HARRY Arter believes financial assistance should be given to injured players in non-league after generously donating to a fund to help Woking’s Scott Rendell.

The Cherries midfielder, who has never met Rendell, dug deep after being alerted to the striker’s plight by an article on Woking’s official club website.

Rendell is set to be ruled out for the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament during the Cards’ opening-day defeat at Tranmere.

Arter, who spent the 2009-10 season playing for Woking in Conference South, made a contribution towards helping raise £10,000 to finance Rendell’s medical costs.

“Someone sent me a link to the story on the Woking website and it really hit home how much lower-league players give up for the game,” said Arter, who is currently sidelined due to a hip injury.

“I don’t know him personally but it sounds like a really bad injury and he could be off work for a while and might not get paid. I thought if I could help, it would help him.

“He wasn’t there when I was but Woking always looked after me, as did the fans, and it is a really good family club. It was a nice touch by the person who set up the fund.”

Arter, who also made a donation towards replacement Christmas lights at Julia’s House children’s hospice after the original set had been stolen, receives support for injuries through the Professional Footballers’ Association.

However, while non-league clubs may choose to have private medical insurance, they are not subject to the same regulations as in the Football League and Premier League.

Arter added: “I am injured at the moment and know how much it is affecting me. But this puts things into perspective. His injury is worse than mine and is going to affect his life a lot more than mine is going to affect me.

“The Conference is a really competitive league and people fight really hard to get into the Football League.

“I understand you have to draw the line somewhere but perhaps they should extend the help to looking after players at that level. A few clubs are full-time and it’s a national league. They are not paid as much and, if anyone needs help, those players probably need it more.

“I read that Scott may have to pay for his own operation. If I had an operation, I would want the best but those boys will be lucky to get anyone to do it for what they can afford.

“In my opinion, it is definitely something which should be looked at and, hopefully, incidents like these may make them change it.”

  • Around £8,000 has been raised for Rendell. To donate, go to www.gofundme.com/byw7w9mc