BORO TO BEGIN AT BEDWORTH
FANS behind the rebirth of Nuneaton Borough hope a prudent approach while groundsharing might reopen the path to Liberty Way.
The Nuneaton Borough Supporters’ Co-Operative this week announced that Nuneaton FC, the relaunch after Boro dropped out of the Southern League in January, had signed a two-year deal to play four miles down the road at Bedworth United.
The old club’s collapse came after it was locked out of its home by landlords Mark Lowther and Neil Robinson in October. Then-owner and manager Jimmy Ginnelly claimed they would not budge despite an offer to clear rent arrears and pay up front for future use.
Boro’s stand-in chair Ian Cook and Gary Holliday, the leader of a consortium that tried to buy the ground as part of a rescue package, each said they had been told Lowther and Robinson had no interest in allowing football to return to the site.
Mark Axon, spokesperson for the co-op, told The NLP that the new outfit is “actively exploring options to get back to Nuneaton as soon as we practically can”.
On the prospect of that being at
Liberty Way, he added: “Hopefully we can build confidence in how we are run and structured to give them confidence in us as tenants.
“At the same time we can’t put all our eggs in one basket, we have to be open to other opportunities and we are actively exploring those as well.”
Reaction to the Bedworth move has been largely positive but some are concerned at the prospect of sharing with a traditional rival.
“There is a lot of movement between the towns now but there is that historic rivalry, something that will always be there,” added Axon.
“We are incredibly grateful to Bedworth but we also know that for some supporters, it will take a bit of an adjustment, particularly with Bedworth being in a higher league than us and the level Boro will be playing at (Step 5 or below).
“We need to be humble, understand why we are in this position and try to do things properly while being ambitious, trying to achieve the best level of football we can while not putting the long-term future of the club in jeopardy.”