CLONE Roses frontman Gav Scott is one of the new owners of St Helens Town AFC – and is determined to help them climb back up the football charts.
A club that has been represented by the likes of legendary names Bert Trautmann, Bill Foulkes and John Connelly, and won the FA Vase in 1987, has hit on hard times of late.
Founder members of the North West Counties League 40 years ago, Town were relegated from Division One North at the end of last season. It means they will line up in the Liverpool County Premier League Premier Division in the coming campaign.
The club had been owned by Sporting Club St Helens Ltd, St Helens rugby league club’s parent body, for more than 20 years, but now a seven-strong group of long-standing fans have secured ownership from Saints.
Among them is Scott, the ‘Ian Brown’ of leading Stones Roses tribute band, the Clone Roses. He’s eager to play his part in helping Town get back on song.
History
“I’ve always kept a keen eye on the club and my brother Tony (Clone Roses guitarist) played for them,” he said. “It’s incredibly exciting to be taking over.
“St Helens is one of the biggest towns in the country without a professional or high-level semi-professional team. It’s a rugby town, but football is as important as anywhere else and it should have a better football team.
“Understandably, the rugby club’s main focus was rugby and they left the committee to run the football club on their behalf.
“Having been relegated, there was a general feeling that something needed to change and we’re grateful we’ve been given an opportunity to do that. Hopefully we can make some difference.
“We aren’t sugar daddies, but hopefully we can get Town back up where they were. It’s a club with a great history that we’re proud of, but we have to think about the future.”
The Stone Roses’ second album was called ‘Second Coming’ and Scott is hoping Saints can have a second coming in the North West Counties League before long.
However, he isn’t expecting the Liverpool County Premier to be a breeze.
“It’s a huge priority to get back into the North West Counties as soon as possible,” said the 42-year-old, who works as a music and festival promoter. “But we’re not taking anything for granted. It’s a difficult league.
Musical links
“We’ve got a new manager in Paul Piert. He’s a St Helens lad and he’s really excited to take over. He knows what it takes and he will put out all the stops to get players in to compete.”
Former Ashton Athletic joint-manager Piert is relishing the chance to return to the Merseyside club – originally established in 1901 and re-founded in 1946 – and be- lieves there are brighter times ahead.
“I’m proud to have the job, managing my town’s football club is a special thing,” he said.
“I’m excited by everything that’s going on off the field and know it will help us build a successful team. We’re at the start of something special.”
Scott, meanwhile, is keen to boost the club’s cause with his musical links. The Clone Roses have already been going strong for 24 years.
He added: “If someone had said back in ’98 that we would still be doing this almost 25 years later, we would have said they were crazy.
“At some point I would like to do some sort of fundraiser for the club.
“If there’s anything we can do to raise the profile of the club, we’ll do it.”
