Liberian Players Adopted by American Fans

This story is just too good to pass up.

It's from the BBC and it concerns Liberian champions Mighty Barrolle. They've won the Liberian championship twice in the last three years, but have found it difficult to reward their players for their success and have watched as other clubs pinched their roster.

But not to fear. A branch of the club's supporters in New Jersey have stepped to bring a ray of hope. A Trenton, New Jersey supporter's club, made up of some former players and officials, has asked its members to help pay the players monthly salary of around $20.

"We felt that if each member 'adopted' a player and commited to paying this amount monthly, this could help alleviate some of the financial burden on the administration," Zoegar Wilson, the fan club's president told BBC Sport.

"To date we have 49 people signed up, including two from Rhode Island, two from Baltimore and one from Massachusetts."

Wilson, a former goalkeeper for Barrolle in the 1980's, added: "For now this is just one way to help but for a long term we need to come up with other programs that will help the team."

The 'adopt-a-player' idea was conceived when Barrolle's president Garmondeh Karngar explained the club's cash problems to the fans while on a recent visit to the USA.

Some of the fans see their contribution as way of paying the club back for providing them with an education and livelihood in the 1970s and 1980s when Barrolle were financially solvent.

It is not the first time that fans have helped the club out. Two years ago they sent four sets of playing kits and other equipment to Liberia and also provided Christmas bonuses for the players last year.

This year the fans paid for Barrolle's registration in the African Champions League and helped underwrite the cost of the team's trip to neighboring Ivory Coast to play in the opening round of the competition.

If you're interested in helping out their efforts, here is a website dedicated to the 'adopt a player' movement. Click here!

This is truly incredible. Now if I could do the same for Valencia and help them sign some new players ...