The reason they didn’t lift the covenant was that they didn’t believe it would do any good. The land had been covenanted in order to ensure a sporting site for football and the club argued that if it were lifted, the football club would survive. The Council just couldn’t see where the money for a new ground would come from, so in one year’s time, the club would be homeless, assetless and pennyless. I think it’s fair to say that successive eras of mismanagement and grand schemes which came to nothing eroded the goodwill towards and confidence in the club and its owners.

Once the club was liquidated, the administrators tried to sell the ground, and seeing as it was covenanted, tried to have it lifted so it could be sold for retail development. The council fought this and won, and then bought it back from the administrators at the reduced value since it was only for sporting use. I understand that the sad effect of a year’s absence from the ground whilst those wrangles took place is that the stadium has fallen into serious disrepair and so a new stadium might be the only option now.

It’s safe to say that since the club is now supporter-owned, the ability to enter a meaninfgul dialogue with the council and others in the town has much improved. As with AFC Telford, as bad as the collapse of the old club was, it could be the best thing to draw a line under years of failure and poor financial management. Instead of spending a lot of time dealing with the mistakes of the past and paying off the debts, the supporters can focus energy positively, building a club the town can be proud of – starting with getting back to play there.