The Latics are to leave behind crumbling Boundary Park, their home for over 100 years, and relocate to a futuristic 12,000 capacity ground at a 30-acre complex in Failsworth.
Less than four miles away from the City of Manchester Stadium, their new HQ will even have an M postcode. But fans and officials of the League One outfit say it is a huge step in the right direction as the club bids to secure its future.
And Simon Corney, one of the club's three co-owners, believes Athletic could be kicking off at their new home at the start of the 2011/12 season. The proposals come after he told MEN Sport he had looked at sharing a ground with Rochdale.
But thanks to a huge behind-the-scenes effort between club and council it appears as though the Latics will remain in the town.
They are close to buying the Lancaster Club, off Broadway, from British Aerospace, and twinning it with adjacent council-owned land.
Boundary Park, which hosted Premier League football 15 years ago, is set to be sold to fund the new stadium.
It will be replaced by 'small family homes' with talks to find a buyer already underway.
Corney believes the move is the only way to save the club.
He explained: "At the end of the day this is about survival and this is the only way we can do it. It's not an exaggeration to say that without new facilities the very existence of the club would be in jeopardy. A new stadium has been our dream since we took over the club six years ago and we always wanted to see it through.
"This is the right thing to do."
Disgruntled
Corney believes some fans may be disgruntled at the move to the fringe of the town. But he is confident they will soon be won over.
He said: "Look, not everyone is going to be happy. But going to Boundary Park is just not a pleasant experience. Yes, we can fill it for one-off games but the majority of people don't come back because it's not nice and we need to change that.
"What I'd say to the doubters is come three or four times and I guarantee you'll be back for more."
The new complex will feature state-of-the-art five-a-side pitches and is also expected to be the base for local amateurs Failsworth Dynamos.
They had hoped to redevelop part of the land themselves but Corney says a deal has been agreed in principle.
A host of sports and leisure facilities have also been promised as part of the plans.
Most Latics fans the MEN spoke to said they were firmly behind the move.
Peter Berry, 56, has been supporting Latics since 1960.
He said: "If the future means a new ground then so be it. There's no perfect location in an urban area but the club seem committed to working something out with the neighbours.
"A successful future for the Latics is vital to the town."
And Tom Bennett, 23, says it is 'the only way forward'.
Development
He explained: "It might not be perfect for everyone and Failsworth is probably not the place everyone had in mind.
"But it's still in Oldham and it's only 10 minutes further away for most than where we are now. I'm just happy we're not going to be sharing with anyone."
Andy Roberts, 33, added: "Whatever is best is best. I don't care about the council boundaries. The club will go on."
But not everyone was happy.
Chris Hall, 30, said: "I would much prefer to develop Boundary Park. Watching Latics anywhere else would just not feel the same. It's our spiritual home."
Aside from Failsworth Dynamos, initial talks have also taken place with another group affected by the move - The Allotments Society.
Currently there are 15 plots on the earmarked site, owned by Oldham council. Latics officials say they will compensate those hit by the development and provide 20 new sites on nearby land.
Subject to approval at tonight's council meeting the club will then commission architects. They expect to be granted planning permission at the end of this year.
If that is successful they would sign an agreement to finish the work in two years. Upon completion they will then sign a long-term lease with the council.
Corney said: "This will be a community stadium built along the lines of recent models at Colchester and Shrewsbury."
Council leader Howard Sykes added: "A forward-looking Oldham needs a successful football club with 21st century facilities and that is the vision this scheme is designed to deliver."
No name has been decided for the stadium but it is thought that the rights could be offered to the highest bidder.
What do you think? Have your say.
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vegas-blue, stalyvegas (22/07/2009 at 10:09)
ANDYROLO, Failsworth (22/07/2009 at 11:08)
There are 3 senior Football Clubs who run from there (all with at least 2 teams each; Avro, Mostonians and Chaddertonians), plus at least 9 junior football teams (Avro Juniors); 2 Cricket teams; Bowls teams - will they be provided with facilities to continue operating?
Plus, there is a coach that runs from there to the City home games - not sure Oldham fans will be too happy with that?
Observer,, Little Owdham ! (22/07/2009 at 14:26)
They have already agreed deals with the football clubs and extra facilities for them will be included in the development, I'm sure this will also include, but will also have to be updated, present members of the Lancaster club, the TTA are NOT the type of people who would discourage anyone from spending money, on the contrary they love people who do !
To anyone who has doubts , and I do have mine as quite often verbal garbage gets spouted out of Boundary Park and The Oldham Chronicle, I would think that anyone involved with this new site, including the allotment holders, who are to be compensated, included in the new plans and given a further five allotments on top of the present 15, I would just say - wait and see, it will all take time and if the planning department and committee at Oldham Council don't approve this outline planning application tonight - the whole thing will be sunk - yet again !
mark armstrong (22/07/2009 at 14:31)
MAN-KEY-UNION, MANCHESTER (22/07/2009 at 15:55)
GOD IS A BLUE, Failsworth (22/07/2009 at 15:57)
That bit of fluff, under the sofa (22/07/2009 at 16:35)
Mark Simpson (22/07/2009 at 17:10)
Lancashire 4ever, Pendlebury, Manchester, Lancashire (22/07/2009 at 21:05)
Failsworth, according to most folk, is not really IN Oldham at all, is it?
It's a bit like Salford RLFC moving to the Barton district of Eccles, which again, in my book at least, is not really IN Salford at all, is it?
famous fiuller (22/07/2009 at 22:47)
Ms B, Manchester (22/07/2009 at 23:27)
Observer,, Little Owdham ! (23/07/2009 at 00:36)
There has been long-term plans for new facilities at Boundary Park, the club did actually offer to build a new stadium on the land next to B.P. then give B.P and some of it's land to The Clayton Trust in exchange so the facilities remained and in fact would have been improved, however the 20 year dog walkers put a stop to that and to be honest the whole community and town suffered from that decision.
With the present ideas, the club are planning to buy whatever Bae owns there, including the Lancaster Club (Grade 2 L.B.) there is other land which is owned by Oldham Council and as I understand it the Club and Oldham Council are working to develop that extra land as well and make the whole site a better package, the allotments are I'm assured, have also been promised extra land and compensation by the club.
I would be fairly sure, that whatever is in the hands and/or control of the Directors of OAFC, there will be considerable changes - and lets face it - this is life and changes are inevitable, if the land is owned by BAE and they have or are negotiating a deal to sell it to OAFC I would have thought the initial responsibility would be with BAE to ensure the football clubs who play there now would be protected in some way, however it is not absolutely certain that BAE would even bother about any of these other matters, whereas I think the Directors will do what is right for as many organisations that use the facilities now.
OK there will always be people who are unhappy with changes... no matter what they are, at the end of the day it will be down to Oldham Council to decide if outline planning consent is granted, then I feel sure it will become a joint development for the whole community to share in one way or another, patience is required at times like these, when the muddy waters clear hopefully we will all be able to see what is the truth.
Lee Perth oz, Perth Oz (23/07/2009 at 05:27)
Bill, Carlisle, Cumbria (23/07/2009 at 09:41)
I was born in Crumpsall Hospital and I lived in Failsworth until my early twenties. Until the boundary changes Failsworth was always in my experience regarded as a suburb of Manchester. The town then became part of the Oldham Met Borough within Greater Manchester, although to most people that I knew we still regarded ourselves as Mancunians. I haven't lived in Failsworth for many years although I still have family in the town and I visit on my way to City's home games. To this day I regard myself as being a Mancunian.
I can well understand that the Latics have to do the best they can in order to survive and take the best option possible. On the other hand I can just as well understand the feeling of Oldham fans in having to move out of the town boundaries to watch their team play in what is, in reality, Manchester. We Blues had a similar dilemma in moving from our own spiritual home a few years ago, but that was tempered by the fact that we remained in the City.
It's just a pity that the good members of Oldham Council couldn't put forward a sensible option which would retain their Football Club within it's parent town. Administrative boundaries don't make the fabric of a place no matter how much spin is put on the subject. Oldhamers will always be Oldhamers whilst Manchester folk will always be Mancunians, and the Lancaster Club site will for many people most definitely be viewed as being 'in Manchester'.
YardDog99, on the Shoulder of Giants (23/07/2009 at 12:34)
Most people dont come back because of the tripe served on the pitch and 15 years of massive under-investment in the squad, not the quality of the stands... One of which was demolished totally unnecessarily thru more bad management, though in hindsight this may have been a deliberate ploy to help push thru these plans of a 'crumbling' stadium??..
Mark Simpson (23/07/2009 at 13:34)
Bill, Carlisle, Cumbria (23/07/2009 at 16:23)
23/07/2009 at 13:34
I think the issue for Oldham fans will be broadly in line with my earlier post, in that 'perception is everything' . I would wonder if current Failsworth folk regard themselves as being part of Manchester or being part of Oldham. When I was growing up our address was always Failsworth, Manchester (not Failsworth, Lancashire). As far as I know it still is as when I send cards to my relatives I still use Failsworth, Manchester. I have yet to be corrected on this and since the Manchester Postcode remains in place I believe it to be accurate. Failsworth was never, ever, 'Failsworth, Oldham'
and therein I believe lies the crux of the matter.
Administrative boundaries mean very little to football fans - it's the culture of the place that is important. That IMO is a hurdle that the Club will need to overcome just as equally as the legislative minefield which will no doubt be placed in front of them.
I have fond memories a lad of catching the No. 8 Oldham Corporation bus from Hollinwood to Sheepfoot Lane to watch the likes of Bobby Johnstone, Bert Lister, Jimmy Frizzell et al. Mind you, it's probably not as easy nowadays to get a regular bus from Hollinwood to the end of Broadway !
I really do hope it works out for the Latics - it's a grand old Club and it would be a tragedy if it all went pear-shaped.
Observer,, Little Owdham ! (23/07/2009 at 17:23)
I say lets wait and see, it can only be an improvement on Boundary Park and if you owned B.P. would you keep spending between 400 and 500k on it every year just to keep it within the law and ground licences ?....NO of course you wouldn't, you would make efforts to make changes,go forward and hopefully progress..... as I'm sure Latics will.
Sadly the Doggy Walkers around the present ground put a stop to making changes - that WOULD HAVE MADE IT BETTER FOR EVERYONE around there, but no, Councillors and others told porkies and submitted evidence etc. etc. and we all now know that Clayton Playing fields was granted special rights.
The late Jack Clayton was a former Chairman and I also believe President of Oldham Athletic, he was another who kept the club alive for years, he through his sister, donated the Clayton Playings fields to the Town, if he had been alive when the plans for a new ground came out all those years ago, I'm sure he would have simply said "what a great and really sensible idea" - come on Latics get on with it.
If it had been like that there would never have been any question of moving now, however there it is, it's called progress and now the lovely people who live around Boundary Park, will have to put up with heavy plant and equipment, dirt and dust in their homes, MORE DEMOLITION, more building and total wipe out of Boundary Park and surrounding land, more houses, more roads, more traffic, more people ALL ON THEIR DOORSTEPS - What a shame !....the ones who never disagreed with those plans, won't be too bothered.... the others ????? ah well what do they say ?... what comes round goes round !
This is life and it is reality - some Failsworth people will no doubt have a few grumbles and everyone is entitled to that, this is change and in the end it it will be something to be proud of, a well run and well organsied Championship football club in your town......You may not like it, but remember it was not the owners or the fans, the management or the players who made this necessary.
The City Chippy, Sydney (24/07/2009 at 10:27)
The City Chippy, Sydney (24/07/2009 at 10:31)
Bill, Carlisle, Cumbria (24/07/2009 at 12:05)
Many will recall the boundary changes in the early 1970's, which is now having repercussions about whether the good people of Failsworth should be regarded as Mancunians.
At that time the licensing laws permitted pubs in Oldham to open at 5pm weekdays & Saturdays, whereas in Manchester it was 5.30pm. On our way home from Maine Road we used to call for a pint after the match at the Waggon & Horses in Werneth (the 'Top Waggon') as it was open at that time on a Saturday evening. All pubs in Failsworth had to comply with Manchester Licensing Laws, and therefore we had to enter Oldham to get a drink at that time of the day. As I recall,this remained until the law changed to All-Day opening some years later.
As I suggested in an earlier post, it's all about the 'culture' of a place and an integral part of a town's culture in those days was the times that the pubs opened and shut ! This remained unchanged even when the bureaucrats decided to shove Failsworth into Oldham's administrative 'boundary' as Failsworth pubs still had to abide by Manchester licensing laws.
Englisc Stan (24/07/2009 at 12:29)
Observer,, Little Owdham ! (24/07/2009 at 12:58)
I never realised that this proposed move would attract so much attention from the other side of the World, but sad to say Chippy your comments regarding the Lancaster Club are wrong and out of order my friend.
From the outset everyone has known that this is a Grade II listed building and can't be knocked down in the manner you are suggesting, Latics have made it clear that the historical interest in this building will be preserved and respected.
Rumour has it there will be a new Chippy included in the development !
Best wishes in OZ
Kippax Lover, Failswerf, Manchester (25/07/2009 at 13:16)
Failsworth people are told that we live in Oldham. In spite of this we know in our bones we are not Oldhamers. We are Mancunian to the core. We have a different dialect. We have a different accent. We have a different postal code. We have a different postal town address. When we are going to 'town', we are heading for Manchester - not Oldham.
In my experience, Failsworth people little affinity for, or connection with, Oldham. They couldn't tell you much about the place. They don't really go there.
Putting a dog in a barn doesn't make it a horse. You can call Failsworth a part of Oldham all you like, but the people are Mancunian to the core.
That's why the new site won't wash with true Latics fans. Latics need to keep their identity, and moving to a place with an identity crisis (like Failsworth) would mariginalise their real fans. You could have a mini Wimbledon / MK situation here.
Redevelop Boundary Park. Loads of room behind that Lookers stand, and has great motorway transport links. No brainer.
Kippax Lover, Failswerf, Manchester (25/07/2009 at 13:22)
This could impact on those 'new' fans that Latics hope to recruit from Failsworth, NH, Moston etc. Given the choice, they'll watch FC United any day of the week. Why? Because FC United are a Manchester team - a city with which these people identify.