Floodlights

Let there be light! After three and a half months, the floodlights have finally been fixed. Obviously, we can't use them at the moment but at least we know we will be ready to go once things start getting back to normal.

League Update

We have received an update from the league regarding the potential continuation or curtailment of the 2020/21 season.

The Alliance Committee met on the 8th February to discuss the data that had been collated from the recent surveys completed by the clubs and it was acknowledged that the Prime Minister will likely set out a 'roadmap' to the nation on 22nd February as to how current COVID-19 restrictions will be reduced.

As this update from the government on 22nd February may provide the committee with additional, relevant information to help determine the route forward, they have decided to meet again after the date. The committee are also conscious of the potential impact of any actions taken by the National League.

I understand that this must be a very frustrating time for fans, as it is for us but this is obviously a big decision for the league that cannot be rushed. We will update you when we have more information.

Manager and Board Q&A

We have finalised the details for the manager and board Q&A. It will take place on Friday 26th February at 7pm on Microsoft Teams.

If you wish to attend then please request an invite using the link below.

Attend the Q&A

Trust AGM

The Trust AGM will take place over Microsoft Teams on Thursday 11th March at 7.30pm. The agenda will be sent out on Thursday 25th February.

The AGM is an important part of our governance process and I encourage as many Trust members as possible to attend.

If you are not a Trust member and would like to join, please use the link below.

Become a Trust Member

FA Club Consultation Event

Pete Cartledge and I attended an online event organised by the FA to discuss the needs of the club and the type of support we would appreciate in the future. It was a very useful event and we were given the opportunity to put all our opinions across.

The club consultants will now take the club contributions to outline a programme of support along with a questionnaire that will be issued to all member clubs.

This is a very exciting opportunity and it was good to be involved from the start, we are looking forward to the programme starting.

Linnets In the Community

We are all missing the football and spending time with our friends at the game and we know that there must be many challenges facing you all at this difficult time. We are here for you and if you need anything please use the link below to contact Linnets in the Community:

Linnets in the Community

Thank you for taking the time to read this update and as always, stay safe and I hope to see you all soon.

Dave Jones

Chairman - Runcorn Linnets FC

Winter Survival Fund

We have submitted an application to the Football Foundation for a Winter Survival Fund grant. We have applied for the full £15,000 available to clubs at our level in order to protect our reserves, which are earmarked for ground improvements and the Hybrid Pitch project which is not yet finalised. We hope to hear within the next few weeks if we have been successful. We have a contingency plan for if we are unsuccessful, but we are hopeful of receiving the full grant.

Essential Grounds Maintenance

One item we included in the grant application was essential grounds maintenance to make the compound behind the Soccer Millions Stand safe and secure. Currently it is not secure, and anyone can enter during a game or when the pitch is being hired out and there are too many things lying around which could cause serious injury.

Paul Tandy (I'll return to Paul later), with the help of Alan Jones and Spenny has drawn up plans to finally secure the entire compound and make it safe. These works will be completed before the end of March.

Roles and Responsibilities

At the last board meeting on Monday 8th February the roles and responsibilities were finalised and approved. A full list of these will be issued separately but I wanted to highlight a few roles.

Paul Tandy has been appointed as Head of Major Projects and will manage a team including Alan Jones and Spenny to deliver improvements to the Millbank Linnets Stadium.

Grace Mantova has been appointed as Welfare Officer. I felt this was an important role that we needed to cover, and Grace has all the skills required.

Alan Jones will be Retail Manager and will manage the new club shop. This is an area we have been badly lacking in in recent years and is something we must improve.

Jack Walsh will be taking on the role of Programme Editor as Ellis Clarke is stepping down due to work commitments and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ellis for all his hard work over the years.

Volunteers

An extensive list of roles and responsibilities will be published on the club website and you will see from that list just how many people give up their time for free to help us run your football club. I wanted to take this opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to each of them. The success of the club is as much down to you as it is to the players and management team.

We are always looking for more volunteers and there will always be jobs that need doing. If you are interested in volunteering, then please click on the link below. Any help is always greatly appreciated.

Volunteer for the club

Questions and Answers Session

At the end of the AGM we usually have an open Q and A session with the manager and the board. Unfortunately, due to this season's AGM being conducted online we will be unable to do this.

However, we feel that having an open Q and A session with the manager and the board is important, so we will be hosting a session on Friday 26th February at 7pm. Further details will be published in due course and all fans will be welcome to attend.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update and as always, stay safe and I hope to see you all soon.

Dave Jones

Chairman - Runcorn Linnets FC

This Season

As mentioned in last week's update, we were asked to complete a survey on the continuation of the season by the FA. They have since provided us with an update to tell us that 99.1% of clubs at Steps 3 and 4 (we are Step 4) returned the survey. The results are with the FA's Alliance and Leagues Committees who will propose a way forward. Any proposal will have to be approved by the FA Council. Once we know their decision, we will let fans know.

Obviously, there isn't much we can do right now with the country still being in lockdown but the sooner we know what the future holds, the sooner we can start planning.

On the subject of planning, I have discussed this with Calum and rest assured that he has lots of plans for when we are allowed to play football again. Once we know what will happen with the season, I will meet with Calum again to finalise his plans and we will then share them with you all.

The 200 Club

The January 200 Club draw was done on the 31st January and I wanted to take the opportunity to apologise again for the delays with the previous months draws. I take full responsibility and I will ensure all future draws are done on time. The 200 Club is an important fundraiser for the club, and we do not take that support for granted. You can join the 200 Club via the link below:

Join the 200 Club

Floodlights

As everyone who went to our festive home fixtures is aware, we had a floodlight issue which meant we had some temporary floodlights in place. The floodlight has not been fixed yet, but we have been assured that it will be fixed in the next few weeks. By the time we are out of lockdown and can start using the pitch again, all floodlights should be fully functional.

Hybrid Pitch

Peter Cartledge and I, along with Grounds Manager Jeff Jago took part in an online meeting with the various partners involved in the Hybrid Pitch Project and Bootle FC (who also got a hybrid pitch). It was a very useful meeting, and we were able to provide some feedback on the pitch. Overall, the pitch is amazing and there have been a few games that would have been postponed if it wasn't for the hybrid pitch, as anyone who got soaked at the Marine (how apt!) game can attest to. There is still time to become one of our Pitch Heroes via the link below:

Become a Pitch Hero!

FA Club Programme

The club will be taking part in the FA Club Programme which is a scheme run by the FA to give clubs free access to professional support with the aim to develop healthy, sustainable community focused clubs for the future. The areas of expertise available includes Accounting, Facility Development, Marketing and Promotion and Funding Applications. We have volunteered to take a part in a consultation event and Peter Cartledge and I, hope to attend this seminar on the 12th February. This is an exciting opportunity for us to tap into some real expertise to help us move this club forward.

COVID-19 Grant Funding

Several grants have been made available for businesses affected by lockdown. We have applied to Halton Borough Council for grants for businesses in relation to the local and national restrictions and we will be receiving just over £7000.

A Football Winter Survival Package has been made available and will be administered by the Football Foundation. Clubs at our level can apply for up to £15,000 but this grant application is much more specific than the Halton Borough Council application. We can apply for specific funding for things like lease payments, utility costs, essential pitch and stadium maintenance and other financial costs. We will be working on our application and will submit it before the 14th February deadline.

I wanted to reassure everyone that your club is in good hands and we will survive this national crisis and come out of it stronger than ever.

Dave Jones

Chairman - Runcorn Linnets FC

It's been a hectic time for myself and the club since I was appointed as Chairman. There is lots going on at the club even though we aren't actually playing football.

Myself and my Vice Chairman, Peter Cartledge, met with our manager Calum McIntyre. Although he is disappointed that the season has been suspended and is likely to be ended, he is optimistic for the future and already planning for the resumption of football, whenever that may be.

We received the FA survey on the continuation or curtailment of the 2020/21 season. We at Runcorn Linnets are desperate to be playing football again as soon as possible. If we could see a way of finishing this season before May then that is how we would have voted. However, we must put the wellbeing of our players, staff, volunteers and fans first. At the moment it is simply not safe to host football matches and we have a duty of care to everyone involved at Runcorn Linnets.

If football can resume once lockdown ends, we then have to consider player welfare and playing the remaining fixtures before the end of May or beyond didn't seem feasible without putting unacceptable strain on our players.

With that in mind and after consulting with the manager we voted to end the 2020/21 season immediately and restart in August to complete the 2020/21 fixtures.

We now have to wait for the league to make a decision, but I can't see anything other than the season ending immediately.

We have appointed Rob Findlay as Commercial Manager. Rob was previously on the board as Commercial Manager and Vice Chairman and his expertise will be essential in us achieving our goals.

Peter Cartledge has agreed to take on the role of Club Secretary and I am very grateful to him for taking on such a challenging role as well as his other responsibilities. We will be announcing further roles and responsibilities in the coming weeks.

The Trust AGM will be held online on 11th March at 7pm and more information will be sent on this separately. Although the Trust members voted to delay the AGM until it could be held in person, our statutory obligations mean that we need to hold the AGM before the end of March and it is unlikely the COVID19 restrictions will be eased enough to allow this.

I just wanted to reiterate that Runcorn Linnets is a community club and we are here for you. If you need anything then please contact us. Stay home, stay safe and we'll see you all soon.

Dave Jones

Chairman - Runcorn Linnets FC

Runcorn Linnets are celebrating the start of 2021 by striking a new sponsorship deal with toll bridge operator merseyflow to extend its sponsorship of the club for an extra two seasons.

It is part of merseyflow's wider community support programme which has also seen it work with Halton Haven, local cricket clubs in Runcorn and Widnes, and Widnes Rugby Union club.

The sponsorship income will be vital for Runcorn Linnets, which has more than 40 different teams, and we are extremely grateful for merseyflow's continued backing.

The Millbank Linnets Stadium and surrounding pitches are home to around 500 girls, boys and adults playing at just about every age group and standard – from the 3-5yr old boys and girls playing for its 'Akidamy' – right up to its men's first team, which plays at a semi-professional level in the Northern Premier League.

The Ladies team recently won promotion to the North West Regional League on account of success at Cheshire League level.

Runcorn Linnets was one of the first 'supporter-owned' football clubs to be set up anywhere in England. Created 15 years ago, it is 100% owned and run by fans and volunteers, and is one of Runcorn's most active community sports clubs.

All the teams, along with its educational academy, are based at Millbank Stadium in Runcorn. 2020 has been a hugely challenging year for the club, with different teams across different age groups subject to different levels of Covid-19 rules and restrictions at different times, with very few spectators allowed and income streams severely affected.

At present, all playing activities throughout the club are suspended due to lockdown.

Neil Conway, Chief Executive of merseyflow, said: "This is about supporting our local community. The Linnets play an important role in Halton – they have over 500 people using the facilities every week and this year most of their income has just disappeared. We wanted to show our ongoing support to the club, so we're delighted to be signing up for an extra two seasons of sponsorship and support."

Mike Bignall, who was Chairman of Runcorn Linnets when the deal was negotiated and agreed and is now a club vice-president, said: "We'd like to say a huge thanks to merseyflow for extending its sponsorship deal. Every penny that they donate, along with the income from our other sponsors, is being used to keep the club running because we've lost nearly all of our usual sources of income this year."

He added: "2020 has obviously been challenging for everyone. For us, it has been chaotic because we've had different rules for all sorts of different teams to try and follow at the same time and it's been a real challenge for all of our players, their families and supporters to keep up."