Couple charged with club theft
A HUSBAND and wife have been charged with theft after tens of thousands of pounds was stolen from a junior football team.
Simon and Michelle Marshall are accused of taking money which was intended to be used to build a clubhouse for the Southport Phoenix club they formed in 2012.
The club only had a steel container to use as changing facilities and created plans to build the community facility on its then home at Russell Road playing fields.
It was awarded a grant of £75,000 from Merseyside Police towards the plans, along with additional money from the FA and held fundraising events including a race night attended by former Liverpool FC player Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock.
However, three years on from that funding being awarded, no more than a fence has been constructed at the field and the football club has since been renamed, relocated and taken over by entirely new people.
As first reported by the Vister, police arrested a man and woman in November 2019 and released the pair under investigation.
More than a year later, the pair have now been charged and named as the married couple, both of Shaws Road.
A spokesman for Merseyside Police confirmed: “We have charged a man and woman with theft following an investigation in Southport.
“Michelle Marshall, 41, and Simon Marshall, 46, both of Shaws Road, Birkdale were arrested on suspicion of theft in November in relation to money intended for use on a community centre in Southport.”
The pair are due to go before South Sefton Magistrates Court next month.