5 replies to this topic

[Rhodes]

I see that Bicester Town are being debated on Forum, there appears to be trouble at mill:

[Rhodes]

I don't know what happened to the link that was supposed to go with the post above but I see that Bicester Town's plight is also being debated on Buckingham Town's Forum who are another beleaguered Club at present:

[TORIESBONGWRONG]

Rhodes, on 22 July 2011 - 01:53 PM, said:

I don't know what happened to the link that was supposed to go with the post above but I see that Bicester Town's plight is also being debated on Buckingham Town's Forum who are another beleaguered Club at present:

The situation at Bicester is an absolute disgrace. The football club is being evicted by its landlords (the Bicester Sports Association) even though they have paid-off the £9,000 debts that initially prompted the threat of eviction. It seems the debts were simply an excuse and that the Association was always determined to evict the football club so they could sell the site. Adam Wade, the Association's chairman is crying crocodile tears and blaming the football club's 'mis-management' but has admitted to the press that the plan is to sell the ground. It seems he's happy to sacrifice the 130 year-old football club in order to raise more funds to invest in facilities for his rugger-playing chums over at the Association's main site in nearby Chesterton. Legal? Almost certainly. Ethical? Absolutely not.  Incidentally, Mr Wade runs Wade Worldwide Wholesale, a company specializing in manufacturing goods at low cost in Guangzhou, China and selling them - at a considerable profit - in the West.

[Rhodes]

If I post a link to the Non League Today website it probably won't work so here is the article, very sad:

Bicester’s oldest football club closed its doors at 4pm yesterday, ending a rich 130-year history.

Bicester Town Community Football Club, which has been at the heart of the community for more than a century and has been playing in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West, was given notice to quit its Oxford Road ground last week.

Yesterday it handed back the keys. The team will also disband, but club members have not ruled out a team reforming with the same name in the future, if they can find another ground.

Landlord Bicester Sports Association, BSA, gave the club notice over claims “it had failed to meet its commitments”.

Last year the club and sports association were at loggerheads over a £9,000 debt, which has since been repaid. An emergency club meeting last Thursday took the decision to close. Club chairman John Clutterbuck then resigned after the meeting.

Secretary Julian Pattison will be “tidying up” the club’s paperwork, which includes closing its bank account. He said: “It’s closing. It’s ironic, in that it’s the first time as long as anyone remembers we didn’t owe the sports association any money. Plainly they feel we cannot trade successfully in the future. There’s still a reasonable possibility the team will play elsewhere, but that will depend on the members of the club, who may decide in due course they would like to set up another team under the same name. As it stands at 4pm, with enormous regret, we hand over the keys to the ground.”

Mr Clutterbuck said he was disappointed to see the club close. He said: “I’m disappointed, it’s a sad day for Bicester that the club is closing. We spent a lot of time trying to correct things that happened in the past, and put our own money into it.”

BSA chairman Adam Wade said: “We are confident that we will be reaching an agreement with another user club within the immediate future. We cannot comment whether Bicester Town Community FC will be closing, but they won’t be using our site.”

To play in the league the club must have a home ground, but it can share a ground with another team.

[Rhodes]

An article from the Oxford Mail, I wonder whether the Hellenic League could have done more for Bicester Town at the end of the day:

http://www.oxfordmai...nt_Nomads_boss/

Uhlsport Hellenic League general manager Brian King has spoken of his sadness at Bicester Town’s demise.

The club were given notice to quit its Oxford Road ground by landlords, the Bicester Sports Associa-tion, over claims it had “failed to meet its commitments” and last Friday it closed its gates.

King said: “If you think about it they are one of the oldest members of the league which started in 1953, so when we lose a club with their history it’s a sad day.”

[Winslow Boy]

Rhodes, on 5 August 2011 - 08:27 AM, said:

An article from the Oxford Mail, I wonder whether the Hellenic League could have done more for Bicester Town at the end of the day:

http://www.oxfordmai...nt_Nomads_boss/

Uhlsport Hellenic League general manager Brian King has spoken of his sadness at Bicester Town’s demise.

The club were given notice to quit its Oxford Road ground by landlords, the Bicester Sports Associa-tion, over claims it had “failed to meet its commitments” and last Friday it closed its gates.

King said: “If you think about it they are one of the oldest members of the league which started in 1953, so when we lose a club with their history it’s a sad day.”

Shame I liked playing at Bicester