Family leads bid by fans to buy club

Around 200 supporters attended a meeting on Sunday to hear about plans by the Brookes family to acquire the EVO-STIK League Premier Division club from its current owner, former chairman Steve Lynch who was banned from football activity for two years at the start of the season by the Football Association after taking over in 2011 and helping to save them from collapse.

The Yeltz were fined and Lynch banned following an investigation into rule breaches and the Halesowen News is reporting that Karen Brookes and her father Colin are calling on fans to help raise £30,000 towards the cost of buying the club to preserve its status in the Northern Premier League as a first option or dropping down a level to rebuild if a deal can't be done.

Karen Brookes, pictured after taking over as chairwoman last year, told www.halesowennews.co.uk on Monday: "There is potential for the club to be self-sufficient but you have to have everything in place for that to happen. It's now about the long-term sustainability of the club. We eventually want to return it to the fans.

"We've put money into the club and will have to do that again for the rest of the season but we now need the fans to support us to get their club back. We need fans through the gates and we need fans to support the fundraising too."

She added: "The majority of fans want the ownership to change, that is our main reason for this. It's a club with a long and rich history since 1873, including a lot of ups and downs over the last 10 years, and we want to put it back on an even keel once more."

For more information and to make a donation, visit: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/halesowentown

Images courtesy of @halesowentownfc

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