I’d like to start by wishing all GTFC Supporters a very Happy New Year.  As I write this, Mike Newell has already made one foray into the market with the signing of Joe Widdowson, and by the time you read this there may be one or two more new faces at Blundell Park.  I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting (from a footballing perspective) to put 2008 firmly behind me and look forward to on the pitch success during 2009.  And let’s hope that can begin with three much needed points against Morecambe this afternoon.    

Morecambe are one of the newer members of the football league fraternity, having clinched promotion from the Conference at the third time of asking in May 2007 via a Wembley play-off final victory over Exeter.  Since their formation as Morecambe FC in May 1920, their only other noteable achievement (apart from the customary local tournament successes) was victory in the 1974 FA Trophy.

Earlier in the season in the Barnet programme article, I touched on the role of supporters of traditional non-league clubs.  Although I have little doubt that supporters are very much involved at Morecambe FC (and have been over the years), I can find little evidence of this.  There is no Supporters Trust at Morecambe, and the existing Supporters Association appears to offer little more than away day travel. 

For those reasons, I’m going to deviate from my usual matchday topic and take a look at one of the more positive footballer stories that has emerged in the last couple of years.  In a week where we have had news of yet another Premiership footballer in trouble with the law and a world where WAGs demand more column inches than voluntary workers, it’s nice to know that there are some high earning footballers who can make a real difference.  I realise that many footballers do a lot of unheralded charity work, but how often do you read about one man single-handedly rebuilding an entire community?

Ulises De La Cruz isn’t a household footballing name, despite having spent a number of seasons in the UK playing for Hibernian, Aston Villa and Reading.  Ulises was born and raised in the Chota Valley region of Ecuador, a poverty stricken area about three hours north of the Capital, Quito.  Remarkably, this area of Ecuador is a rich vein of footballing talent, having provided 11 players for the Ecuadorian national teams that competed in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals.

His home village of Piquiucho contains in the region 1,200 villagers, with ramshackle homes perched on the hillside.  But thanks to Ulises’ generosity over the past few years, life for the villagers has taken a turn for the better.  Instead of carrying dirty water over a kilometre from the stream at the foot of the valley, villagers now enjoy clean and disease free water via an 18km pipeline and treatment plant, funded by De La Cruz.  If any of the villagers do need medical treatment, they can visit the medical centre and see the doctor, nurse or dentist – all funded by the Ulises De La Cruz Foundation (to which Ulises has donated at least 10% of his annual salary, plus large donations to fund specific projects).

Health isn’t the only focus, with community and education also important items on Ulises’ agenda.  To that end, the Foundation has funded a new roof, playground and nursery for the village school.   Hundreds of books have been purchased for the school, and each day 100 schoolchildren receive breakfast and lunch for free.  But by far the largest project to date is the building of a new sports and community centre, at a reported cost of $200,000.

Not content with resolving health and educational issues, Ulises has also turned his attention to the sewerage system, the state of the roads and the condition of the villagers’ homes, and has provided funding for each of these. Thinking to the future (rather prophetically it seems), early in 2008 Ulises struck up a relationship with a London business school in order to provide business focussed education to allow the villagers to help themselves, and make the first steps towards a self-funded way out of the poverty trap.

De La Cruz is currently without a club, having been released by Reading at the end of the 07/08 season.  He may not have left too great a footballing mark on this country, but the legacy that he has left in his home village is immeasurable.

For more information about the work of the Ulises De La Cruz Foundation, please visit http://ulisesdelacruz.org/english/index.html.

Emma Blackbourn – GTST Board Member

www.gtst.net