Supporters set takeover target

Well over a hundred supporters met at Chadwell Village Hall to launch the scheme after former owner and beneficiary Andy Swallow announced he was stepping away from the day-to-day running of the Blues towards the end of last season.

Fans, who must raised £30,000 by the end of July to see their takeover given the green light by the Football Association and the Ryman League, are being backed by James Mathie from Supporters Direct who has helped clubs including AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester United make the transition to supporter-run models.

Life president Glyn Jarvis and interim chairman Steve Skinner, pictured speaking at last weekend's event, urged as many supporters as possible to get behind the community share offer and turn their dream into a reality as talks progress with their local authority and other partners on plans to build a community stadium to bring the club home from exile.

Supporters are being offered the opportunity to become members of the newly formed Grays Athletic Community Football club by purchasing shares in the club up to the amount of £10,000. A membership fee of £30 will go towards the running of the Blues and £1 of that will entitle fans to vote in the newly formed democratic organisation.

A Blues spokesman said: "We have had some fantastic feed back since the share launch and our supporters have embraced the community share offer with real gusto. We are extremely excited at the prospect of Grays Athletic becoming a supporters owned club, you only have to look at the recent success of AFC Wimbledon to see the benefits of a club being run by its supporters.

"£30,000 is a large amount of money but we are confident that we can raise the required funds to meet the FA and league approvals by the end of July. We would like to invite all our supporters to get behind the community share offer and become active members of this fantastic football club."

To become a member and purchase shares in Grays Athletic Community football club visit www.graysathletic.co.uk to download an information pack and share application form. For more information on Supporters Direct visit: www.supporters-direct.org.

Follow us: @rymanleaguenews on Twitter | Ryman League group on Facebook