EURO 2016 hero Joe Ledley has given a boost to Newport County AFC’s crowdfunder campaign for a charity shirt sponsor by donating a £1,000.

The 33-year-old Wales midfielder trained with the Exiles after a month-long contract with Charlton Athletic expired in January.

He came close to signing for the club but chose to instead head to Australia to play for Newcastle Jets.

The former Cardiff, Celtic, Crystal Palace and Derby man has stayed in close contact with the County hierarchy and has now put his hand in his pocket to move their ‘Save our Shirt’ appeal closer to their £40,000 target.

“Great achievement so far! Keep it up,” commented Ledley after donating his four-figure sum from Down Under.

County have passed £35,000 and are within sight of the target that will allow them to have a charity’s logo on the front of their home kit.

See the crowfunding appeal: HERE

If they pass the target figure then half of additional donations will be split between the three chosen causes - Alzheimer’s Society Cymru, diabetes charity JDRF and Kidscape.

South Wales Argus:

Ledley was keen to stay in the mix for the Euros despite not featuring under Ryan Giggs since May 2018 and mulled over a deal to drop down to League Two with County.

But instead of joining Michael Flynn's squad, and fulfilling his stated ambition of moving closer to home, he opted to head for to play under former Wales teammate Carl Robinson at Newcastle Jets.

"I spoke to the chairman (Gavin Foxall) a lot, went in every day and saw Flynny,” he said in April.

"They wanted me to sign and I was close to signing, I had my squad number, everything was sorted, but when Carl got the job he wanted me to come over for the end of the season.

"I didn't want to go over there, not enjoy and come home, so I signed until the end of the season and I loved it.

"I felt bad on Newport, because it seems like I used them just to train. It wasn't like that at all.

"They are a great group of boys, professionals good players and a great manager. I just wanted to try something different."

Ledley and the Jets return to action after a delay because of the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday with four games left to play in their campaign.