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England star's old club is on sale for £1

Lee Sykes
9/ 4/2008

THE football club that helped launch the career of ex-England international David Platt is up for a sale for £1.

Chadderton FC, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year and whose former players also include Take That star Mark Owen, is facing a bleak future unless a buyer can be found.

Communication between the committee and owners Craig Halliwell and Tony Bhatti has broken down and some staff claim they have not been paid this month.

A statement on the club’s website says: "The current owners of Chadderton FC have decided to sell their interests in the club for the sum of £1. However, any potential purchaser should be aware that this will include taking on the liabilities of the club, which the committee do not know the extent of. In the meantime the committee are continuing to run the club as normal and are raising their own funds to pay any football-related bills to keep football at Andrew Street."

Secretary Louise Robson told the Advertiser: "The only thing we know for sure is that they have decided not to pay the contract players and they haven’t paid the training bill of approximately £1,400.

"The committee have raised the finances themselves to pay the affiliation fees to Manchester FA for next season, and we have been unable to enter the FA cup next season as they refused to write a cheque for £75, despite the committee saying they would give them the money to cover it.

"As of Monday, March 31 they decided to withhold my wage that was due to be paid that day. They eventually informed me by email that until the club was sold they would not pay me.

"When I protested that this was not fair or legal I was told by Mr Bhatti that ‘if Chadderton Football Club (2006) Ltd is not trading you will not get paid as you or anyone can do nothing to a company which is closed’.

"They have basically made me personally responsible for the sale of their business and chosen not to pay me without any notice or reason. I am also six months’ pregnant so this is not the worry I need to be subjected to at the moment."

Mr Halliwell and Mr Bhatti run building company Hillstone Developments. They have not responded to the Advertiser’s calls.

David Platt played for the club before joining Manchester United in the early 1980s. He went on to star for Aston Villa, Arsenal and England, and later coached the England under-21s team. Chadderton play in the North West Counties League.