Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools, where a 12-year-old David Beckham famously won the national skills final before becoming a global superstar, is going bust. The Times has learnt that the company running the schools has appointed a liquidator to oversee a voluntary winding-up order.
The formal decision was made at a creditors’ meeting in Bury on Thursday and Companies House will receive the necessary documents next week. The news heralds the end of a 27-year-old institution set up by one of the country’s best known and most loved footballers, who wanted to ensure youngsters had access to high-quality coaches during the summer holidays.
Despite still lending his name to the venture and his face to the website, Sir Bobby Charlton has not been involved with the company for several years. In May, the company mysteriously changed its name from Bobby Charlton Sports Schools Ltd to Sports Schools Ltd. Soon after, the only director, John Shiels, resigned and the company applied for a creditors’ voluntary liquidation under the Insolvency Act 1986. Shiels, who holds a Uefa coaching licence, now runs the Manchester United Soccer Schools (MUSS) from Old Trafford.
MUSS is owned by a subsidiary of Nike, the US sports goods maker that has a £303 million merchandising agreement with United, and runs courses nationally and internationally for children and adults.
The latest accounts dated January 31, 2004 for Bobby Charlton Sports Schools Ltd offer a sketchy picture of the company’s finances. The value of its assets less current liabilities was £160,047.
The key figure offering any clue to mounting financial trouble was £734,569 of creditors falling due within one year. On its website, the company, based in Knutsford, is still offering places for courses this year, including a junior residential school in August for £280 a head, and is publicising plans for an international coaching programme at Bolton Wanderers next year.