R2R Ground Project Update

As planned, representatives of the club met with Simon Gerrard, the Cheshire County FA Community Development Manager, on Friday 9th January, together with representatives from Halton Borough Council. The meeting had been planned as one in a series of meetings held over recent months to identify potential partners for our Return to Runcorn project and for us to update the FA about the progress of our plans. We have kept them fully informed at every stage of the project, but this meeting was an opportunity for a more in depth consideration of the whole project.

Simon was most complimentary about what had been achieved at Runcorn Linnets FC in a very short space of time. The establishment of the club and its organisation at this level of football were, he said, a great credit to all concerned and he expressed great admiration for what had already been achieved and the work that had gone on behind the scenes. The club Chairman, Derek Greenwood, took Simon through the project and explained the desire to return the club to the town at the centre of the sporting community. Vice President, Stuart White and press Officer, Steve Pritchard talked about the plans which had now been drawn up by our architects, Ellis Williams, and the costings we had obtained from various quarters. Kel Hoose was also in attendance to contribute about financial aspects of the project.

The meeting explored in some detail the funding opportunities open to the club at this present time and all agreed that the prime consideration was to return the club to the town at the earliest opportunity. This was in line with the phased approach we had discussed at our recent AGM. It was felt that once this step had been achieved, the club could more easily pursue its longer term goals within the community. In any case, the county projects for the next 18 months were already clearly outlined and would only cause unnecessary delay to our project if we were to try to implement too much in our first phase.

In due course, Simon would envisage the club having the potential to be a “Hub Club” for local football in our community, as we have already established links both with Junior and ladies football teams. The site would also enable further links to be established with Riverside College in its development of courses.

We now know the bottom line of our phase one costs. Because we now know the full extent of FA backing and other sources have been exhausted, we need to discuss the gap with our other partners including Halton Borough Council. In the coming weeks meetings will be scheduled with our partners in order to confirm whether we have access to sufficient funds for the project to take place and give some idea on the timeline for completion.

The club would like to express its gratitude to all those fans and friends of the club who have already contributed towards the ground fund. We continue to move forward and continue to seek partners who would like to become a part of our community project.