The writings of Max Robinson: NEVER MIND WHICH TEAM YOU SUPPORT

There is more to a football club than two goalposts and a bit of grass between them.

Yesterday Radio Love International was proud to be a part of more than the grass and goalposts at the celebrated Hillsborough Stadium the home of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club.

We went to Hillsborough yesterday for a meeting with the club's community programme team.

We took with us a simple idea to help the work this programme does.

We came away with something so potentially big and exciting, something where our music and listeners can make a big difference. Would you like to be a part of this ? With you we can do it. Without you we can not.

On Saturday 7th April - just THREE weeks away we need a

team of at least EIGHT people to drive up the motorway with us. We need to be at Hillsborough by 12 noon.

The club is going to set up a Family Zone adjacent to the club shop. There will be

refreshments, there will be a childrens' area for kids to kick a ball, players will be signing autographs. We will be playing music, handing out sweets, balloons and Radio Love International fliers. We will be providing the music. We will be rattling buckets to collect cash for the community programme and all the work it does.

This is an INCREDIBLE opportunity for Radio Love International to outwork its mission......

We need a MINIMUM of eight people. The club will give us eight tickets for team members to watch the game. Would you like to come along ? It will be a long, hard day but a day you will treasure and remember.

Radio Love International grew out of the organisation OurRebekah which was set up in memory of David's daughter Rebekah. She was a Sheffield Wednesday fan. Part of OurRebekah is BRUMMIE OWLS where friends sponsor the goals the boys score for Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham. This afternoon Sheffield Wednesday is playing away at Leeds.

CLICK HERE and sponsor the goals. Come on boys let's have lots of them today.

The meeting yesterday included the management of the stadium. There was a little bit of a misunderstanding.

A FANTASTIC misunderstanding !

Radio Love International Chairman Rachel asked when we returned home - DID YOU TAKE LOVE WITH YOU ?

Yes we did but we came home with love - lots and lots and lots and lots of love !

Explaining his vision for a Family Zone at Hillsborough the stadium manager assumed we would be at every home game providing the music. Already the club is planning to make something much bigger on Saturday 7th April than we intended, now we are being considered to be there for every home game.

Rachel added SPREAD THE LOVE to our dictionary, Josh added WE WILL TURN UP. That was after we skated through the snow to honour our commitment to Asda Supermarket.

Wouldn't it be absolutely fantastic if we did indeed make Radio Love International a permanent part of the Family Zone at Hillsborough Stadium ? But what an incredible and demanding commitment that would be.

Let's have some music.................

This is something we played in the car driving up to Sheffield yesterday.

We will need at least eight people at every home game. To do this we probably need a pool of 20 to 25 volunteers upon whom we can call. Would you be up for that ?

We will need two cars every time we head up to Sheffield, fuel has to be out in those cars. We need to buy hundreds of

balloons and sweets to give out - they cost money. We would need to ask our volunteers to pay for the privilege of being part of the team !

Josh is seen here looking across an empty area where the Family Zone will be. How wonderful if we were a part of that long-term.

Can we do it ?

The first thing is to make sure Saturday 7th April is a BRILLIANT success. We need a minimum of eight to be there. The club will give us eight

tickets to watch the game. If we have more - ten, twelve, twenty - we will take the cost of the additional tickets and divide that among all team members. For this game we have the balloons we need and we have the sweets. We will need a car for every four people going along, each car will need fuel.

We probably need to buy a new set of equipment we can leave permanently in Sheffield. That will include a second bubble machine !

The next home game will then be on Saturday 21st April. David and Gary will be in San Francisco supporting Ronald McDonald House in The City By The Bay. They will be taking with them two shirts signed by the boys at Sheffield Wednesday.

Could we, in the short time remaining, build a team who could cover this game ?

Then on Sunday 6th May Sheffield Wednesday is at home to Norwich City. We have nothing in the diary that day BUT we do have a very big event the day before - Bletchley Youth Centre's 50th Anniversary. We will all be lucky if we get home by midnight that day !

Wait for it, kick off on Sunday 6th May is 12.30 ! We would need to be in Sheffield for 8.30am ! Could we put a team together to head up the motorway leaving at 5.30am ?

What do you think ?

Pre-season friendlies will begin in July with the season starting in August and running all the way to May 2019.

Can we do this ? Can we find enough volunteers ? Can we find enough cars ?

We have to run this in ADDITION to our existing roadshow diary. From 14th May we will be broadcasting live as a fully-fledged radio station. We could make our visits to Hillsborough outside broadcasts. That would be simple enough.

We have to be able to promise the club RELIABILITY. We can not call them up and say SORRY CAN'T MAKE IT THIS WEEK !

So..........................

FIRST THING..........

We have to make a mega success of Saturday 7th April. Who will step forward and be a part of that day ? At the moment we have David, Josh and Mrs Josh - Jelena. Who are the other five ?

We then need to decide if we can promise the club a long-term commitment. Can we cover the two remaining home games for this season ? Remember David is half way around the world on 21st April. Then can we make the enormous commitment to be at every home game from August 2018 to May 2019 ?

Can we spread the love ?

We are not going to do this with our existing team.

Being a bit selfish, if we take on this commitment and make a success of it just think what that would do for Radio Love International and our mission.