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The Ford Sporting League was a short-lived English football league sponsored by Ford Motor Company. The League's only season was that of 1970-1971. The league adopted a unique points system, intended to reward goalscoring and punish ill discipline. Clubs were awarded a point for every goal scored at home and two points for every goal scored away, but lost 5 points if a player was booked and 10 points if a player was sent off.

 

Oldham Athletic A.F.C. won the league, winning a pot of £70,000. League rules stipulated the prize money be used on stadium improvements, so the money went to build a stand in the stadium.

 

Ford's sponsorship of the competition is notable, with the 1970-1971 season marking a watershed for sponsorship in English football. In addition to the Ford Sporting League, the season saw the first Watney Cup and first Texaco Cup, although The Football League itself turned down an offer of £600,000 to sponsor the Football League Cup.

 

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The Ford Sporting League was a short-lived English football league sponsored by Ford Motor Company. The League's only season was that of 1970-1971. The league adopted a unique points system, intended to reward goalscoring and punish ill discipline. Clubs were awarded a point for every goal scored at home and two points for every goal scored away, but lost 5 points if a player was booked and 10 points if a player was sent off.

 

Oldham Athletic A.F.C. won the league, winning a pot of £70,000. League rules stipulated the prize money be used on stadium improvements, so the money went to build a stand in the stadium.

 

Ford's sponsorship of the competition is notable, with the 1970-1971 season marking a watershed for sponsorship in English football. In addition to the Ford Sporting League, the season saw the first Watney Cup and first Texaco Cup, although The Football League itself turned down an offer of £600,000 to sponsor the Football League Cup.

 

Wikipedia

 

Indeed, The £70,000 was made up of winning all 8 monthly prizes of £2,500 and then obviously as we had won each month we topped the end of year figures to claim the £50,000 prize.

 

A strange fact was that the competition was run over the first 42 league games (it did not apply to cup ties either) only so that the first and second divisions were on an equal footing with divisions 3 and 4. In our first 42 matches we only had 4, yes that is 4, bookings :shock: and no sendings off. In match 43, which if memory serves me right was at home to Colchester, we had 4 players booked in the 1 game, but it did not count to our record in the competition. Can you imagine today only having 4 bookings in a whole season? I can just see the likes of Clattenburg and Wiley etc. You would have to stitch their pockets up :grin:

 

The first match that the new stand was open for was the following season (The stand was built between June and November) for a match televised by Granada against Aston Villa. We lost 0-6 with Andy Lockhead netting a hatrick for the Villa. :angry:

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The first match that the new stand was open for was the following season (The stand was built between June and November) for a match televised by Granada against Aston Villa. We lost 0-6 with Andy Lockhead netting a hatrick for the Villa. :angry:

 

And of course the Villa keeper Jim Cumbs scored with a kick-out that bounced over Harry Dowd's head and into the net. :blush:

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Sponsors Ford saw this competition as a great advertising vehicle. When Latics won the first month's prize money, there was a cheque presentation by Ford to the Club live on BBC TV's 'Match of the Day' with Jimmy Hill present. The idea was to do the same thing each month, but the flaw in the publicity plan was that the points total was cumulative, and lo and behold Latics won the second month....and the third....and the fourth .....etc. So there were no more presentations on TV - after all who but fans of Latics wanted to see them receiving a cheque evey month? :grin:

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Sponsors Ford saw this competition as a great advertising vehicle. When Latics won the first month's prize money, there was a cheque presentation by Ford to the Club live on BBC TV's 'Match of the Day' with Jimmy Hill present. The idea was to do the same thing each month, but the flaw in the publicity plan was that the points total was cumulative, and lo and behold Latics won the second month....and the third....and the fourth .....etc. So there were no more presentations on TV - after all who but fans of Latics wanted to see them receiving a cheque evey month? :grin:

 

You mean they passed up the chance to show library pictures of dark satanic cotton mills and cobbled streets while playing Dvorak's New World Symphony every month? :shock:

 

They'd never miss an opportunity like that now. :grin:

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Are people missing the obvious here?

If we are actively seeking a demolition company that means we haven’t got one.

If we haven’t got a demolition company why the hell would we have a construction company?

We haven’t got the cash to build a new stand there’s no investment or interest in the new stadium and we are only knocking the lookers down pre season so that the demolition doesn’t get in the way when the games are on.

No developer currently on board and no cash to lure one.

 

Blackpool here we come!

The notorious boundary park gales are going to get a hell of a lot worse folks and for a very long time!

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Are people missing the obvious here?

If we are actively seeking a demolition company that means we haven’t got one.

If we haven’t got a demolition company why the hell would we have a construction company?

We haven’t got the cash to build a new stand there’s no investment or interest in the new stadium and we are only knocking the lookers down pre season so that the demolition doesn’t get in the way when the games are on.

No developer currently on board and no cash to lure one.

 

Blackpool here we come!

The notorious boundary park gales are going to get a hell of a lot worse folks and for a very long time!

 

Sorry to piss on your chips Kyle but tenders have been out for ages and quotes received from a variety of Companies for demolition and construction. Without this, the architects (FWR) couldn't have drawn up the plans nor could the costings have been undertaken.

 

Presumably now that Permission has been granted and the 3 month appeal period is about to elapse, it is time to firm up the tender process and appoint the succesful bidding Companies to advise further and then formally plan the work.

 

That's a far cry from the "obvious missing point" that you are implying.

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Are people missing the obvious here?

If we are actively seeking a demolition company that means we haven’t got one.

If we haven’t got a demolition company why the hell would we have a construction company?

We haven’t got the cash to build a new stand there’s no investment or interest in the new stadium and we are only knocking the lookers down pre season so that the demolition doesn’t get in the way when the games are on.

No developer currently on board and no cash to lure one.

 

Blackpool here we come!

The notorious boundary park gales are going to get a hell of a lot worse folks and for a very long time!

 

Kyle, I suggest that you concentrate your efforts on trying to get rid of Shez, rather than scarmongering in an apparent attempt to undermine the Club's stability.

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Sorry to piss on your chips Kyle but tenders have been out for ages and quotes received from a variety of Companies for demolition and construction. Without this, the architects (FWR) couldn't have drawn up the plans nor could the costings have been undertaken.

 

Presumably now that Permission has been granted and the 3 month appeal period is about to elapse, it is time to firm up the tender process and appoint the succesful bidding Companies to advise further and then formally plan the work.

 

That's a far cry from the "obvious missing point" that you are implying.

 

 

makes sense to wait until end of season,the club will have to decide quickly what to offer that stands fans in way of alternative seating for next season,either just distribute them around the remaining chaddy and main stand,or wether to offer the big or the little part of the rre.

 

as i understand it this seasons season ticket holders for that stand will get first refusal on the new stand when its complete.

 

this phase incorperates the stand entrance club shop and conferencing facilities needed to build the revenus stream to achieve total redevelopment.

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Kyle, I suggest that you concentrate your efforts on trying to get rid of Shez, rather than scarmongering in an apparent attempt to undermine the Club's stability.

 

Not wishing to be doom and gloom but is there anything in the planning consent to stop the new lookers and the flats etc being built and then an announcement being made about there being no money for the other two stands.... Just to put the cat among the pigeons.

 

In fact would this be the worst thing in the world?.... When (if) the government repeal the ban on standing they can rip the seats out of the chaddy, charge less, improve the atmosphere, attendence would go up and everybody's happy.

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Not wishing to be doom and gloom but is there anything in the planning consent to stop the new lookers and the flats etc being built and then an announcement being made about there being no money for the other two stands.... Just to put the cat among the pigeons.

 

In fact would this be the worst thing in the world?.... When (if) the government repeal the ban on standing they can rip the seats out of the chaddy, charge less, improve the atmosphere, attendence would go up and everybody's happy.

 

The full planning permission was granted unanimously for the demolition and redevelopment of the NSM stand. However, TTA said that was no use without the outline planning permissin for the redevelopment of the remainder of BP, because the whole scheme (including the NSM first phase) is to be financed by the residential development. It will be recalled that we marched and made a big fuss, and the Planning Committee had a change of mind.

 

So, put simply, you don't need to worry about a nightmare scenario, because the first phase can't happen without the certainty that the residential development will finance the whole scheme.

 

P.S. There isn't even the remotest chance of the Government repealing the ban on standing.

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Im thinking of writing a letter to AH and asking him if i can take something from the old lookers stand before they demolish it as sort of memorabilia, it would probably mean nothing now, but would be pretty good in years to come as a "remember this" collectable.

 

The seats me and my dad have sat in since 1989 would look good in my back garden i reckon.

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Im thinking of writing a letter to AH and asking him if i can take something from the old lookers stand before they demolish it as sort of memorabilia, it would probably mean nothing now, but would be pretty good in years to come as a "remember this" collectable.

Anyone with a bit of the Plastic pitch knows that club can spin this for a bit of money... £10 to buy your seat, knowing it goes to Latics, sounds more than fair to me.

 

Get on to AH and put it out there.

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when city moved out of maine road they told fans they could buy the seats so they didnt just smash em off themselves at the last game ala brighton. then when the season finished and everyone went home they found a minute amount of toxic material that would be dangerous indoors so they couldnt actually have them. then (alledgedly) they sold em in bulk to the chinese.

 

made me laugh that did.

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One of my mates has his seat from Maine Road. Even got a few pictures of himself on the pitch with lots of others. There were bits of it cut it up and odd seats here and there missing in the Platt Lane End and the Kippax. All looked quite sad really!

Edited by RoytonBlueLad
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yeah i know a few who saw thru the ruse and smashed it off anyway, or had mates who worked there and got one that way.

 

No, this was a genuine weekend thing they had on. Even had pictures of it in programme for one of the first games at the new ground and my mate was gutted because he didn't get into any of the pictures for the programme.

 

Get them ripped out, signed by players who won the cash for the stand in the first place, add Royle and a few others, you'll make a fortune Hardy :wink:

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Are people missing the obvious here?

If we are actively seeking a demolition company that means we haven’t got one.

If we haven’t got a demolition company why the hell would we have a construction company?

We haven’t got the cash to build a new stand there’s no investment or interest in the new stadium and we are only knocking the lookers down pre season so that the demolition doesn’t get in the way when the games are on.

No developer currently on board and no cash to lure one.

 

Blackpool here we come!

The notorious boundary park gales are going to get a hell of a lot worse folks and for a very long time!

 

What about Hillstone, aren't they developers, and probably part of the deal that got us the new stand.

As for demolition, I work with a few students who would tear the Lookers down in a couple of minutes just by kicking off - I'm sure FutchersBriefs agrees with me here!!

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Well when the Oldham Council saga was ongoing one of Blitz' main worries was that they already had a lot of

"investors" on board who will be let down, so I think we do have some people on board, and with it being an exciting new development, and with the success other new stadia has had, im sure there will be businesses that will wish to invest in the project.

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