Portsmouth to raise money for Australian bushfires at Fratton Park tonight - and Ryan Williams will match all donations

A bucket collection will take place during the game against Scunthorpe with the donations going to the Australian Red Cross.

Pompey’s Aussie winger Ryan Williams has also pledged to match whatever is raised at tonight’s match.

In a video on the club’s Twitter, he said: ‘Hi guys. There’ll be a bucket fundraiser going round. Please give generously.

‘It’s for all the people helping with the bushfires out in Australia as you’ve seen on the news, to help with the animals and everybody affected.

‘So people give generously and whatever is given, me and my family are going to match it. Thanks a lot guys.’

BBC reports that since the start of the bushfires an estimated 10 million hectares of bush, parks and forest have been burned in Australia since July 1, 2019 and 28 people have been killed so far, including four firefighters.

New South Wales has been the worst hit part of the country, with 2,000 homes being destroyed.

Around 25,000 koalas on Kangaroo Island, half of the population, have believed to have died due to the fires, according to World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).

Pompey are not the only group fund raising for the bushfires in Australia locally, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons have donated a grant of £79,000 (AUS$150,000) to the Disaster Relief Funds.