The Irish pop stars Boyzone are set to become “the face” of non-league Chorley Football Club in a duet that perhaps no one saw coming.
Fans of the Lancashire side reacted with delight – and a little surprise – at the unlikely collaboration after it was announced by the club.
The Magpies said Ronan Keating’s band would attend their home game against Solihull Moors on Saturday as part of “ongoing discussions that could potentially see them becoming the face of the football club”.
They added: “This is a game-changer that has the potential to bring our town into the limelight like never before, generating a buzz and publicity that will shine a bright light on Chorley and the local area.”
The terms of the partnership are not yet clear, although Keating has denied that Boyzone is planning to buy the 140-year-old club.
However, the frontman told listeners to his Magic FM show on Thursday: “The rumours are true: Boyzone and Chorley FC are a match made in heaven.”
Chorley FC play in the National League North, the sixth tier of English football, but supporters will hope the celebrity backing will help spur it up the pyramid, similar to Wrexham’s success under the Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The side, which usually attracts attendances of just over 1,000, can expect a few more fans through the gates this weekend at its 975-seater stadium Victory Park, which is beloved for its wooden seats, hot Vimto and butter pie.
Tom Clarke, the club’s chief operating officer, said the duet had come about after Boyzone’s Shane Lynch attended a few of its games this season.
He told BBC Radio Lancashire on Thursday: “He loved what we were doing and the kind of atmosphere that we’ve got going on with the people at the club.”
Clarke said Lynch was originally introduced to the club through “a mate in the motoring industry” and that the collaboration had “kind of evolved from there out of nothing really”.
Alison Butler, secretary of the club’s official supporters trust, said she and a friend had been told to stop “acting like schoolgirls” when they heard the news.
Julian Vass, chair of the Magpies Supporters Trust, said: “Having a famous person come on board can hopefully only be good. We’re not expecting a Wrexham style [success] but anything to help the club and community move forward can only be good.”
The club, which was taken over last year by a London-based entrepreneur, Prince Yemoh, announced the Boyzone news shortly after being issued a winding up petition by HM Revenue and Customs [HMRC] on Tuesday.
The club has not returned a request to comment on the winding up petition but told the Magpies Supporters Trust that there had been “an oversight with documentation at HMRC and the matter has been resolved”. HMRC declined to comment.
The Guardian has also learned that Chorley FC is in advanced talks with a group of former soldiers about an investment in the club.
Mike Chadwick, a former paratrooper turned elite coach, said he and two other former servicemen, Dan Walker and Lee Matthews, were set to become “shared owners” in Chorley FC alongside Prince Yemoh.
He told the Guardian he was “incredibly excited” about the investment and the tie-up with Boyzone: “What’s the worst that can happen when you put one of the country’s best [loved] bands along with the country’s most elite soldiers together?
“There’s only one direction for Chorley Football Club and that’s up because we’ve won at every step and we’re not stopping now”.
