Shropshire Council admits failures over £80,000 TNS football grant
Shropshire Council has admitted mistakes were made over an £80,000 grant paid to Oswestry-based The New Saints Football Club.
The club was given the money six years ago, but only repaid £10,000.
An audit report has revealed the money, from the Market Town Revitalisation Programme, was not recovered "due to officers leaving the council".
A council spokeswoman said: "The council took steps to recover funds within the terms of the grant agreement, but this was not properly followed through.
"Some of this can be explained by multiple handover of the project due to officers leaving the council, but overall management of this has not been satisfactory and does not meet our usual and expected standards.
"However, such internal matters do not affect the council’s rights to enforce the terms of the grant agreement, which it is in the process of doing."
The council also said a number of officers involved with the project have since left the council, and it is therefore unable to determine who the failure is attributable to.
The club, which has always maintained it met the agreement, was granted £80,000 to install new seats to allow it to compete in European matches.
A total of £16,000 a year was supposed to be paid to the Oswestry Economic Board to benefit the town, but the group disbanded.
Shropshire Council is now seeking to recover the money in line with the terms of the grant agreement.
