From the Non League Paper. Doesn't appear that they tried particularly hard to find new owners.
Chairman Glyn Rennocks declared “enough was enough” having stunned the Non-League fraternity by culling senior men’s football at Coalville Town.
Rennocks announced on Friday that he had “taken the difficult decision to step away” and disbanded the Southern League Premier Central side amid costs that had “spiralled”.
The bombshell landed just five days after Coalville had announced the retention of one player, “positive discussions” with others and that “multiple new signings” had been secured.
News of the team’s demise included confirmation that Ravens manager Ian King had been informed of the decision earlier the same day.
In an interview with The NLP, Rennocks confirmed Coalville’s teams at under-21 and youth level, plus all female teams, would continue from the club’s Owen Street base.
The entity behind the senior side - Coalville Town Football Club Limited - is to be closed down with sole director Rennocks promising to pay all creditors and leave it with “a clean bill of health”. He will stay involved as one of four directors of Coalville Town Youth Football Club Limited which will run the rest of the show.
“Running a Non-League club now is getting beyond sustainable so I decided enough was enough.”he said,
“I have done it for more than 40 years and it was not a decision I took lightly, that’s for sure.”
Asked whether a takeover had been discussed, Rennocks replied: “I have spoken to various people but getting someone to invest in a Non-League club is pretty much asking them whether they have money they want to chuck away.”
Adding that they were “not so much takeover talks”, he said there was “no appetite for it among the people I have spoken to”.
“We haven’t advertised or gone out of our way but when you don’t have an asset - we don’t own the ground - it becomes more difficult,” he said. Voluntary was “not an option” for Rennocks who added: “If we just dropped down I would still want to get back to where we are which completes the circle again. If I do something, I want to win.”
He would be “open minded” if someone else came forward to run the senior side but confirmed it would have to fit with the plans for the rest of the club.
“We didn’t get to conversations as detailed as that in all honesty, but yes, that would have to be the case, 100 per cent,” he said.
The statement also referred to the club’s relationship with landlords North West Leicestershire District Council which Rennocks said had “diminished, especially since a certain councillor came to prominence”.
He was guarded when asked about that, replying: “I know councils don’t have the finances they used to have but it has certainly become very difficult.”
“The attitudes of certain individuals have not helped - the only way they helped was to get to the decision that I reached.”
It brings to an end a whirlwind 21 years since promotion from county football, including two further promotions, an FA Vase final at Wembley, trips to Wycombe Wanderers and Charlton Athletic in the first round of the FA Cup and going within 90 minutes and goal difference of reaching Step 2.
With the league allocations having been announced last week, the vacancy created in the Southern Premier Central will be “dealt with at the discretion of the (FA’s Alliance) Committee in order to minimise disruption”.
When Walton Casuals pulled out of Step 3 at a similar stage 2 years ago, the gap was filled by a reprieve in that division rather than assessing points per game ratios. If that was repeated, Hitchin Town would be in line to stay up.
