Exeter City have completed the signing of 19-year-old striker James Norwood, thanks to the financial backing of our superb supporters.
The Exeter City Supporters' Trust has been the club's majority shareholder for six years and almost 3,000 members make regular payments and volunteer at St James Park.
This hard work helped propel City to League One after years of financial turmoil and a period of non-league football.
Earlier this month, a group of Trust members, looking to step up their support for the Grecians, established a new scheme with the aim of funding another young player for City's squad.
The resulting '19/31 Fund' will see fans pay money to City via the Supporters' Trust to increase manager Paul Tisdale's budget sufficiently to cover the cost of Norwood's wages.
The scheme's backers will each pay £19 per month, and former Eastbourne Town and England Schools goal-getter Norwood will be given squad number 31, hence The 19/31 Fund.
1931 is etched into the minds, or perhaps sewn onto the anoraks, of many Grecians as the year that City attracted their record attendance of 20,984 for a sixth round F.A. Cup replay against Sunderland.
Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale said: "It's amazing how much the supporters of this club want to contribute to what we're doing.
"Their support is about much more than money, but they're smart enough to realise that stepping up to League One requires investment in all areas of the club.
"We'd had James on trial for a couple of weeks and we'd talked about a contract, but it was taking a little while to work out how we were going to bring him in.
"And then this wonderful group of fans came to us saying they wanted to fund a young player with great potential and it all fitted into place perfectly. With their backing, we got the deal done within hours.
In 54 appearances for Town's youth team and first team as well as his school and the England Schools side he scored an incredible 96 goals and his new manager believes Exeter City Football Club can help their new fleet-footed striker grasp his new opportunity.
"It's a great opportunity for James, both to develop as a footballer at Exeter and to feed off the enthusiasm and support of those fans.
"He's got a lot of very hard work to get through, but I have a feeling that having the squad number 31 and being a sort of 'man of the people' will give James that extra drive to ensure he makes the most of the opportunity that he's been given."
London based Alan Crockford, one of the fans behind The 19/31 Fund, said: "We're delighted and unbelievably excited to have James for our number 31 shirt so soon after launching the fund.
"Paul Tisdale seems certain that James has plenty of quality and raw potential that he and his coaching staff can work with, and everyone knows how good a place Exeter City now is for young footballers to develop.
"Over 30 people have pledged to join the fund so far, and we want to double that number over the next few weeks so that we can commit to putting around £12,000 extra into the club this season. It's not a fortune, but at least we're doing out bit - isn't that what being a supporter is about?
"It seems that fans of many clubs just want an overseas consortium to ride in and buy them a winning side. At Exeter it's different. It's our club and if we want investment we have to put the money in ourselves.
"Now we're working hard on two fronts. We're trying to find more Grecians to join our fund so we can raise all the money, and we need to come up with a top terrace tune for our new boy!"
Anyone who wants to join the fund can email exiles@sky.com for further details or visit our Official Site.
