11th July 2017
Wolves can confirm that Carl Ikeme will remain listed as the club’s number one for the 2017/18 season.
It was announced last week that the popular goalkeeper has been diagnosed with leukaemia, for which he has immediately started treatment.
Following the devastating news, Wolves are today announcing a number of initiatives the club is running at the first game of the season to show our support for Carl and to raise money for the well-known Birmingham-based charity Cure Leukaemia.
With a bumper crowd expected for the Wolves v Middlesbrough match we are committing to donate 10% of gate receipts to Cure Leukaemia for all home match tickets purchased for this game. The charity will also be located around the ground doing a bucket collection to raise more money.
The 2017/18 Goalkeeper kits are now on sale in the Molineux Megastore and online at wolvesmegastore.co.uk. If you have “Ikeme 1” printed on the back of any replica shirt this season we’ll donate all profits from the printing to Cure Leukaemia also. For any fans who have already had this printed on a 2017/18 replica shirt we will retrospectively make the donation.
To show our support for Carl at the game we’ll be running a number of activities including a large banner and some fan flags in the North and South Banks as well as messages of support on the LED boards.
We’ll also have a get well card available in Wolfie’s Den for fans to sign and a station for young fans to come in and make their own cards which we will forward on to Carl.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in messages of support. We will be collating them all and passing them on to Carl and his family at an appropriate time.
New goalkeeper John Ruddy spoke of his support for Carl in his interview when joining the club, a deal which was announced yesterday. We are auctioning off the shirt used in the signing photography, which has been signed by John, for Cure Leukaemia. Keep an eye on the Wolves
Community Trust Ebay site and our Social Media channels in the coming days.
Wolves are also aware of a number of initiatives fans are aiming to organise for Carl which is greatly appreciated. We are currently helping supporters with some plans which will hopefully offer an opportunity for as many fans as possible to show their backing for Carl.
These plans have been drawn up and driven by supporters but will be assisted by the club where possible. Fans are also encouraged to organise their own further fundraising initiatives if they wish, alongside supporting the activities at the Middlesbrough fixture.
Cure Leukaemia Chief Executive James McLaughlin said: "Carl’s diagnosis is sadly another example of how indiscriminate blood cancer is.
“We are immensely grateful to Wolverhampton Wanderers for this tremendous support for Cure Leukaemia.
“Every single penny raised will go towards our £1m appeal to double the capacity of the Centre for Clinical Haematology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
"During what is clearly a very difficult time for Carl and his family on behalf of everyone associated with Cure Leukaemia I would like to send him our very best wishes.”
For further information about Cure Leukaemia go to www.cureleukaemia.co.uk or contact the charity direct via email:info@cureleukaemia.co.uk or phone: 0121 516 3000.
