We’ve seen Deadpool ...now meet Livewire!
HOLLYWOOD STAR RYAN TO BALE OUT WREXHAM.. AND I CAN’T WAIT TO GET STUCK INTO JOB AT MACCLESFIELD
THE call came out of the blue and – for a fortnight – it was a whirlwind, but it might be the perfect storm.
My hometown club, Wrexham, is in takeover talks with Hol lywood A- lister Ryan R e y n o l ds... and now Macclesfield, five minutes up the road from where I live, has got a bloke who came 10th in Strictly Come Dancing on the board.
A couple of weeks ago, my pal Rob Smethurst, whose Pro Football Academy organisation is the parent company behind my Sunday morning Under-15 All Stars team, rang me and said: “Can you keep a secret? I’m buying Macclesfield – and I want you to be the head of football operations.”
I thought he was mad and replied, “What are you doing?”
But when Rob showed me his business plan – installing a 4G pitch, a gym, a coffee shop and bar, all for community use, all generating income – with the emphasis on self-sufficiency and the first team – I saw he was for real. And that his plan really could work.
Only six weeks ago, Macclesfield Town were wound up in the High Court after being relegated out of the Football League following a points deduction.
After 146 years, a town had lost its football club. Here was a chance to give something back to the game which has been my life – and I couldn’t resist it.
One of my sons was born in Macclesfield, I’ve taken both of my boys to watch games at Moss Rose, I live nearby and have an affinity with the town.
Rob’s plan is based on sound business, not propping up the club through mi l l ionai re benefactors, and my role as head of football – from first team down to Under-16 – will be to give manager Danny Whitaker all the practical support I can generate.
The reborn club will be known as Macclesfield FC, we have applied to kick off next season in North West Counties League Division One (South), in the 10th tier of English football... and I am absolutely buzzing. I cannot begin to tel l you how heartwarming the response has been and I’ve had messages of support from Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch, Chris Wilder and Simon Jordan, among others. There is a sense that neutrals want us to succeed.
My Under-15s have already played a game under the lights at
Moss Rose and got the taste for it. Hopefully, some of those lads will be Macclesfield FC’s stars of the future, and the plan is to establish a pathway from youth team to first-team level.
I will be watching games, helping to identify talent, and trying to give Danny a platform for success on the pitch.
We want the fans to be involved as much as possible and, in troubled times, it’s a real thrill to be involved in something that bucks the trend.
I ’m sure there wi l l be arguments, tears and bumps in the road along the way but, if we stick together, it could be the adventure of a lifetime.
Thanks to the local council, our local MP, and the people of
Macclesfield, who have been so supportive.
And, of course, I take my hat off to Rob, who went under the radar and completed the deal in barely a fortnight. You might just be a genius!
Best foot forward, here we go. After the perfect storm, Macclesfield FC is up and running.