Bearded Rochdale players and staff will be hoping to pick up donations as well as points in November as they grow facial hair in aid of assistant manager Chris Beech’s son.
Brandon Beech suffers from cystic fibrosis and the scheme dubbed ‘Brandon’s beard’ aims to raise money for a special bed for the ten-year-old.
Beech has been overwhelmed by the support for his son and was full of praise for his colleagues.
“To get this support from other people external to (our family) is tremendous,” Beech told Rochdale’s official Youtube channel.
“I’m very humbled and taken aback by people wanting to help us, I don’t know what to say.”
Forward Ian Henderson began the campaign to raise money for the bed that uses vibrations as a form of massage therapy to help people with breathing problems.
Cystic fibrosis is an incurable disease for which the average life expectancy is 35, however the bed is designed make the lives of sufferers more comfortable.
The vibrations in the bed encourage the passage of oxygen round the body and alleviate pain.
“He (Henderson) knows Brandon is part of our language and culture of the club here,” added Beech.
“Brandon loves Saturdays and coming to the match, everyone says hello to him and he thinks he runs the place.
“The best of part of his week is the 90 minutes there’s no doubt about that.”
Keith Hill is taking part, although Beech jokingly admitted that the Rochdale manager will be pleased the staff have decided to grow facial hair and not a head of hair.
“Keith’s all over it. I think he’s good at growing hair at the bottom end of his head rather than the top half,” Beech said.
“If we all decided to grow our hair long I’m not sure he’d be too keen on that idea.”
On a more serious note, Beech said that although it is often difficult as a family coping with Brandon’s disease he is full of admiration for his son.
“Brandon’s a great little boy dealing with it,” he added.
“I’m so proud of him as a dad.”
Supporters can join the fundraiser by picking up a sponsorship form from the Rochdale club shop or downloading one from the club’s website.
To track the progress of the Rochdale players and staff as they grow their beards search #BrandonsBeard on Twitter.
Image courtesy of OfficialRochdaleAFC via YouTube, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.