Its Christmas… spare a thought

Tucked away in deepest Cheshire lies Macclesfield, the one time silk town and home of Macclesfield Town Football Club.

A nice place to reside, located near enough to the bright lights of Manchester but far away to feel rural and good for walks in the beautiful Peak District. So why are the good people of MTFC wearing long faces this Christmas?

Well, the Silkmen have been fined £62000 by the FA and ordered to repay £195,000 to the Football Foundation. This is a club that lives on gates hovering around the 2000 mark. One more fact, the FA say pay up by January 31st 2006 or else.

Why? Well, the club have been found guilty of 4 breaches of FA rules relating to the building of the MacAlpine stand between 200o and 2002. The current owners of the club, the Alkhadi brothers were not at the helm of the club at the time of the offences and are unwilling to pay the whole fine although they are prepared to stump up £30,000. The previous chairman refutes the charges which amount to using the FA money to cover more than 80% of the construction costs. The current chairman cannot comment as he is bound by FA confidentiality demands.

If the fine is carried through this would almost certainly tip the club into administration, triggering a 10 point penalty which in turn may lead to loss of league status at the end of the season and further financial problems?

At a meeting on Wednesday night 250 fans pledged their support, all sorts of fund raising ideas were mooted. A Coronation Street All Stars match, a Match involving Manchester City, Season ticket holders ripping up their season tickets and paying entry to games.

Will all this be enough or could this spell the beginning of the end of Macclesfield Town Football Club?

The borough of Macclesfield is one of the most prosperous areas of the UK, so dear reader if you are reading this and happen to have a six figure sum knocking about can I suggest a worthy cause?