This is a basic summary of the corporate structure of Chorley FC and the companies and land related to it, including its ground, Victory Park. It is based on a combination of information from sources in the public domain, such as the Land Registry and Companies House, and information received directly from staff at the football club. Most of the information in this article is correct as at mid 2004, unless otherwise stated, although it was first written in December 2007. This article sets out the facts of the matter as far as they are known, and does not attempt to draw conclusions from the club's ownership structure, nor speculate on what any of this implies for the football club.
Victory Park is owned by Victory Park Holdings Limited (VPH), which also owns Chorley FC itself. The same company owns the former Chorley Motors ground, which is the large derelict area between the park by the football ground and Pall Mall. According to the Land Registry documents, Title Absolute for the freehold (in other words, ownership) of Victory Park was transferred to VPH on 8th December 1994.
Victory Park Holdings, as far as is known, controls only Chorley FC and the Social Club. VPH itself is ultimately controlled by TJH Group, which is defined as its Ultimate Holding Company. TJH Group is a holding company which is part of Trevor Hemmings' business interests: he is on the board of directors, and the company name bears his initials. It owns a variety of mostly North-West based companies unrelated to Chorley FC.
The Social Club at Victory Park is also controlled by Victory Park Holdings. It is accounted for separately from the football club for the purposes of budgeting, however it is not known at the time of writing whether the Social Club operates as a completely separate company.
Although Chorley FC does not own Victory Park, it has a form of rolling agreement with Victory Park Holdings to play football there, for which either no money or at most a nominal sum is believed to change hands. There is no long-term tenancy agreement between the two parties. Victory Park Holdings currently subsidises various costs relating to the maintenance and running costs of Victory Park, such as utility bills: this constitutes a significant proportion of the football club's annual budget.