Originally Posted by
Maccy Blue
Hey Matt. Still do post on here but lurk more than post.
Well what can I say about Macc Town. As you can probably guess from my name i live in Macclesfield but am from Cardiff originlly. Cardiff City is my main team but I have a real affinity to Macc. When I moved up here I wanted to watch football so adopted my local team to go and watch as well as catching away games with Cardiff when they played round here.
Anyway after a few years I stared getting more involved with the club. Organising social events for fundraising, helping clean the ground before the start of the season, taking the mascot to away games and then started stewarding. I have done other jobs there like gate-staff and some groundwork too. The stewarding was actually more fun than it sounds. You got to see a lot more of what goes on behind the scenes and opens a lot of doors for other ways to work with the club. So I have worked at the club in one way or another for about 26 years.
Anyway over the years I have seen a decline in how the club has been run. It all started about 20 years ago when the current Chariman had to stand down over some financial issues over issues with money when a new stand was built and Macc were hit with a £300k fine because of it. At this point a Supporters Trust was set up and I toured the country visiting various grounds doing bucket collections to raise the money needed to avoid liquidation. I know it doesn't sound a lot of money in football but for a small club like Macc there was no way they could have afforded it. They brought in a chairman that decided that any volunteer work done by fans, like the tea-rooms, etc would be replaced with a company who paid upfront. Whilst this was a good way of getting in some easy money it tore the club's 'family friendly' face right off. There was no discussion he just did it. And that's when the rot really set in. It became a dictatorship. And any money made would be spirited away. Macc have lived on a shoestring ever since. The chariman that has just stepped down continued this asset stripping from the former chariman. The issue over non-payment of wages was the tip of the iceberg. They didn't pay a lot of people for work done. For example the drainage company wouldn't come and work unless they were paid upfront in cash.
The money owed to John Askey was £200,000. This was a bonus that was promised if he got Macc promoted. Which he did on a budget of £0. The owner never thought he'd do it so his offer would be safe. John is a decent lower league manager and put together a half decent side who worked for and with each other turning them into a winning side. There has been other managers not paid like Sol but I'm not sure how much he is owed. He was a complete twat by the way. Rude and full of his own self-importance.
So here we are now - Macc have been in the Courts every month for about two years and each time get away with it but mow it has caught up with them. I don't know the full story of what's gone on as I've not managed to speak to anyone that actually knows! I believe, but am not sure, that they have 4 days to appeal. There is supposedly people waiting in the wings to buy the club, which i think is bollocks. If the current owner knew that they were going to get wound up he would have sold it - better to have a bit of money versus nothing. So it looks like unless there is a miracle then Macc Town as is no longer exists.
To the person asking about why would they sign people etc. I do believe that the club thought they would get a postponement again from the courts so it was business as usual and when the parachute payment came through they could settle up. I do level a lot of blame with the EFL - they have been out to get Macc Town, wrongly - as they should have been out for the owner, for a long time and have wanted them out of the league due to the poor running of the club. They have got their wish. I notice that the EFL have offered some other clubs loans to stop them going to the wall. Macc have never been offered this.
I am really gutted as I have a soft spot for Macc and have enjoyed the fun times working there. I can see a lot more clubs going under sdaly in the next few months.
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