The JustGiving page has exceeded its target by £12,718
After England fans were heard cheering a German girl crying in Wembley and in pubs around the country, one man took it upon himself to try and go a gesture of goodwill by setting up a JustGiving page for the as yet unidentified young fan.
Whilst some have criticised it for overreacting to what was, in most cases, a little joke (albeit cruel) amongst overjoyed and boozed-up England fans, Joel Hughes – the well-meaning organiser – drew attention to some truly horrendous examples from a select few ‘fans’ on social media.
Understandably, people who came across this highly inappropriate, racist, xenophobic and sexist online behaviour were rightly disgusted and no doubt felt compelled to join in the donations.
More than £13,000 pounds has been raised for the girl and counting, with 1,356 people helping it reach a staggering 2643% of its original target of just 500 quid.
The reaction on social media continues to be mixed, with many applauding what is simply an act of kindness, whereas others are labelling it ridiculous and pointing out that this money could be going to much more worthwhile causes.
I saw that. It sounded like they had good intentions but the obvious issue was how to get the money to the girl. If genuine, they should probably donate the fund to a charity in the name of “crying German girl from Euros”.
— GiantGØØnhole (@GiantGoonhole) July 2, 2021
mocking the go fund me page isn’t condoning the abuse btw
some of the stuff said about her is disgusting and so far out of line however the fundraiser is absolutely pathetic and very weird.😊😊😊
— abs🖤 (@abs_rufc) July 1, 2021
https://twitter.com/TheHenryFrancis/status/1410900883844616192?s=20
https://twitter.com/CxllumMoore/status/1410887435488272384?s=20
Safe to say, the nation is divided over whether this is just a nice gesture, over the top or just a waste of money that could be going to more important things. It is also worth mentioning that Hughes admits that he does not “know who the girl is (yet)” but is confident that “social media can sort that out”.
Where do you stand on all this? Does football bring out the worst in us and are we a nation still obsessed with the war, or are people just overreacting and donating money that might not even make its way to the little girl in question?
