Truro City You Have Eight Days

An issue with Truro is that there's little real history of football clubs being "owned" in Devon and Cornwall outside of the three Football League teams. Seven or eight years ago Truro City wasn't too much different a club to what Buckland Athletic is now. In fact they were probably smaller with inferior facilities, lesser players, far less ambition and around the same number of supporters. Unless you followed the local game, you'd not really heard of Truro.

Kevin Heaney was probably the first real big-time "player" - with big-time ideas - to get involved in football in Cornwall. It was his plan, his achievement, his failure. You wonder if there's anyone else who really wants to take on such a serious a club that Truro has become.

The recent talk about the likes of Steve Massey was illuminating. From what I can gather Steve Massey is probably typical of an investor - or sponsor - at Peninsula level: most of the money goes direct to players (on an informal non-contract basis with no long-term obligation) with bits here and there to tidy up the place. Truro are now operating at another level with all sorts of infrastructure, contract and overhead considerations. Heaney, inadvertently, may have made the club too large an operation for anybody else. And, of course, he didn't make it pay and only got it as far as he did by spending a fair amount of cash. Not all of which was his own.

The level and nature of interest in Truro - much of which is pretty recent anyway - may be of a kind that will fade if Truro go down a league or two. After all that success playing in, say, the Southern League - a not inconsiderable achievement in itself - could be a damp squib. That would be a massive challenge for any new owner.

On the other hand, should the club go back to Peninsula football, you may see that as "nothing ventured, nothing gained" after a period of temporary success. That would be an enormous shame but you sense there are people who wouldn't be too upset by that.

I make that final point after reading a post on the Cornwall Football Forum which I've taken the liberty of reproducing below. Reading it, you wouldn't think that Truro have progressed from the forerunner of the Peninsula League to Conference South:

"Lets look back on Mr.Heaney's tenure:

- Came riding in on a white charger promising to save Truro City,(£150k in debt but with a ground worth mllions),mmm.

- Threw out the committee, his way or no way.

- Stopped all activities at club ie.pool,euchre,darts,ie alienated loyal supporters.

- No more bonfire nights,but really good earner.

- Stopped lorry drivers,(at the time £16k per anum without what they spent on food and drink).

- Charged youth teams to join Truro City (to help pay for their kits).pay for their kits).

- Alienated the good people of Truro and Kernow.

- Appeared to sack anybody that didn't agree with him,(how many managers)?

And worst of all changed the club colours."

That comes from Mr T. No doubt he's got a point with some of the things he has said. Nor do I believe his views are entirely representative. Others would say something entirely different.

But it does reveal an attitude that appears to prefer euchre, bonfires and Peninsula football.