Fifty-fifty chance “The Daten” will not survive the pandemic

THERE is a 50-50 chance that Culcheth Sports Club – still known by many local people as “The Daten” – might not survive the pandemic.

That’s the view of club secretary Stuart Nightingale as the Charnock Road club  faces an uncertain future following the end of Warrington’s second lockdown.
He said: “If Culcheth wants to keep what is a magnificent sports and social club, local people are going to have to use it. It could be a case of use it or lose it.”
The club has been struggling for some time – even before Covid-19 struck. A number of sections have closed – some of them blaming what they have described as a hard-line taken by the club committee.
There was particular anger of the closure of the club’s long established,  80-strong bowling section which led to the superb, floodlit bowling green being taken over for five-a-side football.
One bowler said: “The club was demanding a £4,500 fee upfront when, for years, we had been paying it off on a monthly basis. We could not raise this – but we offered to pay £2,500 up front and the balance monthly. But the club committee would not agree so we had no alternative but to leave.”
He said he understood other sections were considering leaving because they could not agree terms with the committee.
“We have in effect been kicked out – the club seems to have been taken over by the football section.”
But Mr Nightingale said: “I don’t know if the bowling section couldn’t pay or wouldn’t pay. But we could not reach an agreement. We offered the bowling green to the croquet section and the tennis section but neither wanted to take it on. In the end we let the five-a-side football take it over. And it was a member of the former bowling section who kicked the first ball.
“We realise the various sections have not been able to function during the lockdown so have not been receiving income from their members. But the main club has also lost its income. The bar has been closed and we have not been able to take bookings for weddings and other functions. But our monthly outgoings have continued – and it costs a lot to keep the building going. The heating alone is expensive and we have all sorts of specialist equipment to maintain.
“We cannot reserve parts of the club for people who may not come back when things return to normal – particularly when there are other people prepared to move in now.”
The Daten Club, as it was originally known, dates from around 1946 when it was built by the UK Atomic Energy Authority as a social club for their staff. It was purchased from the UKAEA in 1998 for £203,000.
But in the event of the present club failing, it will revert back to the UKAEA who would decide its future.