Widnes FC has withdrawn its first team from all competitions due to ongoing issues with Halton Borough Council (HBC) regarding a proposed 36-year lease for the Corporation Club, which was abandoned due to unresolved parking issues.

Despite attempts to engage with HBC, including meetings and requests for updates, the club received no meaningful response.

The club expressed disappointment at the lack of support from HBC and the local MP, especially compared to other local clubs.

The junior section has been secured as Widnes FC Juniors to ensure its continuation.

The club apologised to fans, thanked its committee, players, staff, and the Northern Premier League for their support, and encouraged continued support for non-league football.

It is with great sadness that Widnes Football Club has decided to withdraw it’s Men’s First Team from all competitions with immediate effect pic.twitter.com/TGgTvWDFlU

— (C) Widnes Football Club (@Widnes_FC) June 29, 2025

CLUB STATEMENT:

Widnes Football Club has decided to withdraw its Men’s First team from all competitions with immediate effect

It is with great sadness that Widnes Football Club has decided to withdraw its Men’s First team from all competitions with immediate effect.

The club has been funded by shareholders over the years with the aim of one day owning and operating our own ground, creating a sustainable working model not reliant on any group or individuals.

We recently withdrew our application for the council-owned Corporation Club that we had agreed a 36-year lease on due to a lack of support or will from Halton Borough Council (HBC) to overcome parking issues at the site.

The club engaged with HBC when the ground move was obviously in jeopardy.

The HBC CEO responded with the offer of ‘pulling together a meeting’, which never materialised.

The club did however meet with HBC Executive Officers where we laid out our short term and longer-term needs.

We felt at that meeting that we had made headway.

Since then, the club had only received contact to confirm what we had discussed during our meeting.

The club pressed for an update and then again for a further update with a deadline set for a response as footballing dates approached.

No response was received, nor even to just acknowledge receipt.

It’s not lost us on that the new Runcorn MP visited her local club calling it ‘a jewel in the crown’ of their community while we couldn’t even get an email reply or a simple congratulations as Northern Premier League West Champions from anyone at HBC or our local MP.

We just don’t matter enough.

We recently secured the future of our junior section, arranging for them to become Widnes FC Juniors under their own affiliation so that today’s news didn’t affect their football.

The club offers our deepest apologies to our fans that we couldn’t deliver what we set out to do, despite our very best efforts.

We would also like to thank our committee, players and staff for their professionalism over the last few testing weeks and for standing by us while we tried to work through the issues.

Steven Irwin and Sean Miller together deserve special praise for working non-stop in a bid to start the season while accepting there weren’t any guarantees that we ever could.

We would finally like to say a massive thanks to the committee at the Northern Premier League for all their help and support over the last seven years.

To all member clubs and fans, thank you – keep supporting non-league!

It’s a very sad day for us all at the club and we really do hope you keep your fires burning.

🔴 NPL statement: Widnes FC withdrawalhttps://t.co/RVhTXnf4Mg

— The Pitching In Northern Premier League (@NorthernPremLge) June 29, 2025

LEAGUE STATEMENT:

The Northern Premier League was saddened to receive notice of Widnes FC’s resignation from the league with immediate effect.

The club has issued a statement today confirming the withdrawal of its men’s first team from all competitions.

Under FA Standardised Rule 5.5.2 (d), as the league is now constituted, the effect of Widnes’ resignation is that the NPL Premier Division will now be made up of 21 clubs for the 2025/26 season.

A decision on relegation positions will be made by the FA Operations Committee for Steps 1-4, that has the sole decision making powers in this respect.

The NPL’s commiserations and best wishes for the future go to Widnes FC chairman Ian Ross and his colleagues, the club’s volunteers and fans.

: Everyone here at CTFC are sorry to hear about this difficult decision to withdraw the Men’s First Team from all competitions, effective immediately. This is undoubtedly a painful moment for the players, staff, and the loyal fans who have supported the team through thick and thin.

: So the council who made it impossible for Widnes to gain their own ground to protect themselves financially in my opinion have now not protected their finances AND have not protected the community because their now is no club for the club to support. They must be proud.

: Very sad news as you have given me many great memories over the years especially last season. Such a shame that @HaltonBC are happy to ignore a community asset and seem hell bent on letting all the playing fields in the town disappear for 🏠

: Absolutely gutting, was looking forward to Warrington Town v Widnes and vice versa. Both our councils are a joke and do nothing to help the football clubs. Hope in the future you can rebuild and get back up to this level again.

: Really gutted for involved with the club. Any wanting a football im sure @Hednesford_Town would make you feel welcome. A sad day.

: This is incredibly sad for everyone connected with the club and a travesty of justice that a town council can allow this to happen as a successful football club is good for a town…. I hope the players all find a club to be part of to continue their football careers 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️⚽️

: Feel for you and the fans. A very sad day.

: Why do certain councils treat the beating heart of their communities with such disrespect and utter disregard? Widnes fans should be knocking on the council office doors demanding answers

: incredibly sad news shame on the council not even congratulating their win

: So very sad for the good, hardworking people at the club and supporters 😔

: Sad day for a very special club, full of incredible people. Heartbreaking to see them in this position after earning promotion. No team that’s worked so hard to win a league should face this. It was a real pleasure to be part of the club, even for a short time!! @Widnes_FC 🤍

: Sad day indeed

: Kick in the balls for football in the local area this. Genuinely gutted for everyone I know who has connections with the club.

: Shame on @HaltonBC

: A grim day for the volunteers, supporters and all playing and coaching staff, as well as the wider community of Widnes. All the best

: Absolute shocking from @HaltonBC and our local mp detek twig for allowing it to get this far. Feel for all the people behind the scenes @widnes and the local fans.

@AubsEFC1985: Awful and sad to see. Shame on @HaltonBC who have failed to understand how important football clubs are to local communities