Paul Stretford takes full ownership of Rylands Recreation Club

The Guardian can reveal the freehold for the Gorsey Lane site has now been acquired by Stretford’s Triple S Sports & Entertainment Group, whose head office is in Lymm.

Ownership of the club – established in 1906 by Rylands Brothers – passes from the Extra Care Charitable Trust, who had run the site since 2001.

Triple S, who count current Manchester United captain Harry Maguire and England’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney among their clients, have provided sponsorship for the club since 2012.

They have helped Warrington Rylands 1906 Football Club to new heights on the football field as well as overseeing the birth of new facilities off the pitch, including Strettie’s Bar and Grill in the clubhouse.

Rylands had been home to tennis, cricket, bowls and rugby league sections but is now used solely for football, with junior and women’s sides joining the first team, who have just reached the FA Vase quarter finals for the first time in their history to put them just two wins away from a Wembley Stadium final.

Warrington Rylands have reached the quarter-finals of this season's FA Vase. Picture by Mike Boden

Warrington-born Stretford, who played football for the club in the 1970s and 1980s having attended Bruche Primary School and Woolston High School, says the club can now continue to flourish as a community hub under the ownership of Triple S.

“As an international sports and entertainment arketing agency, we are delighted that our sponsorship of Rylands has helped to support the club for several years,” he said.

“We have been part of the growth of the grassroots Rylands Community Football Club, which now has in excess of 300 players, from Junior local football to open age teams.

“We are also pleased to have contributed to the success of Warrington Rylands 1906 FC, with the club rising from a Cheshire League club to the North West Counties Premier League, and now on the cusp of becoming a Northern Premier League club under the FA National League restructure programme.

“Sport has been a part of Rylands Recreation Club since 1906 and our purchase of the site will enable sport to thrive and continue at Gorsey Lane into the next century.”

Paul Stretford. Picture: Mike Boden

As well as their base in Lymm, Triple S have offices in London and China and clients of the group include top football clubs such as Liverpool, Real Madrid, Juventus, Newcastle United and West Ham United.

Alongside Unicef, they are also the brains behind the “Soccer Aid” charity football match involving famous ex-players and celebrities from around the world, which has helped raise more than £47 million since its inception.

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