Cricket’s forever home in Wavertree: Fundraising fight goes on to secure club’s future

Words by HENRY ECCLES

Phill O’Brien, Chairman of Wavertree Cricket Club

In mid-September, Phill O’Brien was walking down the path that ran alongside Wavertree Cricket Club when he bumped into a woman walking her dog. 

Unaware that she was speaking to Wavertree’s chairman, she mentioned the work the cricket club had done replacing the wall that used to block the community’s view of the ground with a much more open fence. 

O’Brien said: “I ended up stopping and chatting to her for a bit. I explained the situation with the ground, and do you know what? She bought a community lottery ticket off me right there.”

2025 was a strong season for Wavertree as their second XI won promotion to the Premier League for the first time by winning the first division. But off the field, their future has been up in the air for almost a year. 

At the end of 2024, O’Brien was made aware that Wavertree Sport & Recreation 1921 Limited, the company that owns the land on which the cricket club sits, would be upping the cost of rent to £20,000 per year. 

This was a steep jump from the current cost of £6,000, and ultimately too high a fee for the club to continue to pay in the long run.

Despite the doubt this cast over the cricket club’s future, O’Brien stressed the positive relationship he had with the company.

2025 Teams of the Year: Premier Division

Division One

Division Two

“I understand why they’re doing what they’re doing,” he said.

“These aren’t people I have a bad relationship with, the people that run the company, they’re people that I respect.

“We had really constructive discussions about what could be a way forward.”

O’Brien and Wavertree approached the company to buy the land outright, but were ultimately turned down. 

Instead, an agreement was reached in November 2024, whereby the cricket club would buy the controlling shares of the company for £200,000 by December 2026. 

For a club that is used to paying £6,000 a year in rent, raising £200,000 in 26 months will be a mammoth undertaking. 

But O’Brien is cautiously optimistic and has the utmost faith in the cricketing community.

He said: “It’s a very peculiar set of circumstances.

“If we were buying the ground, the ECB would help – but because we’re buying the shares, they can’t.

“I’m not feeling badly done to, it’s an exciting challenge. If we get it right, we become rent free.”

Along with the cricket ground, if Wavertree can raise the funds they will also be in control of the clubhouse building, carpark, and road that runs up the side of the ground.

“There’s 3,000 square foot of land that comes with buying the company which would give us the opportunity to generate revenue and be very self-sustaining moving forwards.”

With an important year of fundraising ahead, O’Brien was keen to share some of the initiatives already put in place to get Wavertree on the road to self-sustenance. 

He said: “We’re shortly, alongside Redmen TV, launching a sporting memorabilia raffle.

“If anybody has any sporting memorabilia they’d like to donate then that would be greatly appreciated.

“In the new year, we hope to launch a 50/50 campaign in which we get 50 people to raise £50.

“Into next summer, we’ve got two more family fun days planned. We had our first at the end of this season and it went down really well.”

---

The event was captured by a group of media students from Edge Hill University, who later produced a video to aid the fundraising campaign. 

O’Brien’s focus is on the community lottery. Players by one ticket a month for £10, and each winner receives 50% of the pot, up to £250. He was keen to share that the lottery has been supported by a number of people in the local cricketing community but believes there are even more people who would get involved if they knew about it.

“We already have 170 members paying £10 a month to play,” he said.

“We’ve had really great support from the cricketing community with this, with people from 10 other cricket clubs in the area playing.

“Stuart Broad, the chairman of Spring View CC, was a recent winner.

“The support we’ve had so far has been brilliant but I’m sure there are more people in the cricketing community who would be willing to spare £10 a month to help us out.

“If we do have to end up borrowing money, the lottery shows any lender that we’ve got consistent support.”

Over the last 12 months, O’Brien has seen first-hand the huge impact that community support can have on such a huge undertaking.

A recent visit from the government minister for sports and culture, Stephanie Peacock, shows that the club’s cause has reached a national level.

O’Brien said: “She was there having a look at the place, and took part in some cricket, but the most important thing was the discussions she had with us about our future.

“She’s going away to have a look at what options there might be for funding for us.”

---

The next 12 months are going to be ones of uncertainty and the goal won’t be achieved overnight, but instead through sustained hard work from within the club and generous support from the wider cricketing community.

The magnitude of the task ahead is not lost on O’Brien but given the community input he’s already seen and now the support offered by Ms Peacock and MP Paula Barker means he remains optimistic.

He added: “Wavertree Cricket Club is a registered charity so if we buy the controlling shares they become an asset of the charity and this locks them forever for community use.

“Even if in the future they have to be sold the money would have to go to something cricket or sport-related in the community.”

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/53MhJB1