One year on from AFC Telford's US investment, Bucks working to grow the club
Just over a year on from the US-based investment in AFC Telford United, Kevin Wilkin has revealed work is being done off the pitch to grow the club commercially.
The consortium, which is led by Telford-born Hollywood film director Chris Ball, purchased 21 per cent of the club in February 2024, but have operated very much in the background during their first year involved at the club.
At the time of their investment, Ball insisted the consortium’s investment would help keep the club secure financially, saying: "In our minds, the football club has to be sustainable and must endeavour to operate on a break-even or near break-even basis.
"Success on and off the pitch are very much intertwined and our consortium is looking to be an active and engaged group of investors.”
When asked to describe his relationship with the group, Bucks boss Kevin Wilkin admitted there has not been too many discussions throughout the last 12 months and is hoping performances on the pitch can convince them to invest more money into the club.
“I don’t have a whole lot of interaction with (the investors) in truth, but certainly whenever they come over to watch games I meet with them, and I had a Zoom call with them before the season started,” Wilkin explained. “They’re interested in the club and have invested some money in it, and hopefully there’s enough encouragement for them to invest some more. Who knows?”
He added: “Any investment is always welcome at the club, because any extra money coming into the club makes everyone’s lives a little bit easier.
“There were some shares available, and they brought them which is great, and hopefully we can grow their interest.”
And while focus may be on the investment from across the pond, Wilkin also discussed the importance of growing Telford’s commercial value at home in Shropshire and around the country.
“We recently had a fans forum, and tapping into the businesses local to us would be another area of interest,” he said. “I know we do that already, but commercially there is a lot out there that seems to be untapped and it’s important we try and get into that.
“Our staff do a great job, and they do generate a lot of money from businesses already, but listening to people at the forum it sounds like there’s a lot of untapped potential out there.”
Wilkin continued: “We’re always looking for ways to continue to grow and develop the club, and there was a lot of good feedback and good will within the room on the night.
“The common goal is obviously getting out of the division and building a feeling about the place which will allow us to tap into things that are out there.
“It’s not an easy time for people at the moment, but if we can squeeze everything we can out of the local businesses and continue to get people coming in and supporting the team it just helps everybody at the club.
“People want that, and now it’s about putting the investment and everything else within the club to good work to drive us forward on and off the pitch.”
