Coalville Town quit league as chairman steps away
Coalville Town has resigned from the Southern League Central Premier Division
- Published
Coalville Town have withdrawn their men's senior team from competitive football after their chairman confirmed he is stepping away from the club.
In a statement, Glyn Rennocks, 69, said he can no longer subsidise the club after running costs "spiralled" over the past three years.
As a consequence, the men's team has resigned from the Southern League Central Premier Division.
He said the women's and all youth teams will continue to run as normal.
In the statement, released on Friday, Mr Rennocks said he had put in over £140,000 of director loans into the football club for infrastructure.
The businessman, who runs Industrial and Marine Silencers Ltd, first got involved with the club in the early 1980’s and has seen them promoted to step three of the football league.
They also became the first club from Leicestershire to appear at the new Wembley Stadium by reaching the final of the FA Vase in 2011.
'Difficult decision'
"I have always said I am a supporter and it just costs me a lot more than most to go to matches," he said.
"However, as I approach my 70th birthday, I can no longer continue to subsidise the club.
"I have always run it in a sustainable way, never cut budgets, and the club has no debts.
"However, after much thought and discussions, I have taken the difficult decision to step away.
"As mentioned, I am not getting any younger, and right now I am at a point where I would rather spend my time and effort on my family, particularly my two and three-year-old granddaughters – retirement from work also beckons."
Mr Rennocks also said another reason for his decision is that the "once fantastic support" the club received from North West Leicestershire District Council has "diminished" in recent years.
Paul Stone, director of resources at North West Leicestershire District Council, said: “We would like to thank Glyn for many years of contribution to the Coalville community through his role as chairman of Coalville Town FC, and commit to continuing our work with the club in supporting health and wellbeing for the town.
“As is the case for councils up and down the country, we are having to look very closely at our budgets in an effort to remove a predicted gap of £4 million.
"As such, the decision was made by councillors during this year’s budget-setting process to reduce our grant to a number of organisations – including Coalville Town FC.
"It is against a difficult financial backdrop and preserving our own services for our residents that we need to propose changes like this.”
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