Management have voted in favour of EBAC Northern League division 2 club, Blyth Town Football Club First Team, to change its name to a simpler Blyth AFC.
The team name will also be shortened to ‘Blyth Town AFC’ for the 2017/18 season which kicks off on August 9th in an away game against Esh Winning (kick off 19.45).
The club issued a statement to clarify, which began: “The business name at Companies House had its name changed in May of this year, leaving the club to be named Blyth AFC Limited. The team name will be Blyth Town AFC.
“Blyth AFC Ltd will be used in official club statements, regarding any of our commercial operations and Blyth Town AFC will be used when talking about the team.”
Chairman Barry Elliott said: “The shortening of the name is simply to avoid confusion about the different clubs and teams who share the grounds, as well as to be less of a mouthful.
“In a commercial world, the shorter the name, the better. It is about identity so we hope the new name and brand will help people differentiate a little more to understand that we are a stand-alone club.”
The FA Charter Standard Club was established in 2015 after Mr. Elliott approached Blyth Town Football Club to invest up to £500,000 in its grounds and facilities to achieve a Grade H standard required by the FA for the team to accept promotion from Northern Alliance League into the Northern League.
The investment included building a new flood-lit training ground, pitch upgrade and upgrades to the changing rooms, along with improvements to the club house facilities for all teams and visitors to enjoy.
“We are proud of our affiliation with all teams in Blyth,” he continued. “I’m born and bred here and a supporter of teams like Blyth Spartans, so if any team in any club can achieve a bit of success for the town, that’s fantastic. And ground sharing also helps join communities and support for all teams who play.”
Ending in 8th position in their first season in EBAC Northern League division 2, Blyth Town AFC has qualified for the FA competitions in the 2017/18 season, an accomplishment the management feels could not have been achieved without the ongoing support received.
He added: “We did well last season for being new to the league and will soon begin training and gearing up for next season with a number of pre-season friendlies in place along with a few new signings to be confirmed, so the management team and I are very hopeful that we can achieve our target of promotion to division one this time around.
“The continued support this season will be instrumental in helping the team achieve the success we all have been working so hard for and cannot thank the supporters and everyone at Blyth Town Football Club and beyond enough for their encouragement and look forward to an exciting new season.”