Written Evidence submitted by RUNCORN LINNETS FOOTBALL CLUB.

I would like to share this evidence that was presented to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee hearing into 'Football Governance'.

This written submission really touched me and it proves that supporters do possess the wherewithal to fight the good fight, deal with the many obstacles put in their way and emerge victoriously.

32 Football Governance: Written evidence

Written evidence submitted by Runcorn Linnets Football Club (FG 08)

Introduction

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This submission is on behalf of Runcorn Linnets Football Club.

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Our submission refers mainly to Question 4 (Supporters’ Trust Model) plus

Question 3 (Debt) and Question 5 (Government Intervention)

In the spring of 2006, the supporters of North West Non-League club Runcorn FC held a public

meeting to discuss the future of the club. At this meeting it was decided that if the club was to

survive, the fans would have to form a new club from the ashes of the old one. This has

become an all too familiar story in the world of football. Our submission to the committee

would like to relate the background to our story and thereby attempt to cast some light on the

governance of football and why we feel it must change. Our story is not unique but shows how

fans have an important role to play in governance as the only constant at any club.

Summary

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A brief history of our club

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The formation of a limited company

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The local club in the community

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The onset of financial problems

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The move out of the town, spiralling costs and falling attendances

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The old club ceases to trade

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Formation of the Trust

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Decision to re-form

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Planning the return home

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Working with the local council

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The pros and cons of the shareholding model

1. A brief history of our club

Runcorn FC was founded in 1918 at the end of the Great War. The town and ground had

previously played host to a successful rugby team. The club was closely allied to the social arm

of the local tannery and was seen as a community facility to allow locals to play football at a

reasonable non-league level, in our case the Cheshire League. The club enjoyed varied degrees

of success throughout the 1920s and 1930s, culminating in an appearance in the Third Round

Proper of the FA Cup in 1939 against the then holders Preston NE. The war years in the early

1940s interrupted normal football life but post-war the club resumed its life in the Cheshire

League. We were a typical north of England non-league team that attracted good crowds in

those pre- televised football days and before the huge marketing of football by the large league

clubs

2. The formation of a limited company

In 1953, the club took the decision to become a Limited Company, in line with many other

clubs of the day. This, of course, resulted in shareholders buying into the club. At this level of

football, the shares represented little more than a donation to the club as there was never any

real prospect of a return on them. Many fans and local businessmen purchased varying

numbers of shares to help the club. From this point onwards, the club was run by a Board of

Directors. The number of shares was significant, as they gave the holder more voting power and

the board tended to comprise of groups of local and often influential businessmen. The

Chairman tended to be the local greengrocer or confectioner. It was assumed and expected

that board members would “dip into their own pockets” to help ensure the bills were paid. As

Football Governance: Written evidence 33

a limited company, regular annual accounts would be produced showing mostly that the club

lived from hand to mouth.

3. The local club in the community

By the 1960s, post war Britain was undergoing immense social change and football was part of

that change. The local football club in the community was now under increased pressure as

people’s wealth increased and the range of social activities and venues started to increase

accordingly. At non-league level this was an era of substantial change in the structure of the

game. Up to this point, the league structure had been generally regionalised but by the late

1960s, Runcorn FC had joined the newly formed Northern Premier League, which covered

much of the North of England and took us away from our mainly local North West roots. This in

turn meant higher costs and the desire to attract better quality players from a wider area. The

Limited Company model was even by this stage becoming questionable. Clubs at this level were

becoming increasingly reliant on local businesses to provide financial support and many had

local benefactors who dug deep into their pockets. The model was flawed. Clubs started to live

and spend beyond their means. Travel became easier but increasingly expensive and the advent

of televised football and access for more and more fans to the league game was impacting on

the game at this level. Supporter involvement at our club was limited to the “Supporters Club”

whose sole purpose was to raise funds to help the club, which they did very successfully. There

was no influence in terms of a seat on the board although occasionally a nominal seat was

offered to placate the supporters. However, the amounts required to run a club at this higher

level were becoming beyond the means of these hard working fans. They raised hundreds when

thousands were needed. Gate receipts were no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the club

as they travelled wider, paid higher expenses to players who were travelling from farther afield

and generally had higher running costs. The burden increasingly fell to local businesses and

benefactors to produce the finance. The model was always doomed to eventual failure. That

said, the club continued to function and enjoyed success in this higher league throughout the

1970s and by the end of the decade, non-league football went national and we became part of

that change, when we joined the Alliance Premier League (now the Conference) and indeed

won the tournament at our first attempt. Wembley appearances followed in the 1980s and

1990s but even by this stage, the trend was showing signs of going downwards. The travelling

costs alone to southern outposts like Weymouth and Dover were draining finances. Players

demanded ever more to play at this level. A north / south divide started to occur as the poorer

northern clubs could not compete with their wealthier southern rivals. The championship

success at the start of the 1980s was to prove to be the last at that level and despite 3

Wembley appearances in FA Trophy finals, the club was on the downward slope

4. The onset of financial problems

One local businessman had followed another as Chairman. The power in the club lay with those

who held the shares. The fans were seen almost as a necessary evil at times. The change from a

local regional set up to the eventual national non-league set up had stretched the club to the

limit financially and attendances had gradually decreased as competition from other sports,

other social activities and league football increased. Various disasters hit the club to compound

this. A wall collapsed at an FA Cup tie involving Hull City fans. The main stand was burnt down

and high winds blew down another covered area. The club was forced to play out of town for a

period for the first time since its formation, Valiant efforts were made to rebuild the ground and

eventually the club was able to return home but the costs had taken their toll. The true picture

of the debts was slowly starting to emerge. By the end of the 1990s the then Chairman and

remnants of the board took the decision to move the club out of the town to play across the

River Mersey in Widnes, a Rugby stronghold, where a new Community Stadium had been built.

34 Football Governance: Written evidence

5. The move out of the town, spiralling costs and falling attendances

The fans were outraged by the decision. A fans’ group was formed to fight the decision but it

had no teeth and the Chairman was not for turning. He held the shares and the power. Many

fans took the decision to abandon the team and not to follow it out of the town. By this stage

the club had been relegated for the first time in its history and further relegations followed. The

move to the community stadium proved to be disastrous as spiralling rental payments and

falling attendances compounded the problem. Despite repeated requests from fans, the club

failed to produce adequate accounts to allow the true nature of the financial situation to be

assessed. When the club could no longer afford to pay its way at the Community Stadium, a

further move ensued to play at Prescot, even further out of the town. The club hit an all-time

low and by the end of season 2005/06 it had become apparent the the situation could not be

sustained. No true picture of the debts could be ascertained and estimates ranged from

£150,000 to £500,000. Even to this day no-one is aware of the true scale of those debts. A last

ditch attempt by the Chairman at that stage to involve fans by asking them to find £60,000 for

the following season failed. The fans wanted to know the true financial picture and this was not

forthcoming. To have tried to take on a club with apparently immense debt would have been

both foolish and reckless in the eyes of the fans.

6. The old club ceases to trade

The season 2005/06 was to be the last one for Runcorn Football Club (renamed Runcorn FC

Halton when it moved to Widnes). The fans were aghast. They had already formed a small

Supporters’ Trust in an attempt to win some influence in the old club but this had proved futile.

However, the formation of the Trust was to prove decisive in what happened next.

7. Formation of the Trust

When the Trust was formed it had not been the intention of the small group of fans to do

anything other than try to win influence within the club and to this end had purchased 400

shares as a starting point. However, when the old club ceased to play, the Trust was the ideal

vehicle to move forward towards the formation of a new club, but this time not as a limited

company but as a co-operative, as an Industrial and Provident Society, whereby Trust members

would have one vote and the Trust Board would be an elected body. The fans would in our case

run the club! We were indebted to the help we received from Supporters Direct in all this and

indeed for the ongoing support and advice we have received from them since our formation.

We are not alone in saying that without such help and ongoing support and encouragement

we would have found the whole process much more demanding. This organisation has been

crucial in moving the whole football agenda forward. Their advice in the setting up of the Trust

was vital and there is a crucial ongoing role for them to play in ensuring the development

continues.

8. Decision to re-form

The decision to re-form the club was taken by a group of fans at a public meeting on 28 April

2006. An interim committee oversaw negotiations over the next 3 months which saw us find a

league to play in (The North West Counties League Division 2) at Step 6 of the pyramid, set up a

ground share agreement at Witton Albion FC (there was no facility within the town at the right

level), appoint a manager and find a team! All this was achieved and a good pot of money was

donated by committed fans to help the club establish itself. Within the next few months, Board

elections were held and the first elected board was put in place. Amazingly the team achieved

promotion in the first season and the attendances proved to be the best in our league by some

margin.

Football Governance: Written evidence 35

9. Planning the return home

The new board had promised the fans and Trust members that they would do all within their

power to return the club back to Runcorn within a reasonable time-frame. Running a football

club was a steep learning curve and at the same time we were holding negotiations with

various funding bodies including the Football Foundation and Halton Borough Council to

ascertain the level of funding we could achieve. Our own fundraising efforts hit a target of

£30,000 over a period of 18 months. With great support from our local council and 2 local

MPs, we eventually achieved our funding goals and our new ground was built during the early

part of 2010, and we played our first game back in the town on 17th July 2010, some 9 years

after the old club had left the town. The ownership model that we presented to the council was

undoubtedly a crucial element in obtaining their financial support for the project. The grant of

£100,000 together with a similar grant from the Football Stadium Improvement Fund allowed

us to build our stadium. The model clearly reflected shared agendas with the local council in

terms of community targets and no risk of private gain.

10. Working with the local council

As fans, we had watched dismayed as our club had reeled from crisis to crisis. We wanted to

learn the lessons from this. We produced a development plan for our local council to ensure

that our vision was for a community club at the heart of the local sporting community which

would encourage local youngsters to aspire to play football to a good level and provide good

facilities for the town. The development of the stadium was the first phase in this and the

second phase involves the development of a multi sport all-weather pitch. The formation of a

good open working relationship with our council was crucial to our success. We wanted them

to see our vision and how it fit into their key targets, likewise with the local County FA. The first

part of our plan, to return the club home, has been achieved. Other key elements, such as

establishing reserve and youth teams have also come to fruition. Our aim to involve the local

community is progressing and we have taken a junior club under our umbrella providing 10

junior teams. We will continue to work with the council to develop our plans further.

11. The pros and cons of the shareholding model

The Limited Company model for the old club simply did not work for us as a club at this level

and with our supporter base. There was no real sense of ownership. Allegiance to a football

club is invariably passed down through the generations, but clubs cannot depend on a blind

allegiance any more. For us, the fan-based Trust model provided a perfect vehicle. It provides an

opportunity for annual elections to the board; is a one vote per member model, so is not

dependent on the acquisition of large numbers of shares; the constitution is reasoned and will

not allow the club to spend beyond its means; fans have ownership of the club. We have to

build our own revenue streams and this in turn compels the club to grow at a sustainable rate.

We are a small club in the wider picture but the lessons we have learnt must apply across the

football community. We are not unique in seeing our club fold and neither are we unique in reforming

our club but football cannot live with ever increasing debt. Clubs who spend beyond

their means are cheating the fans and other clubs who live within their means. We need to

create a fair playing field. Aspiration needs to be kept alive at all levels of the game. There is a

case for treating community clubs differently. As an IPS we have no tax concessions, even

though we are a non-profit distributing organisation. We are not treated as a charitable

organisation. Changes here could help clubs to ensure financial stability which is a must for the

future of our game.

36 Football Governance: Written evidence

This is an opportunity to change the game for the better. The surge in Football Trusts and fan

involvement must not be lost. Football needs to return to its roots and needs to be returned to

its fans.

January 2011

I admire and respect the supporters' of  Runcorn Linnets Football Club...and all the very best to them.

Cheers.