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Ken Loach calls on community to help bid to save Bath City FC

British film director Ken Loach
Image: British film director Ken Loach

Film director Ken Loach has urged Bath City fans to dig deep to help raise the final £5,000 needed to take the club into community ownership.

Bath City's future will be decided in the next 48 hours as fans have until Wednesday to convert last year's pledges totalling £300,000 into shares.

That would allow the Bath City Supporters Society to take a majority stake in the club. Community ownership is seen as the best option to help develop the club and clear its debts.

Residents and businesses can back the bid by buying shares from £250 or from £1,000 for organisations. Anyone who buys shares can then vote and have a say on how the club is run, as opposed to a board of directors.

Loach, who has twice received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, explained: "The plan was first hatched over a year ago. We didn't make the target then which was a bigger target but the current board have come to an agreement with the supporters.

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"When we have raised this money we will have raised this money we will own over 50 per cent of the club and it will really enhance the club's prospects.

"It means the club will be a hub for all the different activities in the community, from young mothers with kids to old people with a centre for community activity. It will transform the club."

Bath City currently sit eighth in National League South with 19 points from 12 games so far this season.

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