The football coaching business set up by Manchester United and England legend Sir Bobby Charlton has entered liquidation.
Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy was set up by the World Cup winner in 1978 and was said to be the first of its kind. It staged football skills sessions around the country and is credited with helping to discover David Beckham.
Sir Bobby is no longer involved in the company.
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And, a notice on The Gazette has now confirmed the company entered voluntary liquidation just before Christmas. Paul Weber, partner at advisory firm Leigh Adams, is overseeing the process.
According to a document filed with Companies House, the business owed almost £40,000 to its creditors when it entered liquidation.
That includes just over £30,000 to Lloyds Bank, which had provided a Covid-19 Bounce Bank Loan, and almost £9,000 to the firm's sole director, Geraldine Shiels.
On LinkedIn, she is named as the company's managing director, a post she has held since September 2008.
The Manchester Evening News understands that the Covid-19 pandemic hit the company hard as most of its students were made up of young people who would travel to the UK from abroad to take part in its residential courses.
The company had been run by John Shiels as managing director from 1979 to 1999. He left to join Nike and is currently the chief executive of the Manchester United Foundation.
The Manchester Evening News has contacted Leigh Adams, Bobby Charlton Soccer & Sports Academy and Mr and Mrs Shiels for a comment.
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