GD Vidreiros helps Pessegueirense recover from the flames

The Marinha Grande club managed to raise around 1,500 euros to support the recovery of the sports complex of Juventude Académica Pessegueirense (JAP).

The images of the wildfires that swept through several districts in the North and Center of the country starting on September 15 — consuming about 135,000 hectares in just six days — are still fresh in memory.

Television and social media were flooded with hundreds of videos and photos showing the devastating scenario caused by the flames, which reached JAP’s sports grounds and caused significant damage.

And what does JAP have to do with the Leiria region? At first glance, nothing — except for the determination of GD Vidreiros to help this club, located 200 kilometers away.

Watching television, the Vice-President of the Marinha Grande club, Francisca Simões, saw images of the fire reaching Pessegueirense’s pitch and thought: “What if it had been us?”

She decided to take action and support this amateur club, also dedicated to the development of young athletes. The region rallied together, and several other clubs joined this solidarity day, which took place last Saturday at Campo do Tojal, in Picassinos.

The initiative turned into a day of “lots of football and fun,” bringing together everyone from the youngest players to veterans and featuring 11 matches involving teams from GD Vidreiros, JAP, União Desportiva da Batalha, Mata Mourisquense, Atlético Clube Marinhense, and the University of Aveiro.

With an entrance fee of three euros, all proceeds from ticket sales and from the bar, which also served lunch, went to JAP. In total, 1,517 euros were raised — a figure that left the Marinha Grande club proud. “It felt like we were bringing two families together under one roof,” said Francisca Simões.

Besides the football matches, there were prizes and activities that engaged participants. União de Leiria also supported the event, offering an autographed t-shirt to be raffled among ticket holders.

Firefighters were also part of the celebration and were honored, particularly the brigades from Juncal (Porto de Mós) and Sever do Vouga, who accepted the invitation to attend and even walked onto the field hand in hand with the players.

“It was a spectacular day. We didn’t expect it to be so full and to have so many people wanting to participate,” said Tiago Martins, President of JAP, who attended the event.

The club leader admitted he was surprised by the initiative: “We never thought that, nearly 200 kilometers away, there would be a club remembering us.”

But there was — and now, the more than 1,500 euros raised will allow some initial repairs to begin at JAP’s sports complex. The fire damaged part of the pitch, locker rooms, fencing around the field, and the lighting system.

The club awaits support from the Portuguese Football Federation’s disaster relief fund, but until then, the money raised in Marinha Grande will be used for small but essential works, particularly repairing the lighting, so the club can resume training at its facilities.

Published in Jornal de Leiria