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Can you help County out?

27/ 8/2008

COUNTY and the club’s owners, the Supporters’ Trust, are sending out a plea to fans for help with an impending crisis at their Manor Farm training base in Timperley.

The facilities have fallen into significant disrepair due to vandalism and a lack of investment over the last eight years, and obligations under the lease mean that unless County can make significant improvements over the coming months they are in danger of losing the facility.

County’s managing director Mark Maguire said: "The problem we have is that the damage and decay have been a long time in the making, but we only have a short period (five months) to bring things up to scratch.

"We know that there are other third parties manoeuvring to try and get hold of the training ground, so the only thing we can do is get the work done.

"With our budgets committed we find ourselves looking to anybody who can help us, because Jim Gannon and the players rely on their base at Timperley for the kind of quality of work that has brought the recent success. If we can improve things, then we can be secure there for the next 25 years, but if we don’t we could have a real problem."

The Supporters’ Trust have organised themselves to support the works and Steve Bedder, coordinator for the Trust, said: "This is vital, and it’s a chance to show how the Trust can positively contribute in times of need.

"We are organising a working party and we’ve recruited professionals, but we need offers of help, people, materials and time.

"We can’t have too many volunteers because it’s a huge task and we’re calling upon all County fans to get involved if they can, whether by donation of time or money.

"We need to raise £75,000 as soon as possible to get this secured."

In the longer term the Trust and County hope that if they can secure Timperley it can be a place that supporters can consider their own, with a social club and sportsman’s dinners and other events planned at the venue.

For now though, it’s very much a case of County needing the support of fans and local businesses.

Trafford MBC actually own the land at the Manor Farm training complex, but a 99-year lease on the property is owned by former County chairman Brendan Elwood’s company City Estates Ltd.

City Estates sub-let it to County.