Ardrossan Winton Rovers Archive
WINTON NET A WINNER
New Board Secure the park 'for the people'
A group of six dedicated men have guaranteed the future of Ardrossan Winton Rovers after more than decade of uncertainty.
At one stage the Ayrshire League outfit looked as if they would go out of business, but last Friday (June 24th 2005) the men whose hard work kept a team on the park secured the ownership of the ground.
In a £35,000 deal, Winton Park was bought by the new board of directors - Sam Morrison, Tom Ferrie, Jim Porter, Willie Kean, John Sheehan and Anthony Da Prato.
The new owners are registered as a company limited by guarantee, which means that no individual can take money out of the club and all revenue will be ploughed back into the infrastructure.
Delighted chairman Sam Morrison thanked the people of the town who not only helped raise the money to buy the ground, but had contributed to the transformation of Winton Park from a burnt out shell to one of the best venues in Ayrshire Junior Football.
He said "It feels magic, absolutely splendid. This park now belongs to Ardrossan Winton Rovers and by definition to the people of the town. We are now in control of Winton Park and we set up as a non profit making operation so no one can make money from the club."
"Any money made goes back into the club not to the shareholders. We will try to integrate Winton Park into the community and they can look at it as their park. There's a lot of good people in Ardrossan who rallied round us - we have had tremendous support from the town."
Sam and his fellow directors have been running the club for four years, paying bills and rebuilding a ground that was over run with weeds.
A well documented fire raising attack meant the social club had to be demolished, cutting off a vital source of revenue, and at that point it looked as if one of the oldest clubs in Ayrshire would fold.
But donations of building materials and the efforts of a group of unemployed men soon saw terracing replace the weeds. Then a lick of paint and some skillful landscaping completed the transformation of the ground into a venue fit for semi professional football.
But despite improvements off and on the park, the big problem for the Rovers was that the owners of the club and the ground were two separate groups pulling in different directions.
With the help of local man Douglas Rae, whose contribution Mr Morrison describeb as inestimable, a path was found and now the club and ground are owned by the new board.
Mr Rae, whose professional background is in arbitration, put his skills to good use when he came back to the town after more than 20 years.
He said "Both parties saw the situation differently and if progress was going to be made the first task was to find some common ground. Despite the difficulty of trying to run a football club without money or owning the ground, the new board's dedication was impressive and never wavered."
Chairman Sam Morrison also praised lawyer Martin McAllister who gave valuable advice about restructuring the club.
He said "We are extremely grateful for the marvellous help and guidance from Martin - he was an absolute stalwart. And when it looked as if it was going off the rails, Dougie came in and spent a lot of time talking to both groups and reconciling differences."
Winton Rovers made huge strides on the park in last season's Ayrshire League finishing third behind promoted Largs and Annbank.
But although next season will be a huge challenge with heavyweights Kilbirnie Ladeside and Irvine Meadow clear promotion favourites, the future is now looking brighter than ever for Ardrossan's finest.
This article has been reproduced by kind permission the editor, Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald.