Reverend and the Makers frontman Jon McClure wants to make Sheffield FC a contender on and off the pitch

The Reverend and the Makers’ lead singer is the headline act of a consortium that includes music entrepreneur David Bianchi and local businessmen that has taken ownership of the club.

McClure will become chairman, but pointedly he insists it is ‘the club that is the superstar’.

The new ownership group was unveiled at a packed press conference at Sheffield FC’s creaking Coach and Horses ground in Dronfield on Monday.

On the pitch, they were mindful not to make any bold proclamations about how high they want to climb in football - the men’s team sit in the ninth tier, the women in the fourth.

Off it, they are keen to tell Sheffield FC’s story to the world, with a documentary being discussed.

McClure said: “Sheffield is where modern football was born. This club carries the origin story of the world’s greatest game, and with that comes a fair amount of responsibility.

“We are stepping forward not just to run a football club, but to take charge of a global cultural institution rooted in South Yorkshire.

“Our ambition is to breathe life into this club in a way that respects its heritage. But at the same time, we’d like to build something future-facing and inclusive.

“We want to create something that everyone in this region, and football fans everywhere, can get behind.

“Sheffield FC belongs to its community, but it also belongs to the story of world football. It’s time that story was told properly.”

One of the priorities is getting the club back into the city. They currently play over the border in Chesterfield. Plans for the new privately-financed community stadium on the old Sheffield Transport Sports Club site at Meadowhead were submitted to Sheffield Council in March 2024, but have stalled amid resident concerns. That was lodged alongside Sheffield Eagles, whose owner Jeremy Levine becomes the majority shareholder in Sheffield FC.

McClure said: “Everybody has an ambition to return the club inside the city limits.

“That planning application at Meadowhead is still active and we are trying to engage pro-actively with the powers that be in the city to find a solution, not just for Sheffield FC but also for Sheffield Eagles. It has to work for everybody. Although that application is still live we’re engaged constructively with the people in the Combined Mayoral Authority and Sheffield City Council, and there are some well intentioned people there who will work with us to find the best solution for everybody.”

Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have taken Wrexham from non-league to a global phenomenon, but McClure knows that is an unlikely path for his club.

“I’m not Ryan Reynolds, and I’m not anywhere near that famous, right?” he said. “I’m well known nationally in the music world.

“The Wrexham thing is not how it’s really going to work. I think it’s a slightly different model. And also Wrexham is not the first club in the world. The club, in some ways, is the superstar.

“You see people bandying ideas about like we’re going to build a 15,000-seater stadium or we’re going to do a Wrexham and that suggests to me that you don’t know what you’re talking about.

“That’s not what we’re trying to do here. We’re trying to do something a little bit different, number one, and secondly, there is a limit to how big you can grow its fan base.

“I think it should live within its means and be sustainable, where it becomes a second club for everyone in the South Yorkshire region, firstly, then maybe nationally.

“And one day, who knows? But right about now, I think there’s a limit, and that’s good.

“Non-league, it’s difficult when you’re at this level. And so that’s why I assembled a team of people who could help me do it, because I am conscious of the fact that ‘rock star comes in and does football club’ could be conceived as a car crash waiting to happen.”

The ‘Heavyweight Champion of the World’ singer and his consortium will initially try to drive the commercial side of the club, focusing on Esports and hosting a football festival.

They will grow the women’s team but accept there is a ceiling on the men’s team’s growth, considering they are in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division and competing with Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United.

That is why McClure will not be following in the footsteps of YouTuber KSI, who made big promises when investing in Dagenham last week.

“We’re saying, these are our aims and ambitions, and we’re tempered with the reality that there is a ceiling, especially for the men’s team.

“There’s a limit to what can be achieved. And I think whilst we’re all mindful of that, we can’t go too far wrong.

“I’ve seen KSI be like ‘Premier League in five years’ and all this. What if you don’t do it, you’re going to look like a right wally, aren’t you?

“So I think just be realistic and be humble, right? Because we’re Sheffield people, Yorkshire people. Be humble.”