Can Beer save Weymouth?

Hereford United may be fighting relegation but they will still be in business next season. Weymouth may not be.

Recently they have been looking for a someone to pump enough money into the South Coast Club to keep them afloat and had hoped an investor with the name of Stephen Beer may be that 'sugar daddy'

However the Devon Press has been investigating and all may be not quite what it seems.

The following edited report comes from the excellent Altrincham Website.

Remarkable reports come from This is South Devon to the effect that "A businessman who has promised to invest £300,000 in a struggling football club worked as a cleaner to pay off a debt to Torquay United just two years ago, it is claimed. Stephen Beer, 39, is currently in hospital in Dorchester after suffering a minor stroke moments before he was due to be unveiled as the 'saviour' of Weymouth Football Club. Two years ago he and his wife were living in a one-bedroom housing association flat at Clarence House on Newton Road. It is alleged Mr Beer, who has no outstanding debts with Torquay United, still owes money to another of the region's largest sporting clubs.

The club, which does not want to be named, said it wanted to contact Mr Beer about his failure to pay around £5,000 for corporate hospitality. But yesterday, Gary Calder, chief executive of Weymouth FC, said the club had carried out checks on Mr Beer and had documents lodged with his and their lawyers confirming the money was in place. As the owner of Wipe Away Cleaning Services, Mr Beer is alleged to have left behind a number of other creditors when he vacated his flat in Newton Road. He now lives with his wife Lyn in a flat near Torquay police station. When the Herald Express put the allegations to Mrs Beer she said they were 'complete lies'. She added: 'I don't even know if the thing with Weymouth is still going to happen'.

John Tyrrell, who lived next door to Mr Beer at Clarence House, said: 'I nearly choked on my coffee when I saw his picture in the paper. He could barely rub two coins together when he was here'. Neighbours claim a number of people visited the flat in the months after the couple left claiming they were owed money by Mr Beer. Mr Beer's company was employed as a contract cleaner for Torquay United for one year at the start of the 2007-08 season. Colin Lee, Torquay United chief executive, said Mr Beer had taken corporate space at the Tony Boyce suite but had not been able to pay for it. Mr Lee said: 'Wipe Away were doing the cleaning contract for the club. The contract lasted one season. They took on a box near the end of the contract and we talked about him paying it off through doing cleaning. We had a discussion over payments and basically made a contra deal where he could pay what he owed by doing the cleaning... We were surprised he appeared on the back of a newspaper the other day as being able to support and help Weymouth, but in life you don't know'... In a Torquay United match day programme from August 12, 2007, Mr Beer's company was named as the match ball sponsor...

The Herald Express also contacted one of the region's largest sporting clubs, which wished to remain anonymous... A spokesman for the club said: 'We are currently pursuing an unpaid debt from Stephen Beer of around £5,000'. Paul Hall, who ran Colour Work Print and Design in Totnes, alleges he is still owed £160 by Mr Beer. 'He sent me two cheques that both bounced and when I arranged to meet him at his house he was never there'. Mr Beer came to public attention after he promised to invest £300,000 of his own money into Weymouth FC".

Weymouth's Gary Mr Calder "confirmed Mr Beer had made the first approach to the club. He said: 'I have met with Mr Beer today and his lawyers at the hospital. Our finance director did the full due diligence checks on Mr Beer and we have documents lodged with his lawyers and our lawyers confirming the funds were in place. I have no comment to make on the state of the investment. We will wait to see how Mr Beer recovers and take it from there'". A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Housing, which runs Clarence House, confirmed Mr Beer had been a tenant. She added: 'Housing association properties like Clarence House are for people on low or no income.You don't have to be claiming to live there but you certainly wouldn't be a high earner'. Mr Beer previously appeared on national television on ITV's Jeremy Kyle show in 2006 to discuss his weight problems".

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