How many more before we change?

MACCLESFIELD TOWN being wound-up in court this week is a sorry day not only for their supporteers but also the wider football communuity. Sadly it is also a day that many people saw coming. As many have said, the blame lies at the door of owner Amar Alkadhi. This is a saga that has run on and on, lurched from crisis to crisis. Even when the Silkmen won the National League title under John Askey in 2018 there were problems behind the scenes. Players were paid late but they still completed their side of the bargain on the pitch with a memorable championship against all the odds.

It was hoped that promotion to the Football League would at least alleviate some of those issues with the increase in payments that comes with being at that level of the game.

But last season was a nightmare for the supporters as they saw their club dragged through the mud time and again. Wages were late, games were unfulfilled, points were deducted.

In the end the EFL got their way and enough were taken off to relegate Macc back to Non-League football only last month. The National League now have to solve a problem they had little to do with and questions are, rightly, asked if more could have been done by the authorities.

So often we’ve seen rank mismanagement lead to clubs falling off the footballing map. So often we say something must be done. But it happens time and time again.

And it’s the fans who are left to suffer. There are reports of potential interest in taking on the club. Whether there is a chance of rescinding the winding-up order remains to be seen but it seems unlikely.

The Silkmen Supporters’ Trust feel a phoneix club may be the way forward. They just want people in charge who have their club’s interests at heart.

It doesn’t seem too much to ask does it? In football it feels like it is.

The game has to look at these issues. It can’t keep happening that clubs are run into the ground and supporters have to stand by and watch it happen.

Owner tests need to be stricter. It should be a chore to become an owner of a football club, questions should be hard to answer. Because if we keep going on like this, you can be sure there will be more like Macc.