Charities regulator set to investigate Walsall community football charities

The Charity Commission has launched statutory inquiries into Walsall Wood Community Football Club and Walsall Wood Saints Junior Football Club.

The two inquiries will examine whether there has been any misconduct or mismanagement of the charities involved with the former, which resigned from the Northern Premier League in October due to financial issues, and the latter clubs.

The Charity Commission had entered Walsall Wood Community Football Club (WWCFC) into a Double Defaulter Class Inquiry in 2022 after the charity failed to submit its accounts and wider financial information for two years. 

The commission said the charity had also failed to follow correct practice when supplying accounts for the previous three years.

The regulator also started monitoring Walsall Wood Saints Junior Football Club in June 2024 after it identified links between the charity and WWCFC. 

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: "Similarly, Walsall Wood Saints had failed to supply accounts for FYE 30 June 2023 and submitted accounts in 2022 which were non-compliant. 

"The engagement with both charities raised additional concerns which are now being examined under inquiry. 

"The junior club was set up to arrange activities related to football, including coaching, fun and league games, together with social and fundraising activities for children in the local community. 

"Walsall Wood Community Football Club was set up with similar aims for the wider community and the promotion of healthy recreation."

The inquiries will examine a number of areas, starting with the trustees’ compliance with their legal obligations for the content, preparation and filing of the charities’ accounts and other information or returns

It will also look at if the trustees are managing their charities in line with their objects and governing documents, the trustees’ compliance with their legal duties and responsibilities in respect of their administration and governance of their charities, and if they have a sufficient number of willing and capable trustees.

Finally it will look at if there has been any misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charities and said it may extend the scope of these inquiries if additional regulatory issues emerge.

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said: "It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were."

Both Walsall Wood Community Football Club and Walsall Wood Saints Junior Football Club have been contacted for a comment.