Leigh Genisis

[warrington15]

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CHAIRMAN DOMINIC SPEAKMAN

 

There you go

 

It is with deep regret that I am announcing that as of today I will be stepping down as chairman and will no longer fund the club going forward.

 

 

Over the last 9 months we have made huge changes to the club, in raising its profile and raising the standards, but unfortunately that investment was made on the assumption that we would be moving into the new stadium in time for pre season.

 

 

Since the end of last season we have been left with no ground to play at, meaning that we have had to play all our home matches outside the town, resulting in significantly reduced income, to the point that staging a match just about breaks even. Match income doesn?t even start to eat into the player costs and administrative costs of the club.

 

 

We set the cost base of the club at the end of last season, at a point when we were still being told that we could be in the stadium for pre season. Had we moved in then the club would have been fine and would have continued to make huge strides forward.

 

 

At the start of the season we were left without a ground as Hilton Park deteriorated and was ultimately condemned the day after Centurions played their last match.

 

 

The council and LSV have periodically informed us of delays in the opening date of the stadium, but over the last six weeks there has been hardly any progress on the site due to a standoff between the builders, developers and the council with regards to some finishing issues.

 

 

Last week we were told that the earliest chance for our first game would be the 13th December, but there was even some doubt over that.

 

 

The final straw came last week when the council and the health and safety advisory committee gave its verdict on stewarding requirements for the ground. We were presented with their proposal to open a quarter of the stadium, which they judged to need 45 stewards of varying degrees of seniority, costing ?3,000 per match, including 5 people to run the control room!!!

 

 

All this for a match where there may only be 250 spectators!! Bearing in mind the stewarding costs at Hilton park were under ?200 per match. Similarly the cost of meals for players, of which we are bound by the league to provide 40 per match, will rise in cost from ?2per player to ?7.50per player at LSV.

 

 

Unfortunately the people involved in running the stadium appear to have no appreciation of the running costs of a club of this type and are gearing the stadium up with a cost base similar to a Premier League club, then trying to pass the costs onto the clubs.

 

 

By resigning as chairman and ceasing with funding the club, it doesn?t necessarily fold, although when I joined the club it was days away from running out of cash and there was nobody else to keep the club going. We are trying to restructure the club to fulfil the remaining fixtures, effectively on a zero cost base, but that would require several key issues with the league and council to fall into line.

 

 

It is shame that this was a real opportunity for the town to have a good quality football club, but over the last nine months we have had the door slammed in our faces so many times that it really has made the club unviable.

 

 

I went into this with an amount to which I was prepared to fund the club, but with virtually zero income, the losses have effectively trebled.

 

 

I do hope that the club can continue, although it is looking difficult and I hope that the council review how they are viewing the clubs so that Centurions aren?t faced with such ridiculous costs and a similar fate. What looked like a bright future for the club six month ago has turned into a nightmare because of poor management of the stadium build and health and safety people that just don?t live in the real world.

 

 

I?d like to thank Mary, Donna, James and Steve who have put their heart and soul into taking the club forward. I?d like to thank the supporters and LGSA and in particular Matt Lawton and Tony Marshall who have really helped build the support against the odds. We should also spare a thought for the players who are now left without pay and who have taken the news very well, many of whom have volunteered to play in the short term.

[Gary]

Blimey Barry - you kept that quiet - I didn't realise you were Chairman of Leigh

May have been useful if you had left the creators name on the statement!

Having jumped through a few health and safey hoops e.t.c I know exactly where this Chairman is coming from though.

[Eagle]

Warrinton15, I didn't realise that you were the chairman of Leigh Genesis.

 

I can see Leigh Centurions having second thought about their involvement if the costs are as you say.