7500 To Holte - Peter Withe, Joey Dunn Out at Stockport Sports: A Club in TurmoilVilla Til We Cryhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46611/7500-fave.png2012-11-20T17:18:54+00:00http://7500toholte.sbnation.com/rss/stream/34353872012-11-20T17:18:54+00:002012-11-20T17:18:54+00:00Stockport Sports financial woe is "utter nonsense"
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<p>After Peter Withe's resignation as manager of Stockport Sports FC on Monday, rumors swirled that the club had seen its financial backing removed. According to the club's Commercial Manager, those rumors are "utter nonsense"</p> <p>Last night, we brought you the news that <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://7500toholte.sbnation.com/">Aston Villa</a> legend Peter Withe had resigned from his managerial position at Stockport Sports FC. No reasons were given by either the club or Withe, and rumors began to circulate on twitter that the club had seen it's financial backing pulled. Obviously, for a team so low in the pyramid, every dollar counts, and the loss of backing would likely be a crippling blow to the team. </p>
<p>In an email from Richard Smales, the club's Commercial and IT manager, the claims of dire financial straits were called "utter nonsense."</p>
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<p>Reports that the clubs backers/funding has been withdrawn is utter nonsense, we are all at the club to build for a bright future it just happens this wouldn't be with Peter Withe in charge unfortunately. </p>
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<p>The claim seems to be corroborated by the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/stockportfc2012/news/long-term-agreement-reached--778421.html">team's announcement today </a>that they have reached a long-term agreement to stay at the Stockport Sports Village, which is quickly becoming known as one of the best venues in the NWCFL. </p>
<p>In an earlier email, Smales told me that they've had numerous applications come in for Withe's vacated position, which is apparently positive sign for the club, since it hasn't even been advertised yet. </p>
<p>When I contacted the club's chairman, John Hindley, however, he was loathe to provide any more details, saying that a club statement would be coming soon:</p>
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<p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/7500_robert">7500_robert</a> @<a href="https://twitter.com/7500toholte">7500toholte</a> yes robert there will be an official club statement soon, thanks for your articles</p>
— JohnHindley (@hindley_john) <a data-datetime="2012-11-20T14:22:59+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/hindley_john/status/270895014266159106">November 20, 2012</a>
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<p>Meanwhile, Peter Withe himself has been<a href="https://twitter.com/Peter_Withe/" target="_blank"> graceful on his twitter feed today</a>, sending words of encouragement to his now-former players. </p>
<p>The Saxon's have another match at 2000 GMT, and hopefully we'll hear some more after that. Be sure to keep checking back for details as the story develops. </p>
https://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2012/11/20/3671362/withe-resignation-aston-villa-stockport-sports-fcRobert Lintott2012-11-20T02:02:04+00:002012-11-20T02:02:04+00:00Withe Resigns and Stockport Sports is in Turmoil
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<p>Stockport Sports accepted the resignation of Peter Withe on Monday, and there's almost no explanation available. It seems as if the club is absolutely in turmoil. </p> <p>Stockport Sports FC <a target="_blank" href="http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/stockportfc2012/news/club-statement-777653.html">accepted the resignation of their manager</a> (and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://7500toholte.sbnation.com/">Aston Villa</a> legend) Peter Withe on Monday. The move comes as a total surprise and without any explanation given whatsoever. The move came a few hours after assistant manager Joey Dunn announced on twitter that he would no longer be with the club: </p>
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<p>All the very best to Peter and the lads at Stockport Sports for the rest of the season, been great working with you all. Time to move on</p>
— joey dunn (@joeydunn99) <a data-datetime="2012-11-19T09:39:01+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/joeydunn99/status/270461165438656513">November 19, 2012</a>
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<p>At 1713 GMT, Peter Withe<a href="http://www.twitlonger.com/show/k2js1v" target="_blank"> posted this to his twitter account</a> (tweet not embedded because he used TwitLonger): </p>
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<p>Peter Withe has not been able to continue in his role at Stockport Sports FC and has resigned today. Peter relished the opportunity given to him at Stockport, but unfortunately his aspirations and ambitions for the future of the Club could not be fully realised. </p>
<p><br>Following legal advice, no further comment will be made. </p>
<p>-- Peter Withe (@Peter_Withe) November 19, 2012</p>
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<p>Making this whole thing even sketchier is the fact that the club refuses to comment, <a href="https://twitter.com/StockportFC2012/status/270554388186148865" target="_blank">replying to one twitter user's inquiry by saying</a>: "Peter resigned today and no further comment will be made." Technically, the team are not publicly owned and are therefore not obliged to give any reasoning whatsoever. Nevertheless, they have made no bones about the fact that <a href="http://www.7500toholte.com/2012/11/6/3607248/stockport-report-making-a-non-league-club-run" target="_blank">they welcome monetary support</a> from fans, and it seems reasonable to expect that they would give those same fans an explanation. (Full disclosure: I am one of those fans who has given to the club, so I am not totally unbiased here.)</p>
<p>The move comes after the Saxons lost yet another league match on Saturday, <a href="http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/stockportfc2012/news/squires-gate-2-0-stockport-spo-777125.html" target="_blank">falling 2-0 to Squires Gate</a>. The defeat puts the club in 10th place in the NWCFL, 12 points below promotion level, and pretty much dead in the water. Given the competition, they can probably maintain their position in the NWCFL Premier division without much trouble, but anything else is just crazy at this point. </p>
<p>I've been fishing around, trying to get some answers for what's happened, and I will absolutely have a follow-up to this. No word yet on who will take Withe's spot, or what will even become of the club. There are rumors on twitter that the team's funding has been pulled, but I can't find anything concrete to back them up. Stick around for more Stockport Sports FC news. </p>
https://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2012/11/20/3668854/peter-withe-joey-dunn-stockport-sports-aston-villaRobert Lintott