What is love?It’s one of those universal, larger-than-life questions that has kept bothering us ever since we became fully aware of our presence and role on planet Earth. And the proper answer seems as far away from us as it was the day one.We only know that we love our parents, friends, girls and boyfriends, our elders and give them all a piece of our hearts. Unselfishly, irrationally, and passionately. Those who have felt love and were privileged enough to be loved by someone know how big that is.For late David Clough, love was the only way. For years. For decades. He was there and demonstrated almost an unprecedented love. Even when he became blind. He would religiously sit in the same seat every weekend and listen to the roar of love while the others would give him a detailed verbal view of what was going on in front of his shattered eyes. His love was Rochdale AFC.A statue of Rochdale super fan David Clough who passed away last year – funded by supporters – is now in place at the Crown Oil Arena.#RAFC pic.twitter.com/NQZa3Zq53V— BBC Sport Manchester (@BBCRMsport) September 17, 2021 He used to sell lottery tickets for many years cruising through the town close to Manchester on his bicycle. After he died in 2020, aged 78, as much as Ksh 75.7 million were found. It was the money he collected for the club selling those lottery tickets. And every single penny was for Rochdale AFC, the club that plays in the fourth tier of the English football hierarchy. But that was not all, at all.Clough, who worked at a local bakery, left his entire estate, worth around Ksh 37.8 million, to the League Two club!A JustGiving page has been set up to raise funds for a lasting tribute to Rochdale AFC super fan, David Clough 💙Supporter Mark Cryer set up the fundraiser to commission a statue of Cloughie, to be put in place at the @CrownOil Arena 🙌See how you can donate 👇#RAFC— Rochdale AFC (@officiallydale) January 29, 2021 All that money Mr Clough collected was subsequently used for a new electronic scoreboard, air conditioning and a new ceiling in the club’s VIP lounge.It’s a rare example of unconditional love that asked for nothing in return. But, thankfully, and rightfully, nowadays, the club and the fans paid respect to their most loyal supporter. Those fans have raised over Ksh 1.5 million to erect a statue of the superfan David. The statue – which sits on Mr Clough’s seat in the main stand where he had a season ticket for many years – was unveiled a few days ago.Tokom života Dejvid je pomogao klubu da sakupi 500k funti tako što je 25 godina prodavao grebalice obilazeći grad na bicikli.Kada je preminuo, ostavio je svoju čitavu ušteđevinu Ročdejlu – 250, 000 funti. Od tih para kupljeni su električni semafor, klime i renovirana je loža. pic.twitter.com/KzRY63wXkD— Sveti Engleski Fudbal (@svetief) September 23, 2021 Fundraiser Mark Cryer said it was “truly humbling” to read about Mr Clough’s legacy.”I didn’t know Cloughie personally, but I think all Rochdale fans knew of him and what he did for the football club with the various lottery rounds that he did in all weathers,” Cryer said.”To leave his entire estate to the club for the future generations is absolutely unbelievable, so I thought to myself, what could we as fans do to say thank you to a fan like Cloughie? “concluded Cryer.What is love?David Clough knew. That’s for sure.By: Bojan Babic
