planned refurbishment of the Alexandra Suite.

Of the Red Lion Club, Alex boss Artell said: "It is all about fans being part of the football club, and it brings us closer to the fans.

"The commercial side of the club is up and running now. James and the rest of the directors are going about selling the club to local businesses.

"It's about re-establishing a reputation as a real, honest, local football club."

Fans can sign up for multiple memberships of the Red Lion Club to give themselves an even better chancing of winning cash or a prize.

To join the Red Lion Club go here.