BLYTH DAYS LOOK OVER

Step 5 club on the brink

NORTHERN League club Blyth AFC are potentially just days away from going out of existence.

Owner Barry Elliott says that difficulty in returning to their hometown and a lack of support has made the club unsustainable and their future is now under serious threat.

The Braves have been playing ‘home’ games at Ashington’s Woodhorn Lane since February after leaving their South Newsham ground due to concerns over the quality of their pitch.

Moves to head back to Blyth have been blocked by the local council, while Elliott claims that a request to groundshare with Blyth Spartans was made recently, although the National League North club deny any such approach.

The Braves are currently in the top four of the Division One table after an impressive summer of recruitment including the signings of former FA Vase winners Curtis Coppen and Adam Forster.

Yesterday’s FA Cup Preliminary Round tie against Knaresborough Town did go ahead as planned although there are concerns over Wednesday night’s home game against Whitley Bay.

Capacity

Elliott says the club will only become sustainable if it can return to Blyth but went on to reveal that he believes they have not been supported by the town council or the FA.

“We didn’t really realise how little support we had until the first few games of this season,” he said.

“There were 80 supporters at our first home game and just over that at the second one and I put on a free bus to the FA Cup game (at Glasshoughton Welfare) but nobody took me up on the offer.

“The local council in Blyth aren’t giving us any support in trying to move back to the town and the Football Association haven’t offered us anything either.

“We approached Blyth Spartans to see if they could host us but understandably they don’t have the capacity as they have two teams playing on their pitch.

“We need to get back to Blyth, it could reinvigorate us as a club and we need people to support us because the club is in the middle of nowhere right now.

Unsustainable

“We can’t get promoted into the Evo-Stik League because we don’t have security of tender and we can’t get back to the town. We can’t go anywhere, we are lost as a club.”

The club has made rapid progress since promotion from the Northern Alliance in 2016. After two Alliance title wins they finished just above mid-table in their first season in the Ebac Northern League’s second-tier.

Promotion into Division One was secured last season and they have made an impressive start to this campaign, winning their first five league games.

Elliott is surprised by the lack of support given the “incredible journey” they have been on over the past three years.

“We have been successful but we don’t have the support, a home or security of tenure and no income. We are a business and any business, football club or not, can’t function if it’s not sustainable.

“We don’t want to let the club go but it could be Monday, it could be next week, it could never happen but we can’t carry on being unsustainable as we are right now.

“I am absolutely surprised by the lack of support. Maybe I was wrong that there was room for two major clubs in Blyth.”