WE'RE ON A FLIGHT OF FANCY

FORGET the Road to Wembley – Falmouth Town fans are on the Plane to Jersey!

-  Matt Badcock

So determined are ‘The F Troop’ to back their side in the Isuzu FA Vase last 16 at Jersey Bulls next month that they’ve chartered their own aircraft.

The idea came when super fan Jeff Chambers – who has supported the Western League club for more than 50 years – tried to book flights from Cornwall to the channel islands.

With demand high, prices skyrocketed up to £800 per person.

That’s when the suggestion for hiring their own transport came about and, with the help of a fundraiser, 70 fans will board a flight from Newquay to St Helier on February 10.

“‘The F Troop’ are 300-400-strong in and stand in what we call The Packet End,” Chambers tells The NLP. “They are the best and most vocal Non-League fans in the west of England.

“So when we got the draw against Jersey Bulls, I rung up two or three companies to book our seats on planes to go on the ninth for the game on the 10th, but there was so much interest, they trebled their prices on us. It was up to £800 return from Exeter airport.

“I was talking to someone from Newquay Airport and they said, ‘Have you ever thought about chartering your own jet?’ He gave me a number and the rest is history!

“The first quote we had was £800 per person and then it went down to £450. A day later he came up with an offer where he said, ‘I’ve got a 70-seater, where it would be around the £400 mark’.

“It’s still dear so we set up a crowdfunder to see if we could get some help to bring the price down.