Shane Lynch and Brian McFadden bid to turn Chorley into ‘new Wrexham’ and try ‘win the Prem’

Shane Lynch and Brian McFadden bid to turn National League North side Chorley into the ‘new Wrexham’ and try ‘win the Prem’.

The former members of the popular 90s boy bands Boyzone and Westlife, are embarking on an ambitious project to elevate the semi-professional football club to the heights with the aim being Premier League.

The musicians have become shareholders of Chorley FC, which currently plays in the National League North, six tiers below the Premier League. Their aim is not only to increase the club’s visibility but also to foster community spirit, boost attendance, and secure sponsorships to finance the club’s ascent through the football leagues.

Unlike a purely commercial venture, their approach emphasises community involvement. Shane Lynch mentioned the project as a “ten-year endeavour” aimed at growing Chorley as a town alongside the club. This community-oriented strategy resonates with the spirit of local football clubs where the team is deeply intertwined with the town’s identity.

The club currently sit 2nd in the table, level on points with leaders Scunthorpe United. The 23/24 season saw Chorley finish 4th, but lost to Brackley in the playoff semi final.

Brian said to The Sun: “You know, we’re hoping this year we can get up out into the National League, and then, you know, the big dream, obviously, is to be playing league football, you know, to get into the professional league, which would be unbelievable, but you gotta take each season as it comes, and, you know, we’re so close last year. I think we’re close.”

Shane: “Hey, look. We’re on a 10 year project here, you know. And this is, coming into year 2 if you wanna really look at it. And we’ve got lots of ideas for the grounds, for the game, to grow this as Chorley, as a town, you know, to switch on the Christmas lights. So it’s all community based in much of a light.”

Brian: “Yeah. I think it’s important. When we spoke to everybody last year when we came here first, I think they they kind of there was a bit of a worry for us when we were coming in. Were we gonna come in and ruin what they already have. Because they’ve got this amazing community support.

“And, you know, Chorley Football Club belongs to the people of Chorley. It’s their club, and I think there was a worry that we might come in and try and, you know, make it a bit I was gonna say use the word Hollywood, but, you know, kinda throw money at it and make it all, you know, get a little bit ahead of themselves. We you know, we said we couldn’t do that. We had to let this grow naturally.

“You know, we can do whatever we can to try and help get some more sponsorship, but this has to be done at proper level. We can’t just throw loads of money at it and, you know, expect everyone to say. It doesn’t work like that, so we gotta help nourish it and grow it. And, you know, if we get up this year into National League, then it’s a whole new project. And I think our involvement and what we can do will grow as the club grows and the further up we go up that pyramid.”

Shayne: “So we didn’t come in to take over a team. We’ve we’ve come to join these teams and to to grow however we can grow as opposed to coming in and say, you know, running the show. It’s all the involvement of the whole thing. We’re as much players as the players in that respect, you know. It’s we we have to work together.”

Brian: “But I think, yeah, it’s the same as Wrexham, though. We have aspirations like they do. You know, I wake up some nights thinking this up. We’re gonna win the Premier League in the next 30 years. You know what I mean? We have to dream big, and we just gotta aim for the top. You know?

“But as I said, we we have to just take each season to come. I think we learned that the hard way last year. I think we were very confident to go up last year. Just that last game of the season. It was the one defeat and cost us.”

Shane: “It was kind of a fairy tale because we’ve just come in and we were looking good, got to the playoffs, and we think, oh, is it gonna actually happen? I was like, oh my gosh. And it didn’t.”

Brian: One thing reality check though, isn’t it? For everybody as well. I think everybody was was buzzing off season, but now they know, you know, you can never take your foot off the gas. You’ve gotta keep working hard, and you can see now that, you know, you see it in the team and a great start to this season.

“They’re working so hard because they know how close they were last year. But they also know that just a little bit more would have got them across the line. So you can see they’re putting that effort in there.

Shane: The football side of things, what’s on the pitch stays on the pitch, and what’s off the pitch kinda stays off the pitch. And we try not to bleed into both, and we know we’re here as investors. We’re here as participants in making this club, growing this club over this next, I said 10. You said 30 years. So we’re here.

Brian: I was like, I when I was in in, you know, signed to big record, I hated when they told me you had to sing so we’re not definitely not gonna tell them how to play football, you know. It’s like we say, you know, it’s very different because, you know, we were the footballers when they kept to sing, and it was our business, and and, you know, the team was the band.

“But for us, as Shano said, we just want to be a part of this, you know, to it’s and it’s been so nice as well to be coming to a new deal, Chorley, and for them to embrace us as well. We’ve had, you know, multiple welcomes since we’ve arrived.

“And, you know, this is something that I want, you know, when I’ve got grandchildren, I wanna be able to say, I was a part of that. I was a little small part of that Chorley FC story, and it’s just something that you hopefully, we can take to the grave. There’s a little bit of a legacy that we’re involved in something as wonderful as this could.

“It’s one of those things you look at you look at excellent, and, you know, if if we do go up into National League and and when it needs to when the club needs them more money to be invested, and that’s the great thing that you have with us here that we can help to, you know, generate more money, get bigger sponsorship.

“But that’s hopefully when our kind of value to the club will start to become apparent when they need it because it’s not needed right now, you know. It’s when we start to go up is when we need to kinda pull our socks up, isn’t it?”