BP1960 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I often wonder what would have happened if the Sports Park 2000 20,000 capacity stadium had been built? Would it have been the springboard to great success, or would the club have finished up like Darlington, a team that had to leave and play at another ground? Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hometownclub Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Even if it had been an absolute disaster, it would still be better than where we are now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankly Mr Shankly Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Even if it had been an absolute disaster, it would still be better than where we are now. I can't help thinking that too. It's hard to call as it depends on how we were run as a club in the period between then and now. But we do know that our income streams would have been much improved, we'd have a nicer set of facilities to watch our team within and we'd have been in a stronger position to compete at a higher level at the time when there started to be lots more money sloshing round in the trough. Maybe if the ground redevelopment had gone through in 2007 Blitz and co would still have kept his interest and we'd perhaps be in Bournemouth's position now? Or was his plan always was to act the enthusiastic football club owners until they developed all the real estate around it? Food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaticMark Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 For the younger readers, this is what former council leader (and Latics fan) John Battye said to The Chron in 2011. "The ill-fated Sports Park 2000 scheme would have been the ideal plan for the future of Oldham Athletic, according to Councillor John Battye.The former council leader was at the helm of the authority when the proposals for the new joint rugby and football stadium were given planning permission in 1999. They proposed relocating the football stadium onto Clayton Playing Fields, also a charitable trust; building conference, banqueting and motel facilities, and moving the public fields onto Boundary Park; building a new B&Q store on the Westwood athletics site and moving the track to The Radclyffe School. It would have been financed from land sales, grants, commercial sponsorship, and council tax payers were promised it would not cost them a penny." http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/52478/kicked-into-touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego_Sideburns Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 For the younger readers, this is what former council leader (and Latics fan) John Battye said to The Chron in 2011. "The ill-fated Sports Park 2000 scheme would have been the ideal plan for the future of Oldham Athletic, according to Councillor John Battye. The former council leader was at the helm of the authority when the proposals for the new joint rugby and football stadium were given planning permission in 1999. They proposed relocating the football stadium onto Clayton Playing Fields, also a charitable trust; building conference, banqueting and motel facilities, and moving the public fields onto Boundary Park; building a new B&Q store on the Westwood athletics site and moving the track to The Radclyffe School. It would have been financed from land sales, grants, commercial sponsorship, and council tax payers were promised it would not cost them a penny." http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/8/news-headlines/52478/kicked-into-touch If only it could have been done before everyone drove two cars at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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