Home work is slow but steady

Sep 25 2008 by Dave Bettley, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

LINNETS chairman Derek Greenwood says fellow supporters of the fans-run club need to be patient as it tries to plug a gap in the town’s sporting facilities.

Plans have been drawn up for a new stadium at Riverside College Halton’s Runcorn campus and the ground fund has reached £60,000 in little more than six months.

While Linnets are still some way from raising the £250,000 they will need to obtain match funding through the FA for the project, Greenwood reports behind-the- scenes negotiations are progressing positively if slowly.

The chairman told a special meeting of the club that other supporters’ frustrations at the rate of progress were shared by Linnets officials.

But he stressed this pace is par for the course when it comes to clubs building a new home.

He added: “Runcorn is the largest conurbation in North West England without facilities to play football at the level we are now.

“We want to bring our whole operation to Runcorn, but Nantwich’s stadium took four-and-a-half years to come to fruition and they had something to sell.

“Leek CSOB have been working for five years on their project and are still a year away from completing it.

“We want to make sure we put together a proper community bid which doesn’t just benefit us as a club but the community as a whole.

“We have to tie in with the council’s plans and we are looking for support in all kinds of places.

“The next stage is planning permission and we are on with that and have already had preliminary meetings.

“We’ve got to take it step by step and I’d be very surprised if we are not there (at Witton Albion FC) for the next two seasons.”

Club vice-president Stuart White told the SGM at the Canal Walk club that £½m remained a critical target for the club to generate although the total project, including the clubhouse, is presently costed at £770,000.

Chairman Greenwood added: “There have been times when the club pulls in opposite directions. That can’t happen.

“We are playing at step five. Our ambition is to go higher but at a pace we can sustain.

“We got a second chance when the old club went and this club has to be sustainable.”

Greenwood stressed the credit crunch wouldn’t help the club’s efforts to relocate as belts are being tightened financially.

He said the novelty of the new club – now in its third season – has started to wear off and, because of the economic climate, fans were now picking their home matches.

A number of supporters are even boycotting games at Witton Albion, believing a switch to Warrington Town would offer a better option.

Greenwood said Witton’s ‘fantastic offer’ had been the only one the club had received when it rose from the ashes of Runcorn FC Halton.

“Without that deal there wouldn’t be a Runcorn Linnets Football Club – we wouldn’t have had anywhere else to play,” he said.

“I see no reason to move from where we are but we are quite happy to explore other possibilities.

“People at Witton have been absolutely tremendous. They are unbelievably welcoming and go out of their way to make Wincham Park as near as it can be to our own home.

“The facilities are absolutely superb in every sense. I personally would take a lot of convincing to move away but I don’t want to make that by default.”

Manager Steve Wilkes said Wincham Park was a big draw when it comes to attracting players.

Meanwhile, fans were told the popular team boss has now joined the Linnets Independent Supporters’ Trust, which runs the fledgling club.

“I know he believes in the club just as much as we do,” said Greenwood.