Three months ago, I blogged about a campaign set up with an aim to allow the community of Bath to take over its local football club, Bath City FC. In order for the takeover to be a success, £750,000 needed to be raised and Bath City fans, members of the community and local businesses were offered the chance to buy shares and become owners of the club. Last night was the deadline for selling the shares and raising the funds needed to launch a bid by the community to buy Bath City Football Club. Sadly, as had looked likely for the last few weeks, the required total of £750,000 was not raised.

However, despite this, over £300,000 of shares were sold, and given the fact that this was achieved in just 3 months, gives much cause for optimism. The Bid Team have today released a statement, pledging to everyone that despite not achieving the initial target, the future of a community-owned football club is very much alive.

As somebody who, along with my wife, has personally bought shares in the scheme, I am very encouraged by the news and thrilled that over £8,000 was raised during the final hours last night, in between me going to bed and waking up in the morning!

The statement from The Bid Team is below. More information and updates can be found on their website. Hopefully, I’ll be able to blog some more good news about The Bid in future weeks and months.

Statement from the Big Bath City Bid Team

“In just three months the Big Bath City Bid has attracted £303,276 in community funding from a wide range of individuals, local businesses, community groups, celebrities and Bath City supporters. Thank you to everyone who has supported the Bid – while we may not have reached our target just yet, we feel the genie is well and truly out of the bottle. The Bath City Supporters’ Society and the Big Bath City Bid team remain committed to community ownership as the best way to create a secure and prosperous future for Bath City FC. We are hopeful that we can build on the success of the last three months to continue to move towards that goal, and to inject new energy and enthusiasm into the club.

The share offer has closed, pending consultation with investors and supporters. An open meeting will take place at Twerton Park at 7pm on Monday 7 September. A questionnaire will also be circulated from 12th to 17th September to ensure that all investors have the chance to be heard. Based on this feedback and negotiations with the Board, a proposed way forward will be put to investors no later than Monday 21 September.

As always, no money can be taken from the community share offer unless we hit our target or otherwise receive the explicit consent of the investor. Anyone who wants to withdraw their pledge may do so, and may request that cheques and bank transfers are returned. We hope that investors will attend Monday’s meeting or await consultation prior to making any decision on what to do with their investment.

We would like to conclude by thanking our team of volunteers for all their hard work on this exciting project, and the people of Bath for their help and support as we strive to give this city the football club it deserves.”