BOLTON Road Sports Club has been present in Church Ward, Bury, for more than 75 years.

In that time the club has served the youth and community with a dedication that has won the praise and blessing of the English Sports Council nationally, and Bury Sports Advisory Council and Bury Metro Sports Council locally, which speaks volumes for the efforts of the club.

So the membership, along with hundreds of supporters, are both amazed and distressed that Church Ward councillors Roy Walker and Jack Walton, though invited, have not yet discussed the current issues with the sports club committee, which at the very least would have given the councillors a more rounded picture of the matters in question.

Despite our club having enjoyed an active presence in the area for far longer than the Ainsworth Chase protesters, the councillors prefer to tie their colours to a body which, to its shame, has done its best to denounce Bolton Road Sports Club and its members by luridly suggesting that a move to Dow Lane would bring with it drugs, drink and vandalism.

It is a pity that these critics, and the councillors, were not present at a recent cricket match at Bolton Road, where they would have seen five lads under 16 and two current Lancashire and England disabled cricketers in action, along with a young man with learning difficulties operating the scoreboard.

This is the true spirit of the club, and we are content that we have not had to resort to untruths to garner support in our eight-year struggle to keep the Bolton Road flag proudly flying.

Failure to relocate will spell the end of our club, which will be an irreplaceable loss to the town and its citizens.

THE TRUSTEES,

Bolton Road Sports Club.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.