Isthmian League club tipped for exciting future after announcing multi-million pound acquisition

Isthmian League club Maldon and Tiptree are tipped for an exciting future after announcing a multi-million pound acquisition.

The acquisition is being spearheaded by the Essex-based Drewitt-Barlow Organisation, which has plans to buy both the club and its 20-acre stadium site.

The aim, as stated by DBO chairman Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, is to enhance the club’s capabilities and capacity, focusing on both on-field success and off-field development to attract sponsors and foster a successful partnership with fans and the fan club association.

This move is seen as an investment with potential for growth, aiming to elevate the club’s standing within the football pyramid.

They currently sit 15th in the Isthmian League North Division with 21 points from 18 games played, 7 points above the drop zone and 11 points from the playoff places.

CLUB SATEMENT 🍓

We would like to confirm there has been an offer accepted to acquire both the football club and all facilities at Park Drive.

We are happy to share a copy of The Drewitt-Barlow organisations press release. It can be viewed by clicking the image below ⬇️

— Maldon & Tiptree FC (@MaldonTiptreeFC) December 12, 2024

STATEMENT:

The Drewitt-Barlow Organisation (DBO) is pleased to announce that it is currently in talks with the current owners of Maldon and Tiptree Football club with a view to looking at the possible multi-million pound acquisition of the club and the 20 acre stadium.

Managing Director of the DBO, Aspen Drewitt-Barlow, said “my family have very strong ties to the local area, Maldon especially, where our family business has employed hundreds of locals for the past 30 years. My family have worked alongside the local community for many years, and we can see the opportunity in Maldon & Tiptree FC to bring the community together with a common interest of support”.

He continued with, “We want to invest in a local team that needs a new lease of life, so that we can bring much needed investment to the club and build on the already sound reputation built up over many years by the current owners. Our commitment will be to the team, the premises, and most importantly, to the fans, to give them the best possible experience we can”.

Chairman of the DBO, Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, said “Our aim is to implement a strategy that understands the ‘capacity’ and ‘capabilities’ of the club right now, and look how we can build on those areas, for the club to achieve greater things. We want to be realistic and not make unrealistic statements about future objectives without considering whether the club is capable of reaching them”.

“As an investment, we can see the potential in this club and want to help it grow, with the right people in place to make it a success. Obviously, on field success is a huge factor to attracting good sponsors for the club but, to make it successful, we need the fans and the fan club association, to work in conjunction with us, to make it as much of a success as possible. We cannot do this without the support of the local community, and we look forward to getting our hands dirty”.

“Our objective right away is focused on sustainability of the club and the ground. To Consolidate and take small steps, by protecting any progress already made with the new manager recently put in place, and to make enhancements based on the true capacity of the club and the team involved in running it. With this in mind, our business development team are already looking for local business owners and a “blue chip” stadium partner as potential sponsors to help keep it on an equal financial footing with its rivals”.

We are also lucky to have the current General Manager, Mitchell Cowling stay on as the Sporting Director, taking care of recruiting, transferring, and identifying new players who fit the club’s philosophy. He will also take an active role in setting up the new Maldon & Tiptree FC Football Academy that will provide education at BTEC level in Football. A vocational course that teaches students the skills and knowledge needed for a career in football, or to further their footballing development. We will work with the local council and planning department, to bring this education centre to Park Drive.

The GM position will now be filled by Scott Drewitt-Barlow, who will focus on building community projects and building a strong business development team for the business. He will also focus on the refurbishment of the entire stadium.

After the much needed renovation at the stadium, which will include all new changing areas, gym/leisure center and sports bar. The DBO plan to oƯer the stadium as an event venue, not only staging the matches but expanding the hospitality side of stadium and merchandise.

Rich House Poor House star, Ocean Chapman of Braintree Essex, who stared in the most watched episode of the show with both Barrie and Scott recently, has accepted the role of Executive Chef for the venue, and will be responsible for creating the menu for the sports bar, to be known as “The Jammers Sports Bar”. She will train a team of around 35 new staƯ members to work in the kitchens and serve guests at tables and on the bar, creating much needed local employment.

Ocean will also be taking care of event catering for wedding receptions, planned charity BBQ’s and other special family events that the new entertainment team are planning.

The aim would be to host other events at the stadium as appropriate, outside of matchdays. These revenues would be ploughed back into the operational side of the club and potentially help its cashflow. This long-term investment in the club and stadium as a multi-use arena, should generate strong revenues over time and help secure the viability and longevity of the club, which is what we all want to see.

The plans also include a dedicated business development team, whose job it will be to create revenue for the club. Helping to turn Maldon & Tiptree FC into a saleable brand and attract sponsorship and marketing opportunities in its own right. The uniqueness of the brand in the local area, coupled with The DBO connections with local Essex based businesses, will bring in much needed revenue to build a successful future for the club.

Aspen said, “As a local family business, we are keen to work with the local community and other businesses in the area to promote a strong community spirit. Through our business contacts in Essex, we have already secured a 3-year deal worth £350k, for kit sponsorship, stadium re-naming and a club signage deal from a local Essex based company, with a further £200k, 3-year player sponsorship deal from another local business, guarantying that the club can, and will, invest more into providing packages for players that will hopefully attract some better talent to the club. With this in mind, we have, and continue to do, our due diligence to make sure this project is a good fit for the DBO and we are hoping to complete real soon’.

Obviously, the complexity of this type of acquisition is harder than a regular business take over, with a lot more to look at etc, but the current owners of both the club and the stadium, are actually amazing to work with and continue to provide all the information needed to make the transaction as stress free as possible”.

Scott Drewitt-Barlow said “Our hope, is to build a community asset which will stretch beyond the local area, but will encompass all of the surrounding area of Essex. To achieve this the club needs to be able to grow, it must be sustainable with the help of the local community and fan base initially. It can only do this if the foundations are being built on sound investment, research, strategic planning, and a strong understanding of the football capacity of the club”.

Robbie Cowling Chairman, owner of Colchester United and owner of Aspire Media Group, owners of the Maldon Stadium, which is home of Maldon and Tiptree Football club, added –

“I am excited by Barrie and Scott’s interest and would be delighted to hand over the incredible stadium and facilities at Park Drive to them, confident they will take the club to the next level. During my ownership, the stadium has proudly hosted an FA Cup 1st round fixture against Morecambe and a 2nd round televised fixture against Newport County. I will always be a supporter of Maldon & Tiptree FC and am committed to ensuring Colchester United continues working with the club to provide a pathway to professional football for academy and grassroots players.”

Twitter users gave their reaction with the Isthmian League club tipped for an exciting future after announcing a multi-million pound acquisition…

@Alan_C_Taylor: This really is exciting times for all involved! I can’t wait to see what they will bring to our club. Makes such fantastic reading to see passion and ambition from the potential new owners.

@pje7: Happy days hopefully it can be concluded quickly and we can go on to much bigger and much better things

@paulwathen10: Great news for everyone involved with the jammers 🍓🍓🍓

@OllyMtz_: Exciting times… 🍓

@pje7: Please be true, wouldn’t it be great to have a stadium we can be proud of with great food and a positive atmosphere around the place

@RORawe26: Unreal news for you guys!

@MarkribetRibet: Best possible news better times ahead s 🍓 👏

@baggytb: This sounds absolutely amazing! Can’t wait for the new project to start and to get our club back. Amazing for the club and the town! Truly exciting times to be a jammer! ❤️🍓🍓🍓

@GaryRayner1: This is brilliant news. Can’t wait to these plans put into action

@GrahamM16661942: This is good news indeed. I, along with many of the fans of Maldon & Tiptree, have had to endure a torrid time, and seen the Club reduced to a laughing stock, a complete shambles where the JFA, a team of true fans, disregarded and banned by the Management. To the Future. COYJ.

@RJBuckby: Now it’s time to get excited and hope this comes off…. Can’t wait for the end of the current regime and we can all begin to look forward. #COYJ 🍓

@dabdbdab: Very jealous of you guys – hope we can get a sale for Col Utd as well