Billericay dream is over

It's a familiar story. An apparently wealthy individual buys a non-league club and promises Football League status within a few years. Success proves to be costly and the money runs out. The owner sells up and the dream is over.

It is what has happened at Billericay Town. The club, which has been running with a reported £22,000 a week wage bill, is set to be taken over by Irish businessman David McCartney, but only if he can make it sustainable by slashing players' wages to £10,000 a week, still a lot for the second tier of the non-league pyramid.

Owner Glenn Tamplin has not been seen at the club for three weeks and it is believed that he no longer has the funds to meet the running costs. According to a report in the Non-League Paper some players and staff have not been paid. A number of players have left.

Glenn Tamplin bought the club in December 2016 and promised to get them in the Football League within five years. His business career was apparently based on liquidating and bankrupting a series of companies, leaving behind a trail of furious creditors, not least the Inland Revenue.

He recruited the former Premier League trio Jamie O’Hara, Paul Konchesky and Jermaine Pennant on high wages, not that they stayed around for long. Former Charlton player Konchesky quickly left to open a pie and mash shop. Tamplin built two new stands at Billericay’s New Lodge ground and financed an expensive new pitch which needed relaying after a season. He also redecorated the home dressing room with a lion mural which has been described as redefining the term garish. He is said to have pumped £2m into the club.

In February 2018 a police investigation has been launched into Tamplin after it was alleged he threatened former Cheltenham Town trialist Elliot Kebbie and his family. Following a row with the defender over his £4,000 a month contract, it is claimed that Mr Tamplin sent a message to the 23-year-old, saying he ‘did not want to get gangsters involved’. No action has followed the investigation.

Despite lacking coaching qualifications, and no history as a player, Tamplin appointed himself team manager. He then demoted himself to assistant, before sacking his replacement and reinstating himself. According to the Daily Telegraph, ‘so delighted was Tamplin by his side’s opening victory of the season back in August, that he unleashed his inner Alan Pardew and danced the whole length of the pitch at the final whistle, a David Brent-like shuffle that is more than worth a moment’s diversion on YouTube.’

Following a defeat to Woking, a Billericay fan reported him to the police, claiming that they had seen him snorting cocaine in the toilets. Tamplin vigorously denied these allegations. He was stopped by the police after leaving the ground and, dismayed by the police attention, put the club up for sale on the following Monday. However, he subsequently decided not to sell the club.

Nevertheless, Tamplin has defenders in Billericay who consider that he has reinvigorated the club.

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The Political Economy of Football V2

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