Teams limber up asCupar Cup beckons

Wayne Melrose and Val el Dieb with the team strips (pic: Dave Scott)

Four teams are all set to do battle in the Cupar Cup charity tournament, the highlight of a family fun day to be held in Duffus Park on May 28.

All the funds raised will go towards buying defibrillators for the town – and already so much money has been collected through sponsorship and donations that there’s enough for at least one before a ball has even been kicked.

Four teams will compete in the tournament – ‘Celtic’, ‘Rangers’, ‘Dundee United’ and ‘Aberdeen’ – with all the players, teams, managers and referees are being sponsored by local businesses and organisations.

Raffle prizes have also been flooding in since the event was announced by organiser Wayne Melrose back in March.

“The response from local people has been fantastic,” said Wayne.

“As well as the tournament itself, we’ve got lots of attractions lined up so it should be a great family day out.”

Attractions on the day include a fire engine, a police community five-a-side pitch, an army vehicle, Air Cadets, face painting, sponge throw, live music and penalty shoot-out competitions for both under and over 12s.

There’ll also be a snack bar and a beer tent, and the day will culminate in a prize-giving ceremony, with trophies donated by local businessman Steven Stewart.

The tournament will be the latest – and biggest –to be organised by Wayne, who in recent years has raised thousands for local charities and good causes.

The event usually takes the form of a ‘Rangers’ v ‘Celtic’ match and last year Wayne’s old schoolfriend from Bell Baxter, TV star Jordan Young, caused a stir when he came along to lend his support.

Costing around £2500 each, defibrillators are potentially life-saving pieces of equipment.

They give a high energy electric shock to the heart through the chest wall to someone who is in cardiac arrest, and anyone can be trained to use one, dramatically increasing the victim’s chances of survival.

The devices have been installed in communities throughout Fife, including Falkland and Freuchie , but there are none in Cupar at present.

Said Wayne: “We hope to install as many as possible and that people will turn out in force on May 28 to help us.”