Former paratrooper Mike Chadwick has formed an unlikely partnership with pop band Boyzone to buy Chorley FC, and has set out his ambitions to take the non-league club right to the top.
Chadwick, a boyhood Liverpool fan, has a background in coaching elite athletes and wrote the best-selling book The Red On Revolution which details his innovative approach.
He has now opted to step into the football world in a bid to implement his ideas at Chorley, who currently play in the National League North, the sixth tier of the English pyramid.
And he will be teaming up with Boyzone members Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch to try to help the club climb the divisions.
Chadwick has admitted he had never met any of Boyzone prior to this opportunity arising, but is adamant they can match his winning mentality and all pull in the same direction to make Chorley successful.
Mike Chadwick (pictured) is a former paratrooper that has stepped into the football world
![He has partnered up with the four members of pop band Boyzone, Keith Duffy (left), Ronan Keating (second left), Shane Lynch (seond right) and Mikey Graham (right) to buy Chorley FC](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/08/16/81024925-13061203-image-a-3_1707408780678.jpg)
He has partnered up with the four members of pop band Boyzone, Keith Duffy (left), Ronan Keating (second left), Shane Lynch (seond right) and Mikey Graham (right) to buy Chorley FC
![Chorley currently play in the sixth tier of English football, but Chadwick wants to take them all the way to the Premier League](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/08/16/81021721-13061203-image-a-4_1707408849044.jpg)
Chorley currently play in the sixth tier of English football, but Chadwick wants to take them all the way to the Premier League
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Explaining how he became a shareholder at Chorley, Chadwick told Mail Sport: ‘We got invited down to come and have a look. There’s a connection there and the current owners basically wanted to involve a team of winners, so they invited me and a couple of other soldiers down to come and have a look and get involved and they feel that’s the best way to help them lead and win.
‘I’m a huge football fan anyway, so I’ve been following them due to close connections for a long time.
‘Ever since you could possibly imagine, we leave no stone unturned anyway, especially from my military days, so the amount of research that has gone into this, I know it inside-out already and I’m looking forward to getting to know it even better.
On Boyzone’s involvement in the project, Chadwick added: ‘They’re winners in every single right in what they’ve done as well over the years.
‘So, the exact same concept is the current owners wanted a team of winners, so they’ve hired former elite soldiers and Boyzone to come and help them out and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.’
Boyzone are one of the most successful bands of the last 30 years after forming in late 1993, having had six UK No1 singles.
![Boyzone have had six UK No1 singles, but Chadwick insists they are also very passionate about football and want to make Chorley successful](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/08/16/81025233-13061203-image-a-5_1707409001710.jpg)
Boyzone have had six UK No1 singles, but Chadwick insists they are also very passionate about football and want to make Chorley successful
Their music has made them household names, but Chadwick insists the foursome are passionate about football as well.
He has also made it clear that they will be targeting immediate success at Chorley, and want to be competing with the biggest clubs in the country in the Premier League one day.
‘They’ve done it together as a team, we’ve done it together as a team,’ Chadwick said.
‘We’re going to bring that unison over to Chorley, and I think that’s going to drive performance like no one’s ever seen before.
‘We want to win absolutely everything,’ he continued. My book is called The Red On Revolution, it’s there to be ready for absolutely anything, and that’s exactly what we do. We’re a team of winners and that means winning every game possible, winning every title possible. Everything that gets put in front of us, I want to win. I will not stop until we win.
‘And that’s the type of level that they’ve brought into the club, and that’s what we’re going to drive into the club to an inch of its life to go as far and as high as possible.’
Asked if he could ever see Chorley in the Premier League, Chadwick replied: ‘Yeah, why not? I mean, we have to stay grounded, there’s a lot of hard work.
‘Words are worthless without execution, so we’re going to say all the right things, we’re going to do all the right things, but we have to implement that theory into practice. That’s the difference. It’s about turning up and just doing it on the day.’
Boyzone are not the only high-profile names to take over a lower league team. Several members of Manchester United’s Class of 92 are in charge at League Two Salford City, while Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have taken Wrexham back into the fourth tier.
![Manchester United's Class of 92, including Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, have taken charge at Salford City](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/08/16/81025341-13061203-image-a-6_1707409114601.jpg)
Manchester United’s Class of 92, including Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, have taken charge at Salford City
![Ryan Reynolds (left) and Rob McElhenney (right) have pumped money into Wrexham, and Chadwick has vowed to do the same at Chorley to help them climb the football pyramid](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/02/08/16/81025373-13061203-image-a-7_1707409205421.jpg)
Ryan Reynolds (left) and Rob McElhenney (right) have pumped money into Wrexham, and Chadwick has vowed to do the same at Chorley to help them climb the football pyramid
Both groups have taken things very seriously at their respective teams, and Chadwick insists he and Boyzone will also give Chorley their full backing by pumping money into the club to get them to the next level.
‘It looks great at the moment, doesn’t it? And it’s all in the limelight, people owning football clubs which is fantastic, but we’re here to win,’ Chadwick said.
‘That’s exactly what we’re trying to do here. It’s a really exciting time to be a Chorley Football Club fan and we’re going to drive up the pyramid as fast as we possibly can.
‘There will be money involved, and whatever it takes to move up, that’s what we’re going to do.’