FANS are being urged to pay the cost of  tickets for one of Ayr United’s biggest fundraisers of the year, after coronavirus forced its cancellation.

The club’s Player of the Year Awards 2020 were due to be held on Saturday April 25 at Arthur St Kitchen.

Due to COVID-19 this event is unable to take place and support is vitally needed to help the club stay afloat.

United said in a statement: “The current situation is hugely challenging for everyone  - our supporters, our sponsors, local business and our football club. 

“The financial implications to our football club of the current shut-down cannot be overstated.

“Not only will we not have any income from home games for the foreseeable future, but we have had to cancel one of our main fundraising events of the season as well.”

Commercial Manager Graeme Miller said: "We have a great need to raise funds due to this unprecedented situation however we wanted to come up with a way that would not just benefit ourselves, but also one of our sponsors and would be a unique opportunity for our fans.

"It leaves us in an extremely difficult predicament and we need our supporters' help more than ever.

"The financial implications to our club of the current shut-down cannot be overstated.

"Not only will we not have any income from home games for the foreseeable future, but we have had to cancel one of our main fundraising events of the season as well.

Commercial Manager Graeme Miller said: "We have a great need to raise funds due to this unprecedented situation however we wanted to come up with a way that would not just benefit ourselves, but also one of our sponsors and would be a unique opportunity for our fans to support the club.

"Obviously our Player of the Year event can no longer take place however we are still going to sell tickets for it. For every ticket sold we will give a donation to Arthur St Kitchen, one of our main sponsors who are also being badly affected by the cancellation.

"Buying a ticket also gives you a vote for your Player of the Year 2019/20 and Young Player of the Year 2019/20. When the votes are collated we will then buy all our trophies from Reid’s Trophies, another big supporter of the club, and when possible present them to the players.

"Finally every person that buys a ticket will receive one of these limited edition t-shirts. 

"These will never be for sale in the shop and only those buying a ticket will receive one.

"When buying a ticket please use the box provided to give your vote for Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year and also the size of the T shirt you would like. Also you are able to purchase multiple tickets and if you choose to do so please note the different sizes of T shirts you would like.

"We will keep this open to the end of April and we will order T shirts on a weekly basis. Any help you can give us at this time would be hugely appreciated."

Players eligible for Young Player of the Year are Ross Doohan, Daniel Harvie, Sam Roscoe, Luke McCowan, Jordan Houston, Stephen Kelly, Aaron Drinan and Connor Malley.

"We would like to place our thanks to anyone able to help us in this difficult time. Further ways of supporting the club will be announced in the near future. Thank you."

For details log on to tickets.ayrunitedfc.co.uk