Yellows chairman Toby Macormac aiming big for Warrington club

Toby Macormac wants the Yellows to diminish the Wolves’ howling in Warrington

Warrington Wolves and rugby league dominate the sporting narrative of a town that is the third largest in the UK without a club in the Football League.

Macormac, chairman and chief executive of Warrington Town, is determined to become the talk of the town, as Paul Carden’s men prepare for a renewed assault on the Northern Premier League.

“At the moment, rugby league is the biggest sport in the town and I have no issue with that,” said the 49-year-old, whose club are one of 228 Northern Premier, Isthmian and Southern League teams to benefit from GVC Holdings’ launch of grassroots sports investment programme, Pitching In.

“But hopefully there’ll be a time where we’re up there as well as that. There are 230,000 people here and it’s the third biggest town in the UK with no football league club, so it more than deserves one and that’s what we’re trying to give the people of the town.

“It’s a vicious circle – the clubs that you’ve got playing at your ground dictate how many fans come in, and you’ve got to be successful on the grass to get the teams, and then the fans, in. That’s what brings the rewards.

“In a town this size that’s growing, it deserves something where big clubs are coming to play every week, so we just want to progress as far as we can take it.

“It’s a really growing town in Warrington and that provides us an opportunity to get involved in that.

“My message to people would be to come down – they’ll be surprised at how good the standard of football actually is.”

Watch: NPL celebrates launch of multi-million pound grassroots sport investment, 'Pitching In'

Macormac knows the non-league game is the lifeblood of English football, with Pitching In’s flagship partnership with the NPL and iuts sister leagues, collectively known as the Trident Leagues promoting and supporting grassroots sport after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The multi-million-pound, multi-year investment programme will deliver vital financial assistance and is supplemented by an emphasis on community volunteers pitching in and contributing themselves.

A Pitching In volunteering scheme will be established to help strengthen community ties, with clubs also having the opportunity to apply for grants to ease the financial strain of lockdown.

The programme has also grabbed the attention of football royalty, with former England captain Stuart Pearce offering his support having started his career at Wealdstone FC.

The Yellows were one of hundreds of non-league clubs affected by the coronavirus crisis but have raised more than £12,000 in donations and also rolled out a stand name raffle to garner funds.

The partnership with GVC Holdings will further bolster the bank balance and Macormac says the programme is vital for the future of the non-league game.

“It’s an amazing outcome from Pitching In – when you look at what’s going on in the world and the country in an absolute economic crisis, for someone to step forward and underpin non-league football is a real breath of fresh air,” he added.

“Volunteers are very important – we’re always on the lookout for volunteers and there are so many different aspects of volunteering. We’re certainly a club that champions that.

“I’m really looking forward to the new season and getting people in – we sold out Cantilever Park for the first pre-season game back and the lads are looking well.”

GVC is launching a new multi-million-pound investment programme, Pitching In, designed to support and promote grassroots sports and is being launched with a flagship partnership with The Isthmian, Northern Premier and Southern Leagues - collectively known as The Trident Leagues. For more information visit: https://gvc-plc.com/PitchingIn

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