During a four-day bender, an Englishman bought a dilapidated local non-League football club while drunk. And it was the best drunken mistake he’s ever made.
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Rob Smethurst, a man from Macclesfield, a town in the north of England, thought he made a terrible mistake when buying a run-down local football club called Macclesfield Town in 2020.
The man had made millions from a car logistics app, but COVID had hit him hard. At the time, he leaned on alcohol heavily. “I was just drinking crazy amounts of alcohol really, and living a completely ridiculous lifestyle,” he told The Daily Mail. From noon till close you could find him at a pub, drinking his life away.
When he learned that Macclesfield Town was up for sale, he bought it during a four-day drinking spree. “I didn’t have a business plan, and absolutely no idea how to run a football club. It was just something to do when you’re [drunk].”
Naturally, his wife was already angry at him for his four-day bender, but buying the club was the last straw.
With a split from his wife and a football club that resembled a post-apocalyptic movie setting, he knew he had to dig deep and make everything work.
Fixing The Club Turned Rob Smethurst’s Life Around
Standing in the weedy and overgrown pitch, Smethurst thought to himself, “What the f–k? What have I bought?'”
But after investing £4 million of his own money, and with Wayne Rooney’s brother managing things, he’s turned the club, now called Macclesfield FC, into a mighty club that recently beat the Premier League team Crystal Palace.
Buying the club has turned his life around. He said the project “saved” his life, and after going sober, he’s managed to patch up his marriage. The club now makes millions a year, and the town is incredibly grateful to have its once-derelict local football team beating the likes of Crystal Palace.
He said, “I walk across the pitch, and I get a standing ovation from 4,000 people. I can’t go into town without being inundated with people coming over and talking to you. I love that.”
Smethurst managed to turn around his life, his marriage, and his local club. Now that is something to be proud of.