Rangers and Celtic fans put their rivalry aside to help an Ayrshire tot battling cancer.
A unique Old Firm supporters clash saw the green and blue half of Muirkirk go head to head all for Ava Bolton’s neuroblastoma appeal.
The derby day took place at the home of Muirkirk Juniors earlier this month in a bid to raise cash towards a fundraiser hoping to send Ava to New York for specialist treatment.
The brave three-year-old from Mauchline is currently undergoing gruelling treatment for the rare but very aggressive cancer.
Her parents, Scott and Natalie Bolton, launched an urgent plea to raise £250,000 in April after telling how their whole world had collapsed.
The quarter-of-a-million will be used to give Ava the best chance of survival, with a vaccine trial at the Memorial Kettering Centre in the Big Apple her only hope.
Hundreds of locals have since shown their support to the courageous tot with the appeal rocketing past £150,000. And the Muirkik supporters' derby was just one of two charity football matches held in Ava’s name.
Organiser Martin Griffin told Ayrshire Live: “We’ve done an Old Firm fans match before amongst the local Rangers and Celtic supporters. We decided to bring it back this year and when we heard about wee Ava Botlon’s fundraiser it was the obvious choice.
“I’ve got a wee girl who is a three-year-old and what Ava’s family have been going through doesn’t bare thinking about.
“Once word got around everybody was keen to help. We ended up with so much support.
“Rangers and Celtic both donated items to be auctioned of. We got a signed ball from Celtic and a tour of Ibrox from Rangers, they also chucked in a signed John Lundstram picture.”
Martin, who runs the Celtic supporters' bus from Muirkirk, said the game pulled in a huge crowd, with 200 cheering on the teams.
And punters were treated to an edgy game with Rangers snatching a 1-0 victory on the 88th minute.
He added: “It was a brilliant day, the game was really competitive, normally you would think these kind of matches would be like 6-5, but it was really close.
“We thought we were heading from penalties before Rangers scored late on. We had a massive turn out as well. It was great to see.”
The match raked in more than £2,000 with Martin delighted at the result. Earlier in the month another charity game was held at Glens Park in New Cumnock.
The match was organised by workers of the Catrine Bank – a supported living run by the National Autistic Society.
The workers led by John Scott had previously held charity games but this year decided to host one for Ava. John battled against a team picked by his son Ryan Scott, with dad winning the bragging rights beating his boy’s team 4-2.
The teams were also cheered on by little star Ava who attended the match, with Ava’s dad Scott also taking to the pitch.
John told Ayrshire Live: “It was a great day. The game went well and we had a superb turnout. Before the match both teams got a picture with Ava and her family.
“It was so nice for Ava to come along, we got her a big teddy bear. She really enjoyed it. It was nice for us to see who we were doing it for.”
The match raised £2,604.75. Catrine Bank also contributed more funds with Johnny McWrither raising £2,600 through a pigeon auction and Donna Thomson raising £1,050 from a bonus ball.
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