Bedale AFC are famous for their unconventional footie kits that have sported everything from sizzling bangers to hot dogs with ketchup and mustard. But this season they’ve unearthed a surprise and gone veggie, with a kit that features a giant carrot complete with cheese grater goalkeeper kit to showcase the new range of ‘Veg with Edge’ bangers made by their sponsors Heck Food and in the process, they hope to raise lots more money for Prostate Cancer UK.
It was in 2017 when the team’s original sausage-themed kit launched. With shirts and shorts covered in Heck bangers, the kit gained global media attention and was voted one of the ‘wurst’ ever. Club chairman Martyn Coombs said, ‘We got such a huge response to the kit and were inundated with requests for people to buy them, so we decided to produce extra shirts to cope with demand and, in the process, raised thousands of pounds for our chosen charity, Prostate Cancer UK, with £5 from the sale of every shirt donated to the charity.’
Next came the iconic hot dog kit in 2018, displaying a sausage in a bun covered in ketchup and mustard and in 2019 it was a kit with bangers & mash that took centre stage. Disappointingly, the 2019 kit was banned by the FA but it didn’t stop fans around the world ordering their own version of the ‘collector’s item’ shirt, raising even more money for the charity through sales on historicfootballshirts.co.uk, Bedale AFC’s official suppliers. Coombs continues, ‘Apparently the sausages on the shirt infringed FA rules but I’m sure they can’t complain this year about a carrot kit or cheese grater goalie kit! Anyway, the sausage and mash kit realised over £1,000 for Prostate Cancer.’
In 2014, a good friend of the club Steve Garbett, died of Prostate Cancer and his family and friends decided to raise money in his memory by embarking on three Prostate Cancer bike rides to Amsterdam as well as organising many other fund-raising events. To date, Team Garby have raised £187,593.96 in Steve’s memory, helped in no small part by their partnership with Heck which included a Father’s Day campaign earlier this year that raised £8,000 with their limited edition pack of sausages which also doubled up as a Father’s Day card.
Heck co-founder, Andrew Keeble, said, ‘We’ve been delighted to enjoy this partnership with Bedale AFC and to have some fun along the way. What started as an innocuous sausage kit a few years ago has snowballed into this massive, almost unstoppable force that shows no sign of letting up. Every time we think that’s it, we get another idea for a new kit and away we go again. However, there is a very serious side to all of this because Heck and Bedale AFC continue to raise awareness and funds for Prostate Cancer which kills 11,000 men a year, one every 45 minutes. It is vital that all men as they approach 50 have regular checks because there is a much higher success rate if the disease is caught early.’
Coombs added ‘I have been in contact with Dale Vince, the owner and chairman of Forest Green Rovers, the EFL’s first all-green club, to invite then to use our facilities before their League 2 game against Harrogate Town on Saturday December 5 and to enjoy a vegan pre-match lunch with us. Their director of football is looking into the logistics of this, so it will be great to welcome them to the Heck Stadium.’
To find out how to order any of the Bedale AFC Heck football kits, search for Bedale AFC and follow the links or go to historicfootballshirts.co.uk.
