Thatcham charity match cancelled as football club pulls out of event

Thatcham man, Shane Money, had arranged to hold a charity football match at the club on Sunday, February 12 in memory of his late brother.
Mr Money's younger brother, Thatcham soldier, private Marcus McArthur, aged 19, was killed in a car crash on the A34 in February 2009, just days before he was due to be deployed to Afghanistan.
Mr Money was trying to raise funds for Help for Heroes by holding the match.
He said they had arranged it for that day specifically as it would have been three years to the day since Mr McArthur died.
Last year he held the same event and raised £400 for the same charity.
He said that Help for Heroes had potentially lost out on that amount of money for the second year in a row after the club refused to let them hold the match.
Mr Money said that after last year's event the football club agreed to let them hold it again.
However, in January the club said that they would charge £100 booking fee.
Then, just a week before this year's match was due to take place, the football club told Mr Money's family that they no longer held charity events.
The event failed to go ahead as they could not find a replacement pitch at such short notice.
Mr Money said: "We were really upset and gutted.
"A lot of people put in a lot of work into it.
"We just feel let down especially as they did it just for profit."
He added: "So the charity we were due to raise money for lost out and they (the football club) have basically spat in the face of a charity they are supposed to support."
Mr Money said that he would try and rearrange the football match later in the year at another football ground.
Messages were left with the football club chairman, Eric Bailey, who was unable to respond.