FANS can make a direct contribution to Town's Academy when buying a season-ticket.

In a new move, the club are inviting supporters to make a £5 donation to the Development Association which helps fund the Academy.

It's entirely optional, but it could raise as much as £50,000.

Club spokesman Alisdair Straughan said: "The importance of our excellent Academy is well known to every fan.

"It costs us around £½m a year to run the Academy and, with question marks about funding from certain national sources this year, we thought this new initiative might help offset any potential shortfall."

Town have just over 9,000 season ticket holders this term and hope to increase the number for 2006-07 to watch Academy products like Jon Worthington and the Clarke brothers, Tom and Nathan, pictured here earlier this term.

"The £5 donation is entirely a voluntary thing, but if 5,000 people took part it would raise us £25,000," added Straughan.

"If all the existing season-ticket holders donated a fiver, then we'd have over £45,000, and that would be a massive help."