Fan of the week

Support your local team is often the mantra of many a NonLeague supporter to glory hunting football fans but for Luke Brown that is a tricky statement for him to make.

Luke is a supporter of Aylesbury United who are without a home ground and play 25 miles away at Chesham United.

Luke is 24 years old and has supported the ducks all his life but the lack of a home venue makes him one of the youngest fans. He said: "Since we've been ground sharing it has been difficult to attract new young fans and the vast majority of our fans were supporters before we were homeless."

For the last two years Luke has been a club committee member, and he and his fellow members are working tirelessly to find a way of getting the club back to their home town.

Dutch Ducks

For the time being Luke remains positive about the club and spends a considerable amount of this spare time editing both the match day programme and the club website. This he has done for more than five years. He also writes match reports for local and national newspapers.

Luke fondly remembers the FA Trophy run of five years ago when Aylesbury reached the semi-final and his favourite ever player is the legendary Cliff Hercules - who holds the club records for most appearances (669) and most goals (301), following a career spanning 18 years.

The IT technician has enjoyed one aspect of being homeless and that is the club's campaign to "Bring The Ducks Home" highlighting their current homeless plight. The intention is to obtain as much exposure as possible through the many media outlets to place pressure on the local authorities to help find a new home for the Ducks.

There have been many fund raisers during the past year and Luke is pleased popular musician Loz Jones, together with local record label Jam Central Records have joined forces to try and help boost the profile of this campaign and bring awareness to a larger audience.

The CD is scheduled for release on Monday the 21st of April and Luke said:
"I haven't heard it yet but I'm told it's very good."

As Aylesbury United Football Club approaches the end of their 110th season Luke just wishes the club can return to the town and then progression up the pyramid is more than possible. "Sometimes it's hard to keep motivated but if you love your team you have to keep going. One day when we return to Aylesbury it will all be worth it."