13th October 1999
13th October 1999 BOUNDARY PARK, the home of Oldham Athletic for the past 100 years, is being sold off. Oldham Council's joint-venture company, Hiretarget, has stepped in and could be the new landlord in four weeks, with Latics as tenants renting the stadium. With the hard-up football club over £2 million in debt, plans to buy Boundary Park as part of the Sports Park 2000 deal have been brought forward. And the Charity Commission has today been sent an 8in-high, five-part document, putting the case for the swop of Clayton Trust playing fields to make Sports Park 2000 possible. Football, rugby and council officials got together this morning to outline the building blocks being stacked up to get a new football and rugby stadium opened by the 2001-2 football season. These include the sale of Boundary Park _ stadium, land and car-parking _ to Hiretarget, in which the council has a 20 per cent stake. Oldham Athletic chief executive Mr Alan Hardy said: "Oldham Athletic's financial situation has not been too rosy for quite a time, but the plans have not been pushed along with that sole intention. "It was a prerequisite of the Sports Park 2000 project." The council leader, Councillor John Battye, said: "If everything goes well, we could have a decision by the end of this year, with the letting of contracts to build the new stadium likely by next Easter." At the same time as the Boundary Park sale, Latics's controlling shareholder, J W Lees brewery, hopes to sell its 48 per cent stake to a new owner. And the Charity Commission will tomorrow begin considering swopping the existing Clayton playing fields for adjacent land and property, including Boundary Park, to build a new, 15,000-seater stadium.
If it says no, council officials have already earmarked two other sites in excess of 10 acres which could hold a new stadium. A condition of the sale is that Oldham's rugby league side, which moved to Rochdale last season after failing to agree terms at Boundary Park, could return on "satisfactory terms". Mr Hardy added: "We have had initial talks and I don't think we are a million miles away." But Oldham Roughyheads chairman, Mr Chris Hamilton, said: "We have regularly said we want to play in Oldham, but we have a contract to play at Rochdale until the end of the 2000 season."
Growing debts force Athletic to sell ground
OLDHAM Athletic is selling the ground from under the players' feet, in order to secure the club's future.
The stadium, pitch, car park and all associated land is being bought by Oldham Council's joint venture company, Hiretarget, in a seven-figure deal. Agreed over the last few days, the package could be finalised in less than four weeks, so it looks likely that Latics will have a new landlord as well as new owners. The sale of major shareholder J W Lees's controlling 48 per cent stake in the club is likely to go through at the same time. Latics, who were more than £2.3 million in debt last year, will simply be tenants at Boundary Park. A condition of the deal is that Oldham Rugby League Club return to play there. The chairman of Oldham Athletic, Mr David Brierley, confirmed that a basic arrangement for the sale of Boundary Park was in place. He said: ``Although the income from the sale of land will help to ease the current financial situation, I would like to assure fans that the agreement will not be concluded unless the directors consider it to be in the best long-term interest of Oldham Athletic and its supporters, and the running of Boundary Park remains with the club.
``The club is viewing this move with a positive attitude, but stress that we have a long way to go before the deal is rubber-stamped.'' Mr Brierley's counterpart at Oldham Rugby League Club, Mr Christopher Hamilton, added: ``When we relaunched the club two years ago, we made it clear we wanted to play in Oldham. ``The situation has not changed, and we want to be back in the town as soon as possible.'' Any sale would also have a knock-on effect which would push along the Council's Sports Park 2000 plans. The authority wants to see soccer and rugby played in a new stadium on Clayton Playing Fields _ or elsewhere. However, when the brewery put its Latics shares on the market, in June, talks on the stadium plans were left in limbo. With a major shareholder pulling out, the board could not negotiate, and potential buyers looking at the club's finances knew the ground and land would eventually be sold as part of the stadium deal. The joint managing director at J W Lees, Mr William Lees-Jones, said: ``It makes sense to have money in the bank, rather than on the balance sheet.
``The council is being very helpful in terms of bringing forward its plans, so that the shares become more saleable. ``It puts the club in a more secure financial position.'' Mr Lees-Jones said he hoped the sale of the shares, and the ground, could happen at the same time; and looked forward to ``a really good new shareholder who is going to be really involved with the club.'' He declined to discuss who was interested, but millionaire Oldham business man Mr Ajit Medtia, has taken a look at the club. Two other groups have pulled out, and Bernard Manning (jnr) is still actively interested. Mr Manning, son of the famous comedian, is chairman of UniBond League side Radcliffe Borough, and briefly played for Stockport County. Oldham's Borough Treasurer and Director of Corporate Services, Mr Peter Fenton, stressed: ``We are not buying a football club. It is a land and property deal. ``We are not using council-tax payer's money _ the investment is by Hiretarget. There is no council money going into the purchase, no finance, and no underwriting of any guarantees. It is a major step towards bringing about the new stadium development at Clayton Playing Fields, or elsewhere.
'' Although the new Sports Park 2000 stadium is the first choice, Mr Keith Coates, Director of Economic Development, said the council had always kept its options open. He said: ``There are other sites identified where we could build a stadium. ``But, now the sale is agreed, we will be seeking Charity Commission permission for the Clayton scheme. Planning permission is in place.'' Latics will be wholly responsible for running the facility. He added: ``They have been guaranteed a long lease as long as they pay the rent.' The decision to buy was taken by eight councillors _ five Labour, three Liberal Democrat _ at an urgent Policy Management Sub-committee which has powers to act on behalf of the entire council. Councillor John Johnson, the Labour spokesman, said: ``Some hard questions were asked, but both sides are quite comfortable with the idea. ``Everyone wants to see a successful football club _ it makes the town tick.'' Liberal Democrat councillor Howard Sykes added: ``An urgent decision was needed, and it was unanimous. ``Most importantly, the purchase must now open up the possibility of the re-developinging the existing ground.'' The initial reaction of the supporters was one of shock. Mr Carl Marsden, a spokesman for the Stop The Rot supporters' group, said: ``We knew something was in the wind, but I'm still very surprised about it.''
Link-up proves a winner
HIRETARGET, the company stepping in to help to save Latics, ironically began life rescuing rugby league in Oldham.
It was set up in 1993 when debt-riddled Oldham Rugby League FC, owing £1.4 million, turned to Oldham Council for aid. Brookhouse, which owns the Greengate Industrial Estate, in Chadderton, was well-known to the council. And the public/private partnership formed joint-venture company Hiretarget, with 20 per cent owned by the council and 80 per cent by the development company. Hiretarget bought the Watersheddings rugby ground, with the council guaranteeing a loan, and the deal threw a financial lifeline to the club. Eventually, the land was sold for housing, and Hiretarget made a slight profit, according to Oldham's Director of Economic Development, Mr Keith Coates.
Since then, it has gone on to help the council's regeneration and redevelopment programme, and is now a company worth around £20 million. Council land is used to develop new units for Oldham firms which need to expand or move into the town, or to stop industry moving away. These include Cherokee Frankenhuis, a textile-processing company, which wanted to moved out of the Anchor Mill, at Westwood, and IT specialists Northern Technology, which needed to expand, both relocating to new units at the Broadway Business Park. Trouvay and Couvin are also taking a new office and productions unit there. The biggest Hiretarget venture being undertaken at the moment is the B & Q Warehouse, at Westwood. Mr Coates said: "As well as bringing in a substantial rent, the Warehouse is a multi-million-pound asset. Effectively, the council has got £7 million worth of shares in the company to go to finance the new stadium."
Supporters dismayed by club bombshell
FANS were today coming to terms with the bombshell news.
Mr Carl Marsden, spokesman for the Stop The Rot pressure group, said: ``How can Oldham Athletic finance themselves without assets? "It's morally wrong, after 100 years of heritage, that a group of men, with only 10 per cent of the shareholding, can dispose of the club's birthright without consulting any of the fans. "If history is our guide, the public will be interested to know why, after the Watersheddings debacle, the future of Oldham Athletic and sport in this town is secure on the say-so of the same personalities in similar circumstances.''
Mr David Cunningham, chairman of the official supporters' club, said: ``It's a grim day, but what can the club do if it has serious debts? "The question is whether there will be any surplus money from the sale to invest in the team. "Without investment, it is going to go downhill fast. Latics are still going to have to find rent, as well as paying the wages.''
WHITEHALL SET FOR LATICS RETURN
STEVE WHITEHALL is poised to make his
Athletic comeback on Saturday after three games out with an ankle injury.
The experienced striker, who has managed only two starts all season, played
in a private friendly against an army side today and could be handed a
place on the bench when Athletic travel to Cardiff. Whitehall has suffered
an injury nightmare in recent months but is back in full training and desperate
to make up for lost time. He was joined by Paul Beavers for this morning's
match, another good sign for Athletic as the young centre-forward has had
a worrying Achilles problem. Beavers remains a long way short of match
fitness and, provided he suffers no reaction, can expect a run in the reserves.
Athletic have also had welcome news concerning Shaun Garnett and Stuart
Thom. Garnett's hernia operation went very well yesterday, while it has
emerged that Thom didn't suffer any serious shoulder damage when he broke
his collarbone on Saturday. But, just when it seemed the treatment room
was becoming less congested, midfielder Phil Salt has joined the casualty
list after hurting an ankle in training. Manager Andy Ritchie said: "We
don't know how bad the injury is yet, but Phil is having a job walking."
The Athletic boss also saw trialist Ossur Hansen limp out of last night's
reserve-team match against Bury. The Faroe Islands international suffered
a groin strain.