Welcome windfall thanks to Vaulks’ progress

At a time when our income streams have become little more than a trickle, a welcome cheque for £4,789 has been paid into the club’s bank account.

Thanks to some diligent secretarial work from club official, Alec Graham, a FIFA Solidarity Payment has been made to the club on the strength of Will Vaulks’ development in the game since his loan spell at Borough Park during the 2012-13 campaign.

Secretary Graham takes up the story.

“I was doing some research about the Solidarity Payment scheme which rewards clubs who have helped in the development of a player up to the age of twenty three.  It becomes active when a player moves from one association to another,” he explained.

“FIFA introduced a scale which rewards a ‘development club’, depending on the player’s age and the size of subsequent transfer fee, so when Will Vaulks was transferred from Rotherham United to Cardiff City I thought we might qualify for the payment.”

The FA asked Graham to confirm Vaulks’ career history at Workington and, once that was acknowledged, advised him to get in touch with the player’s current club, Cardiff City.  Contact was made with the Championship club in early December and they replied with the positive news just before Christmas.

They confirmed we were eligible and an offer of just under £5k (0.5% of the transfer fee) was made which Mr Graham, after consultation with the Board, accepted.

“I am delighted that I have been able to help the club in this way,” he said, adding, “this season has been a titanic struggle financially with all the uncertainty over Covid, the lack of sponsorship and income through the turnstiles,” he concluded.       

• Will Vaulks joined Workington on loan from Tranmere Rovers as a nineteen year old in 2012 and made his Blue Square Bet North debut at Chester, appearing in twenty six games for Reds, scoring two goals in the process.
• He subsequently played for Falkirk with the highlight of his time there an appearance in the Scottish Cup Final.  From there he returned to England, playing for Rotherham United for three seasons, making well over a century of appearances for them.  He then signed for Cardiff City and now has six Welsh caps to his name.