SAD DEMISE OF PROUD VILLAGERS
Legend Hare in race to rebuild wound-up Ferriby
FRI 15
FOUR years ago this month North Ferriby United won the FA Trophy at Wembley – this week they have been wound-up over an unpaid debt of £7,645.25.
The Northern Premier League Premier Division club were in Hull County Court on Friday morning having been issued a winding-up order in February.
The debt concerned a sum due for pitch maintenance owed to Chappelow Sports Turf Limited which had been incurred since February 2017 when payments stopped. The Villagers admitted only some of the outstanding amount could be paid.
District Judge Robert Thomson told the courtroom: “This is a debt that has been hanging for quite some time.
“If the debts cannot be made then I have no option to liquidise the company North Ferriby United Limited as of 11.10am.
“I appreciate the club’s honesty in saying it cannot pay this debt.It is terribly shattering for a local football club to end like this.”
Controversial chairman Carl Chadwick and unpopular former owner Jamie Waltham, who had been assisting his successor, saw their plans to re-locate to Dunswell Park – 11 miles away – and re-name the club to East Hull FC rejected by the Northern Premier League and then upheld by The FA. A campaign against the changes organised by supporters received over 10,000 signatures.
The club was understood to be up for sale last week with the duo wanting out after not getting their way, confirming they wouldn’t be putting any money in.
Hopes were high among fans that a takeover could be completed, but Friday’s hearing came as a gutting end to the club’s proud 85year history.
Downhill
It has been downhill for North Ferriby since Eman and Steve Forster relinquished their ownership of the club in 2016, a year after leading the Villagers to the National League and a dramatic FA Trophy victory over Wrexham. The club were forced to slash their playing budget and tumbled down the divisions into Step 3. Indeed, had they failed to beat Bamber Bridge yesterday, it would compounded a third consecutive relegation.
Their record this season will be expunged from the Northern Premier League.
Former chairman Les Hare, who oversaw the Trophy success, has since revealed he is launching a rescue package to resurrect the club at Step 5 next season
FORMER North Ferriby United chairman Les Hare is putting together a rescue package to resurrect the defunct club in Step 5 next season.
Hare oversaw a golden era in his 22 years at the club, leading the Villagers to FA Trophy success at Wembley in 2015 before leaving a year later.
But, on Friday, the club were wound up in court over an unpaid debt of £7,645.25.
Feeling “empty” by the club’s demise, Hare revealed to Hull Live that he is leading a consortium of local businessmen and a core group of supporters to launch a phoenix club.
An application has already been lodged with the FA for the new club to enter at Step 5 in the Northern Counties East Premier Division – a one-tier relegation further to the one the Villagers were heading for in Evo-Stik Northern Premier – a drop that would have been confirmed had they played and lost against Bamber Bridge in their scheduled fixture yesterday.
“I can confirm I have agreed to lend my experience to a phoenix football club at North Ferriby,” Hare said.
“Subsequently, I have held conversations with like-minded individuals who are prepared to help me mount a rescue package.
“Like me, those individuals wish to return Ferriby to a community-based football club, and I can confirm I have put wheels in motion to do that.”