Two-year football ban for Halesowen Town owner Steve Lynch

Following a hearing at Wembley yesterday, FA bosses banned Lynch for two years from May 1 this year until May 1, 2019.

Yeltz have also been fined £5,000 – with half of that total suspended for three years.

Lynch said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ with the decision and intended to appeal the ruling.

The majority of the 12 total charges – three for Mr Lynch and nine for the club – reportedly surrounded the owner’s involvement at the now defunct Eastwood Town and an alleged failure to disclose an interest in Yeltz at the same time.

Other charges allegedly centred on a breach of player loan rules in 2012 and issues concerning the reporting of the club’s accounts between 2011 and 2013.

Mr Lynch told the Express & Star: “I am extremely disappointed with the outcome and am filing papers for an appeal. A committee run the place anyway and it is a family business. When I took over the first target was to make the business self-funded.”

A statement on the club’s website read: “Steve Lynch this week attended Wembley Stadium in a personal hearing after charges were brought against the club and himself.

“Steve and the club have always worked closely with the FA during their investigation and have always been forthcoming in the information requested.

“In light of these charges Halesowen Town Football Club have been fined £5,000 with £2,500 suspended for three years.

“No other sanctions were placed upon the club.

​“Steve has been banned from all football and football activity for a period of two years from May 1, 2017 up to and including May 1, 2019.

​“It is the intention of Steve to appeal against his ban due to the severity of this penalty. The club will be making no further comment on this matter.”

Mr Lynch was a key player in saving Yeltz from financial meltdown back in May 2011.

He took over following the regimes of Morell Maison and the Ingram brothers, during which the club had faced financial ruin.

The former coach operator took over at Eastwood, then in National League North, in October of that year – claiming he had relinquished his position with Yeltz in order to comply with FA rules. Eastwood subsequently went out of business in 2014.

The FA were unavailable for comment