Kieran Maguire salutes Aston Villa for ‘magnificent’ move after official statement
Aston Villa performed a “magnificent” gesture when they donated their match receipts to Barrow after the pair’s recent League Cup clash.
So says finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after Barrow confirmed Villa’s charitable action on 26 August.
Villa thumped the League Two outfit 6-0 at Holker Street in a match made memorable by 18-year-old Cameron Archer’s debut hat-trick.
The Premier League side were entitled to 45 per cent of the gate receipts in line with League Cup regulations but chose to forgo the small windfall.
In an official statement, Barrow chairman Paul Hornby called it a “wonderful gesture” and admitted he was “so grateful for their generosity”.
And Maguire is similarly impressed with Villa’s actions.
“It’s a great gesture,” he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams.
“We talk about the ‘football family’, but it’s very easy to be cynical in terms of the gaps between the haves and the have-nots.
“I think what Aston Villa have done is magnificent. It reflects that they are aware of the struggles in the lower divisions as a result of the pandemic.
“You have got to give Aston Villa full respect for what they’ve done. The cynics will say they can afford to do it, but the important thing is that they actually did do it.
“That has got to be applauded. Barrow have just come up from non-league and are trying to establish themselves, so this will help them.”
In other news, Aston Villa tipped by pundit to go all out for Curtis Jones in January after Alan Nixon update.