One can understand a certain anger in Moston at the discovery that Manchester council has made provision to lend £500,000 towards the building of FC United’s new stadium.
Many residents who objected to the plans for the 5,000-capacity stadium now see the prospect of their council tax being given over not just in grant funding, but also in this potential loan to the club.
Undoubtedly, some people living in Moston did support this grand plan, but the objectors felt that many of those campaigning in favour of the stadium came not just from outside Moston but outside Manchester. Those objectors will feel a further sense of injustice that ‘out-of-towners’ will also now benefit if this loan option is taken up by FC United if the club is unable to raise enough through its community share scheme.
Storm as Manchester council offers FC United a £500k loan towards new Moston stadium
That said, this stadium should be an enhancement to Moston. Regeneration has gone hand- in-hand with sport in Manchester; that is beyond dispute. And a population with such problems of chronic ill-health and obesity – particularly among children – needs all the sporting opportunities it can get.
Let us not forget that the FC United stadium directly benefits Moston Juniors FC, which gets youth pitches in the development, and the wider community who will be encouraged to get involved in activities at this new public space.
But should a council still reeling from a disastrous cut in its grant from central government really be investing in a comparatively new football club?
This will be a loan given at commercial rates of interest, yes, but you do not have to go far to find long-established football clubs unable to pay their debts.
Would the prudent solution be to wait until FC United raises this cash through its own share scheme?
This will avoid the need to take up the council’s offer of the loan and allow the club to move forward without the burden of debt.
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I know it’s not my rates being used, but I’d have to back the council on this. To let the whole lot collapse, due to a relatively minor cash squeeze on FC United, would, in my opinion, be a mistake.
If this proposed loan goes ahead, then i'm moving out of Manchester. The Council is an absolute joke. This will be the last straw. I'll sell up and move to Cheshire.
The bottom line i that a bank would not lend the money to FC, they have no security whatsoever, no real assets, for any loan. And this in one of the high rish areas of business , football club ownership. If banks will not elnd out why should the council?
Need a large loan? no home, no collateral, no profits, no guarantor, no problem. This should be the new advertising campaign for Manchester City Council, then again would anyone except FC United be concidered for such an offer, I doubt it. Being drinking buddies with the leader of the council obviously helps when the business you are running runs into difficulty and needs extra funds. Were not to blame MCC for the sure start centres and libraries closing, the council staff being finished or the fire service budget being cut they don't have the money to keep all these things going but if you want to watch a semi-pro, green space theives of a football club then your in luck the council have the money for them.
Though I am not an FC United fan nor live under Manchester City Council boundaries,£500000 is nothing compared to what I believe Salford Council borrowed in order for the City of Salford community stadium to get built.I read that it was somewhere in the region of about £10m,which if correct is very eye watering.
The argument that Moston Juniors are getting something out of this is stupid, as they had more before these proposals were on the table. They had two full size grade A pitches now they are being offered two youth pitches. At that time they had enough space to expand and improve their facilities and if Manchester City Council had put as much effort and backing into this project, (which had been applied for) instead of a semi proffessional football club we would not need to be writing about this.
As an inducement they are being offered the middle of the running track in Bogart Hole Clough. This will cost another pretty penny if they add changing rooms, which incidentally was one of the arguments used to carry the original proposal. My last observation is of course, since when has spectator participation been classed as sport?
Dear Editor,
Your comments are unfair and distort the true picture.
You choose to ignore the following facts:
- the Council grant of £750k was committed to this site long before FC United came on the scene: no one, including the MEN, objected then;
- the possible Council loan of £500k is actually very good business for Moston and Manchester ratepayers as it will enable investment of £4.5million from other sources;
- far from "some people in Moston supporting the grand plan", the formal consultation carried out by the Council showed a clear majority of people with local postcodes in favour of the plan;
- probably very few "out-of-towners" contributed to the consultation either way, but those who did may well have had a legitimate interest - I, for instance, as someone living in South Yorkshire but who had supported Manchester United for 50 years and FC United for 6 years felt that I had a right to a view;
- far from the Council subsidising "out-of-towners", much of the £4.5million investment will hopefully come from "out-of-town", including the Football Federation and Sport England. Any "out-of-towners" using the FC United facilities in future will be bringing even more money into the Manchester economy.
Your view that "Now is not the time to lend or be saddled with a big debt" is very blinkered. From the other point of view, has the last few years been the time for the people of Manchester and further afield to work their socks off to raise £4.5million additional investment into the future of Manchester and its young people?
As Editor of the Manchester Evening News you need to recognise the reasoned case that has been made for this development, the results of what was a very rigorous consultation exercise and the magnificent efforts of many people to do something that will be of lasting benefit to the community of Manchester.
I hope you will redress the balance in future articles.
Tony Nuttall