Documentary focuses on ‘phoenix’ clubs
MURDER TRIAL TOLD HUSBAND DROWNED WIFE FOR £3M PAYOUT
BURY’S ‘phoenix’ football club is the subject of a new documentary,
Ours, from the award-winning BT Sports Films series, looks at the role of fans in the game as clubs move further away from their roots.
Part of the film examines Bury AFC, the supporter-run club set up in the wake of Bury FC’s ejection from the Football League.
The documentary is written and narrated by journalist Michael Calvin and aims to offer an insight into modern football away from the glitz, glamour and financial strength of the Premier League.
It asks questions about identity and belonging, and searches for hope in clubs that are run by, or heavily influenced by, their fans.
Sally Brown, Executive Producer of BT Sport Films, said: “The last 12 months have brought the importance of fans to the fore, the pandemic re-emphasising the role that their passion plays both in and away from the stadium.
“A strikingly relevant piece of work, Ours confronts the flaws of the modern game and celebrates those that help make it a reality.”
Other clubs which are analysed in the documentary include Portsmouth, AFC Wimbledon, AFC Rushden and Diamonds and Hashtag United - a semi-professional team set up by YouTube star Spencer Owen.
Ours is available now via the BT Sport App.
A PROPERTY developer who allegedly murdered his wife on holiday ‘stood to gain a vast fortune’ from her death, jurors were told.
Donald McPherson, 47, denies murdering Paula Leeson on a break to a ‘remote’ part of Denmark. She died after drowning in a swimming pool in a rented cottage, jurors have heard.
Prosecutors say that it initially appeared the death of Ms Leeson, from Sale, had been an ‘accident’ but they allege it was a ‘sinister, pre-planned killing.’ They claim Mr McPherson forged Ms Leeson’s will and took out insurance policies, from which he stood to benefit if she died. Prosecutors allege Mr McPherson took out joint life insurance policies worth around £3m, which she was not aware of.
Manchester Crown Court heard Ms Leeson, 47, died on June 6, 2017, while on holiday with Mr McPherson in Norre Nebel in the west of Denmark.
Prosecutor David McLachlan QC said: “The motive for the drowning is the oldest and simplest one in the book – it was financial, because by her death he stood to gain a vast fortune from it.
“And that was something which was not known to the Danish authorities in the immediate aftermath of her death.”
Prosecutors said Ms Leeson ‘hated the pool,’ preferring city breaks. Jurors heard Ms Leeson told her mother she was going to ‘please’ Mr McPherson, and said she ‘wasn’t looking forward to it’ as it was ‘in the middle of nowhere.’
Mr McPherson, born in Auckland, New Zealand, married Ms Leeson in a ‘grand affair’ at Peckforton Castle, Cheshire, in June 2014.
Ms Leeson, who had a son from a previous relationship, met Mr McPherson through her family’s groundwork and skip-hire company, W. Leeson and son. They lived on Whitefield Road, Sale.
Her father, William Leeson, said Mr McPherson ‘appeared from nowhere,’ and her brother, Neville, said ‘it was though this man landed from space.’
Mr McLachlan said that Mr McPherson, who was born as Alexander James Lang but later changed his name, would ‘repeatedly trot out the lie that he had been fostered.’ Jurors heard Mr McPherson told Ms Leeson’s mother that his original best man was unable to attend their wedding because his partner had ‘died in childbirth,’ which prosecutors said was ‘another one of Donald McPherson’s lies.’
Ms Leeson, described as being a ‘very organised,’ made a will at 19, ‘in essence’ leaving everything to her son.
A second will was drawn up a week before their wedding. Prosecutors allege Mr McPherson was responsible for forging a signature, with the will being said to have ‘benefited him to a certain extent.’
They also allege he ‘manipulated’ the situation so two £400,000 policies belonging to Ms Leeson would pay out to him first in the event of her death.
Jurors were told Mr McPherson ‘never missed’ payments on the joint life insurance policies despite being ‘significantly in debt.’ Mr McPherson took out three travel insurance policies prior to the holiday, jurors were told.
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