Friday brief: Troubling times for Corby Town FC as co-owner quits amid youth and girls teams exodus
Read why Corby Town FC's co-owner has decided to quit, plus news from across the country
Corby Town FC has lost one of its owners and there has been a mass exodus of youth and girls teams, amid a fall out over the governance of the club.
Utility Bidder founder James Longley, who announced a cut in the first team players wages in December, resigned as a director on April 23, leaving Middle East based businessman Paul Glass as the only remaining director. He told NN Journal there has been ‘no falling out’ with his co-owner and said he had decided to move on as he did not have the time to give to the sports club.
Last month Glass had announced hopes to set up a new special needs school on the football club site, which would have involved setting up a new community interest company to incorporate all of the finances of the club’s different sections which had previously been kept separate. However it seems he had not met with North Northamptonshire Council before his announcement, which has no backing or funding.
Immediately after the public statement the women’s section announced they would be parting company with the club along with the walking football section and on Monday the youth section made the same decision. It will be renamed Corby Sporting FC.
Altogether 38 different teams have been lost with only the first side and the U18 remaining. Long standing chairman Steven Noble is also set to leave at the end of the season.
James Longley, who sold out his energy company for an eight-figure sum, told us:
“ [There has been] no falling out with Paul and I actually went to meet him on Monday in Abu Dhabi.
“Running a football club is hard and I decided to move on as I just don’t have the time to dedicate to the club. It’s a big commitment and was also putting in a significant amount of money with Paul to try and help the club get promotion but wasn’t able to do it this season.”
Paul Glass has been contacted for comment.
The non-league club, which dates back to the late 1940s, is currently in the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands.
It has announced increased ticket prices for the season from September. At the end of last year the owners cut first team wages and manager Gary Setchell quit.
NN Journal has spoken to a number of people involved with the club, who say the other sections below the men’s first team were not supported as they should have been.
Blair Shaw, said the walking football section, which has four teams and plays in the Northants league, will rebrand as Corby United Walking Football.
He said the walking football section was given the use of the football ground once a year for a tournament, but this year’s tournament was cancelled at the last minute and the section had to find another venue. He said the kit provided was also first team cast offs, which did not fit the older walking football players, who had a less athletic physique.
Asked why the section had decided to go, he said:
“They [the club] made it more that they were not wanting us.
“But it’s a case of nevermind, let’s get on with it. We want to see the club do well.”
An insider said the idea for the SEN school had been the catalyst for the departures and had caused problems. They said:
“The owners make decisions and it is the volunteers who are there everyday who take the shit.”
Like many football clubs, CTFC has had its share of drama in recent years. In 2014 the club faced potential administration and had a public fall out with the former Corby Borough Council over a disputed management arrangement fee.
The club leases the site from North Northamptonshire Council in a peppercorn arrangement that will continue until 2054. NN Journal has tried to access the lease under FOI laws and has so far been refused.
By Sarah Ward
Other news
Reform UK has won the only seat up for grabs on West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) after voters went to the polls in the Hackleton and Roade ward.
The by-election was called after the former Reform UK councillor Adam Smith resigned from his post in March this year.
Reform’s Laura Christine Weston won the by-election with 1,355 votes and took 30 per cent of the vote share. The winner was announced early this morning at an overnight count held at Roade Village Hall. Her win comes at the same time as Reform UK is having a great result in the local elections, which happened across the country yesterday. Labour and the Conservatives look to lose control of a number of councils and the Green Party looks to make some gains.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the announcement, she said:
“It’s been amazing, the support I’ve had, the campaign I’ve had, everybody has worked tirelessly. It’s been really refreshing for me to be on the doorsteps talking to people and realising there’s obviously a lot of people who want to support us.
“I’m really excited to get going and represent my ward. I’ve grown up in a rural community and Hackleton and Roade is so rural, so it’s really important to make sure that those rural voices are heard in the bigger picture of West Northants.
“To see turnout like this in a local election is something I’ve never seen before and I think we’ve all been part of something really special.”
Turnout for the by-election jumped to 50.4 per cent, which is a massive increase on the local elections last year, where the ward had a much smaller 36 per cent turnout.
This was unusually high for a by-election, where the number of voters attending polling stations tends to drop. The size of the electorate is 8,807 people and 4,441 total votes were counted
The Conservative Party came second trailing around 300 votes behind, the Liberal Democrats were third, and the Greens placed fourth.
The result does not change who is in control of West Northamptonshire Council as Reform already has enough seats for a majority, though it does strengthen the administration’s position.
The full list of results is below:
Maggie Clubley – The Conservative Party Candidate – 1,051
Peter French – Labour and Co-operative Party – 212
Ron Johnson – Independent – 203
Dave Pearson – Green Party – 623
Stephen Gordon Shellabear – Liberal Democrats – 986
Laura Christine Weston – Reform UK – 1,355
There are now 40 Reform UK councillors, 17 Conservatives, eight Labour, seven Lib Dems, and four independent councillors on WNC.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Corby campaigners, lawyers and academics gathered last night to discuss their calls for a public inquiry into the historic land contamination in the town left by the former steelworks.
The event at the Grampian Club, organised by London School of Economics (LSE) academic Roxana Willis, who is from the town, was well attended, with families from the various different campaign groups in attendance.
Since the airing of Netflix drama Toxic Town - which told the real life story of some Corby children who were born with limb defects due to the mismanaged clean up in the 1980s and 1990s - the issue of what happened to the chemical waste and whether it is having an effect on public health today has become a big issue for many.
Emma Jones, from Leigh Day and Dani Holliday from Collins Solicitors, who both represented families in the infected blood scandal, were at the meeting and gave advice on ways to try and secure the public inquiry, which will have to be agreed by a minister. Health secretary Wes Streeting has indicated he is watching what is happening in Corby
Emma Jones told the meeting:
“A public inquiry is not going to be about pointing fingers and dragging the council through the mud. It will be an independent, authoritative account of what happened.”
She said a public inquiry chair could decide to set up a compensation scheme.
Nichola Scott, whose son was one of the original claimants, was at the meeting and said:
“My child has lived with this for over 30 years. It is time for full transparency, accountability and a full public enquiry.”
Roxana Willis’s colleagues from the LSE Legal Advice Centre Director at LSE Law School and Dr Marie Petersmann director of the LSEs Sustainability Law & Policy Clinic offered to get involved to help the families and campaigners with legal advice and campaigning.
After the meeting Lisa Atkinson, whose daughter Simone was an original claimant, said the families needed to be at the forefront of a campaign.
She said:
“What keeps this real and relevant, is because we are real and relevant. We can’t let it go. We are seeing other people affected.”
By Sarah Ward
The government will write off nearly £59m of the council’s debt on its education budget – but only if the authority publishes a SEND reform plan by this summer.
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) is estimated to have accrued a cumulative deficit of £65m on its Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) by the end of the last financial year, as the cost and demand for alternative provision and specialist school places have put significant strain on local authorities.
The government announced earlier this year that 90 per cent of councils’ historic DSG deficits would be wiped out. However, to access the funding committed to clearing these debts, local authorities must submit a local SEND reform plan to the Department for Education (DfE) by June 19.
These must show how the council will meet the programme of reforms set out in the Schools White Paper, which includes expanding inclusive practice and SEND provision in mainstream education, improving access to expert support without statutory assessment, and changes to the use of EHCPs.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting discussing the plan, WNC’s director of children’s services Melanie Barnett said there was still a lot of uncertainty around the funding and what would happen to the deficit post 2025/26. She also called the timescales councils must comply with for the plan “completely unreasonable”.
The secretary of state for education wrote to all local areas about their requirement to come up with a reform plan on March 9. WNC says its final draft must be submitted to its DfE advisor by next Friday, May 15.
If the plan is not approved by the Secretary of State, WNC will miss out on the first round of payments, which will be made this autumn. It would then have a second chance to revise and improve its plan to receive the payment in spring 2027.
It has not yet been determined how the remaining 10 per cent of the SEND deficit, which would equate to around £6.5m in West Northants, will be funded.
A statutory override, which is in place until 2028, has kept DSG deficits off council balance books to prevent many from declaring effective bankruptcy.
According to the cabinet papers, ongoing financial support to clear any future DSG deficits arising in 2026/27 and 2027/28 will be linked to “demonstrable delivery” against the council’s approved reform plans.
Persistent failure to demonstrate progress may result in formal intervention, including the removal of responsibility for SEND service delivery.
By Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Plans to bring in new three-weekly black bin collections across Northampton and South Northamptonshire have been agreed by West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) cabinet.
The ‘1 2 3+’ system would see food waste collections every week, fortnightly recycling collections, and general waste bins picked up every three weeks. This has been in place in the Daventry area since 2018.
It is proposed that by Spring 2027, the harmonisation across the authority will occur. Currently, wheeled bins are collected every two weeks in the Northampton and South Northants areas.
Residents who do not have wheeled bins and still use black sacks and those using shared bins in flats will continue to stay on weekly collections.
Speaking against the plans at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Cllr Andrew Kilbride (Conservative, Weston Favell and Abington Vale) said:
“We want the best for our West Northamptonshire residents, it’s as simple as that. We are blighted by rubbish.
“You reference Daventry, but Northampton is a different kettle of fish – we are urban. Northampton residents deserve better than going to a three-weekly.
“It’s not just about the amount of rubbish in the black bin, it’s what goes into bins as well, hygiene things, nappies, they’re going to be there for three weeks stinking.”
The council has also said that residents will be “fully engaged” on the changes prior to the move to three-weekly collections next year and will receive clear information about dates, support available, and how to make the most of food waste and recycling services.
Cllr Ian McCord (Independent, Deanshanger) added:
“Fears about vermin, odours, health hazards, fly-tipping and much more are valid concerns to raise, but please do look at our everyday experience over eight years in the former Daventry area. Those concerns have not materialised.”
He said one area that did merit discussion was whether it was worth scheduling three-weekly black bin collections for 2027, or holding back the process so it could fall in line with the larger plans to bring the waste service back in-house in 2028, so residents don’t experience disjointed changes to the service.
Under the wider scheme, collection and cleansing services will be delivered directly by the council by an in-house team from June 2028. It is also proposed that procurement of a fleet of vehicles, vehicle maintenance, fuel, in-cab technology and contracts for the treatment of waste takes place over the implementation period.
The current contractual arrangements end in 2028. Currently, the council has a Joint Venture with Norse in the Daventry area, a contract with Veolia in Northampton, and waste services are delivered through an ‘in-house’ team of staff in South Northants.
WNC says the costs of an in-house service and a contracted service are comparable, but that a directly employed waste collection and street cleansing team is likely to achieve consistent services and give the council additional flexibility.
Cllr Nigel Stansfield, cabinet member for environment, recycling and waste, said that 40 plus councils have already gone to three-weekly collections across the country, including in urban areas.
He told the meeting:
“We’ve had an eight year trial [in Daventry], it’s worked, it’s working around the country, more and more councils will go to this, and we’re just the next one in line.
“Every property within West Northamptonshire, whatever sort of property that is, should have the same service. We all pay the same council tax.
“Now obviously, [opposition] said that you pay more tax and you get less services. Well, ever since I’ve lived here 35 years, I’ve paid more tax and got less services and I think that will continue until we get different funding models.
“The proposal also enables higher recycling performance and delivers financial savings and environmental benefits due to fewer vehicle movements.”
He also added that the move to an in-house service would allow street cleansing resources to be better protected and monitored.
“Certain areas in Northampton do not receive any street cleansing and I think it’s shown. I think the previous administration decided for some reason to concentrate just on that town centre.
“Some parts of Northampton do need a bit of care and I hope that by bringing this service in-house we have more flexibility, but also we’re going to ring fence that team,” he added.
By Nadia Lincoln
A 20 year old man appeared in court this week charged with the murder of a Wellingborough man. Donte King was remanded in custody after his appearance at Northampton Magistrates Court on Wednesday. He is charged with the murder of Darren King, 38, who was killed at a property in Birchfield Wellingborough on Sunday (May 3)
A Northants police constable who pursued an electric scooter rider after being involved in a collusion will face a misconduct hearing next week. PC Cai Scivyer, pleaded guilty in 2024 to the offence of driving without care and notice. In April of that year he was involved in an accident with the scooter and then pursued the scooter, without authorisation.
It is alleged he provided false information in relation to the collision. The hearing will take place at the force headquarters in Northampton from Monday.