Mad Eyed Screamer
Moderator
Re: FC United pass the begging bowl round again
Well, well, well.....................
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FC United take up £500k council loan to meet spiralling costs of its new Moston stadium
Opponents say the funding is a poor use of public money but town hall and club officials say it will attract investment and regeneration into the area
FC United have triggered a £500,000 loan from Manchester Council to help it meet spiralling costs of its new stadium in Moston.
The breakaway football club agreed a deal with the town hall in 2012 to receive extra funds if its Broadhurst Park stadium project experienced a funding gap. Since then the cost of the ground has risen by £1.5m because of issues such as site contamination and rising construction costs while the project was stalled by a judicial review over planning permission.
Work on the £6m stadium - at the former Ronald Johnson Playing Fields - is almost complete and an official opening date is set to be announced in the coming weeks. Council spending documents show the town hall handed over the £500,000 loan in July. Overall it has provided £1.45m to the club since 2011 - including an initial £750,000 towards the new stadium.
The club has also been awarded dozens of grants totalling more than £140,000 through the council’s Children’s Services budget for youth and community projects.
Coun Rosa Battle, executive member for culture and leisure, said: “The executive agreed the £500,000 loan on the building of the FC United Stadium in 2012 – should the project need it.
“The loan has been taken up by the club and will be fully repaid on a commercial basis to the city council.”
But Moston councillor Henry Cooper, who resigned from the Labour party over the issue in 2012, said the payment could not be justified in a time of austerity. He said: “We’ve had £59m of cuts. It’s amazing that while we’re closing so many facilities for young people we can afford to pay FC United to run coaching sessions for them.”
Fans raised around £2m through a Community Shares issue. Most of the remainder came from other organisations which included Sport England.
When the finance package was agreed in 2012 the projected cost was £4.5m. However, FC United officials stressed the club had met the majority of additional funds itself and town hall funds had helped secure further investment into the area.
General manager Andy Walsh said: “The support from the council and our members has enabled the club to leverage an additional £5.5m of investment into the local area which we believe will give job opportunities and economic benefit to north Manchester.”
Well, well, well.....................
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/fc-united-take-up-500k-8188428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ ... 0k-8188428</a>
FC United take up £500k council loan to meet spiralling costs of its new Moston stadium
Opponents say the funding is a poor use of public money but town hall and club officials say it will attract investment and regeneration into the area
FC United have triggered a £500,000 loan from Manchester Council to help it meet spiralling costs of its new stadium in Moston.
The breakaway football club agreed a deal with the town hall in 2012 to receive extra funds if its Broadhurst Park stadium project experienced a funding gap. Since then the cost of the ground has risen by £1.5m because of issues such as site contamination and rising construction costs while the project was stalled by a judicial review over planning permission.
Work on the £6m stadium - at the former Ronald Johnson Playing Fields - is almost complete and an official opening date is set to be announced in the coming weeks. Council spending documents show the town hall handed over the £500,000 loan in July. Overall it has provided £1.45m to the club since 2011 - including an initial £750,000 towards the new stadium.
The club has also been awarded dozens of grants totalling more than £140,000 through the council’s Children’s Services budget for youth and community projects.
Coun Rosa Battle, executive member for culture and leisure, said: “The executive agreed the £500,000 loan on the building of the FC United Stadium in 2012 – should the project need it.
“The loan has been taken up by the club and will be fully repaid on a commercial basis to the city council.”
But Moston councillor Henry Cooper, who resigned from the Labour party over the issue in 2012, said the payment could not be justified in a time of austerity. He said: “We’ve had £59m of cuts. It’s amazing that while we’re closing so many facilities for young people we can afford to pay FC United to run coaching sessions for them.”
Fans raised around £2m through a Community Shares issue. Most of the remainder came from other organisations which included Sport England.
When the finance package was agreed in 2012 the projected cost was £4.5m. However, FC United officials stressed the club had met the majority of additional funds itself and town hall funds had helped secure further investment into the area.
General manager Andy Walsh said: “The support from the council and our members has enabled the club to leverage an additional £5.5m of investment into the local area which we believe will give job opportunities and economic benefit to north Manchester.”