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Chesterfield head of commercial leaves the club - after 'total farce' saw raffle-winning entry faked

It cost supporters £20 to enter the raffle to join the team on a tour of Hungary

Samuel Stevens
Wednesday 20 July 2016 15:01 BST
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The Proact Stadium, the home of Chesterfield FC
The Proact Stadium, the home of Chesterfield FC (Getty)

Chesterfield have announced the man responsible for the “total farce” that saw a supporters' raffle faked has left the club.

Fans of the League One outfit were invited to enter the £20 competition to join the team on their pre-season tour of Hungary, but the winning entry was later described as “not legitimate”.

Director Ashley Carson said in a statement: “After a thorough internal investigation, I can now confirm that the person responsible for this total farce has left the football club.

“Kevin Fitzgerald has been a hard-working, respected, likeable employee who has, for some reason, made a massive error of judgement and has subsequently paid the consequences for his actions.

“The board were unaware of his actions and have taken swift action after uncovering the truth.”

On Monday, the club apologised for the “misleading outcome” of the raffle and pledged to carry out a full and extensive review of communications and marketing procedures in future.

They also moved to reassure supporters that nobody had been “affected financially or inconvenienced” by the saga before promising a “zero tolerance” approach to such activity.

“I do hope that we can look for a replacement to head our commercial department, move forward and pick up the pieces from the whole sorry mess,” added Carson.

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