FANS TO FRONT BORO REBIRTH

Phoenix club rescue package launched

A FAN-led group is to lead the rebirth of Nuneaton Borough – but they do not plan to go it alone.

Boro pulled out of the Southern League in January having been kicked out of its Liberty Way headquarters by landlords Arden Tigress Limited.

Boro Leisure Limited, the company behind the old club, has no directors and has yet to be dissolved but looks likely to be liquidated.

Birmingham-based businessmen Gary Holliday and Steve Harris, who had enquired about buying Liberty Way as part of a rescue package for Boro, proposed to lead a new venture but withdrew from the race this week.

Having promised not to be somewhere that they were not wanted, a statement from Holliday this week said that “the town deserves a lot more” than a battle between potential phoenix clubs.

Tokenistic

One of the sticking points was Holliday’s admission that potential investors in his consortium would likely expect a financial return in the future and Nuneaton Borough Supporters’ Co-Operative has proposed the formation of a community interest company (CIC), a model that exists to benefit the community it serves rather than shareholders.

The idea is for fans, sponsors and other stakeholders to form the board.

The co-op’s Mark Axon told The NLP: “This is not about us being a fan-owned or fan-run club, we want to be a part of the process without running it outright. There are people who can offer skills and their time and that will be key.

“There is a lot flying around at the moment but our aim is simply to be a part of this, supporters have to be a real part of it rather than a tokenistic thing where the views and input from the fans can be more easily dismissed.

Opportunities

“People have been in fan representative roles in previous versions of the Boro over the past 20 years, there has never been that formal role or process. We need to get to the point where we have a proper seat at the table.”

The co-op’s statement said it was aiming to return at Step 5 – two levels below the one Boro left and the highest permitted by FA regulations – and that “short-term groundshare opportunities” had been identified, adding that talks had started “to bring the club back to its own ground in Nuneaton as soon as possible”.

Axon was unable to elaborate further on the where the new club may start life ahead of the next steering group meeting on Monday but he did confirm that “Liberty Way is not on the table at all”.

He also said he “wouldn’t envisage another party entering the race” to start a new club.