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How many other clubs play in the borough? None? So how will we be the tenant and not the land lord?

 

But, should that happen, he says he would still be looking to find a site for a new stadium within the borough of Oldham.

 

 

 

What are you talking about? Blitz talks of a temporary groundshare. As if clubs don't regard those in neighbouring towns as rivals.

Edited by Corporal_Jones
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This is absolute bollocks. We need new thinking at this club fast.

It's not just the club though... if at all... they're looking at a business which as CJ's pointed out is in decline and they're looking at plans to correct it.

 

To do this it appears they have four or five ideas about the future location of the club and the type of stadium. They've considered inviting Bury/Dale/Port to play there to reduce costs and the fan base/town is in uproar!

 

It's a fear of change and a demand for change at the same time. It's pathetic.

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What are you talking about? Blitz talks of a temporary groundshare. As if clubs don't regard those in neighbouring towns as rivals.

But it doesn't make them tenants... You said "Is there any example of a club whose fanbase wasn't damaged by being a rival club's tenant?" and last time I checked that would be a problem for Bury/Stockport/Dale to worry about and not us as they would be the tenant and not us!

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It's not just the club though... if at all... they're looking at a business which as CJ's pointed out is in decline and they're looking at plans to correct it.

 

To do this it appears they have four or five ideas about the future location of the club and the type of stadium. They've considered inviting Bury/Dale/Port to play there to reduce costs and the fan base/town is in uproar!

 

It's a fear of change and a demand for change at the same time. It's pathetic.

 

 

 

Where is the evidence that there are any alternatives being looked at? We were told only recently that the plan was still to redevelop BP.

Edited by Corporal_Jones
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What about the other five hundred or thousand who will join him, either because they can't or don't want to travel to another town, or think it's a step too far and another exampe of the club being on its knees? Is it 'bye' to them and their money as well?

 

Is there any example of a club whose fanbase wasn't damaged by being a rival club's tenant?

 

No time for them. I'm willing to travel from London and they won't travel a few extra miles ?? I would be surprised if many actually walk away.

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But it doesn't make them tenants... You said "Is there any example of a club whose fanbase wasn't damaged by being a rival club's tenant?" and last time I checked that would be a problem for Bury/Stockport/Dale to worry about and not us as they would be the tenant and not us!

 

 

 

Sigh. Look at what Simon Blitz says in the Chron. He says towards the end of the interview that he wouldn't rule out a temporary groundshare while a site within Oldham is being found. We are the ones looking to build a new ground, not those other clubs, so we will presumably seek to move in with them for a while. That would make us another club's tenant, wouldn't it?

 

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No time for them. I'm willing to travel from London and they won't travel a few extra miles ?? I would be surprised if many actually walk away.

 

 

 

You are the exception, not the rule, however. Most of those who've already deserted the club come from within or around Oldham.

 

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On the fact that most of our support is local.

 

I say it may have been years ago, with transport systems as it is and familys moving out of town centres into suburbs I really don't think that is true these days if you are referring to Oldham itself as being local!

 

So many people I grew up with supporting Latics and a large percentage I know now are from Rochdale. Many come from Bury etc etc This is what (along with Oldham) I call local.

 

So moving the ground won't have a great deal of effect until you someone living walking distance from BP and if it then requires you now taking a bus to watch Latics you choose not to go. If thats the case you have to think do I really support this club.

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Sigh. Look at what Simon Blitz says in the Chron. He says towards the end of the interview that he wouldn't rule out a temporary groundshare while a site within Oldham is being found. We are the ones looking to build a new ground, not those other clubs, so we will presumably seek to move in with them for a while. That would make us another club's tenant, wouldn't it?

Look at what Simon Blitz says in the Chron. He says towards the end of the interview that he wouldn't rule out a groundshare site within Oldham.

 

Two points, both right. No need to get exasperated by it.

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On the fact that most of our support is local.

I would hazard a guess that the move from Burnden Park to Horwich bothered a large chunk of Bolton fans at the time. While Horwich may be within the borough it's a fair old treck to the outskirts.

 

But I think it's fair to say that Bolton have prospered as a result.

 

I am not averse to playing outside the borough (e.g. the Kingsway site mooted by Footy68) if it means the right investment in the infrastructure of the club. I'm not averse to a groundshare, even on an equal ownership footing to a smaller club such as Rochdale) if it means reduced cost base for ongoing investment.

 

I think a strong football club progressing will attract fans, be it at an improved BP or another site just outside the borough.

 

As you suggest, the biggest crime would be to do nothing.

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So moving the ground won't have a great deal of effect until you someone living walking distance from BP and if it then requires you now taking a bus to watch Latics you choose not to go. If thats the case you have to think do I really support this club.

 

...and I'm sure the club would stick on free buses (certainly at the beginning) from Boundary Park to (and back from) the New stadium in an effort to keep the crowds.

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I would hazard a guess that the move from Burnden Park to Horwich bothered a large chunk of Bolton fans at the time. While Horwich may be within the borough it's a fair old treck to the outskirts. Well where the ground is now comes under Horwich Council as opposed to Bolton Council

 

But I think it's fair to say that Bolton have prospered as a result.

 

I am not averse to playing outside the borough (e.g. the Kingsway site mooted by Footy68) if it means the right investment in the infrastructure of the club. I'm not averse to a groundshare, even on an equal ownership footing to a smaller club such as Rochdale) if it means reduced cost base for ongoing investment. I would be adverse to a relocation along the scale of Wimbledon to MK, but I dont see how us playing in Tameside is any different to Bolton playing in Horwich or Manchester United playing in Trafford.

 

I think a strong football club progressing will attract fans, be it at an improved BP or another site just outside the borough +1

 

As you suggest, the biggest crime would be to do nothing. +1

 

 

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I say it may have been years ago, with transport systems as it is and familys moving out of town centres into suburbs I really don't think that is true these days if you are referring to Oldham itself as being local!

 

So many people I grew up with supporting Latics and a large percentage I know now are from Rochdale. Many come from Bury etc etc This is what (along with Oldham) I call local.

 

So moving the ground won't have a great deal of effect until you someone living walking distance from BP and if it then requires you now taking a bus to watch Latics you choose not to go. If thats the case you have to think do I really support this club.

 

 

I accept that there might be some people who attend BP from Rochdale and, at a pinch, Bury and suchlike. I know for a fact that north Manchester has always provided a certain amount of Latics' support also. However, although there's no way of proving it definitively, I would guess that the overwhelming majority of supporters live in the Oldham Met. Borough. How could it not be the case? We're hardly a glamour club, attracting legions of fans who have no connection with the town. And why would significant numbers of people from neighbouring towns choose Latics whan Oldham is, to them, just another local town, as Bury or Rochdale are to myself, and they have their own clubs anyway (and failing that the Manchester clubs.)

 

However, other factors than geographical distance come into play when it comes to being the tenant of another club out of town, not least the fact that, rightly or wrongly, losing your home seems like a step too far. Some will stop going while telling themselves they'll return when the club has a home of its own again (and we'd better hope that they don't lose the habit entirely while they're waiting); others will throw in the towel completely. Others still will confront such matters as awkward bus routes, driving and parking in unfamiliar towns, increased fares and petrol costs etc, and decide that the product on the pitch isn't worth the bother and extra expense. They may not be as dedicated as yourself, but that's neither here nor there.

 

As I asked already, are there any examples of clubs who've been through an out-of-town groundshare whose attendances didn't suffer?

Edited by Corporal_Jones
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If we built a joint stadium with another local club halfway between the two it would be a positive step for the long term viability of both clubs. I would love a complete redevelopment of BP but it appears that for various reasons that will not happen.

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I would hazard a guess that the move from Burnden Park to Horwich bothered a large chunk of Bolton fans at the time. While Horwich may be within the borough it's a fair old treck to the outskirts.

 

But I think it's fair to say that Bolton have prospered as a result.

 

I am not averse to playing outside the borough (e.g. the Kingsway site mooted by Footy68) if it means the right investment in the infrastructure of the club. I'm not averse to a groundshare, even on an equal ownership footing to a smaller club such as Rochdale) if it means reduced cost base for ongoing investment.

 

I think a strong football club progressing will attract fans, be it at an improved BP or another site just outside the borough.

 

As you suggest, the biggest crime would be to do nothing.

 

 

 

The new stadium is one reason bolton have prospered. They were already on the up football-wise before it was built, however.

 

As said, however, Blitz, in the Chron, has dismissed the idea of a permanent groundshare. What he appears to be talking about is not ruling out a temporary one at another club's ground.

 

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If we built a joint stadium with another local club halfway between the two it would be a positive step for the long term viability of both clubs. I would love a complete redevelopment of BP but it appears that for various reasons that will not happen.

 

 

 

Simon Blitz has already dismissed an out-of-town groundshare.

 

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I accept that there might be some people who attend BP from Rochdale and, at a pinch, Bury and suchlike.

 

I'm from Oldham originally, lived there 18 years but as soon as I could I hightailed it out of there never to go back. I now live in Bury and the only reason I go to Oldham now is for Latics or to see the parts of my family that haven't had the good sense to get out of the dying town.

 

I know of at least 4 or 5 others that come over from Bury to go to the games and several that go from oop Rochdale way.

 

Oldham is dead, it is just taking a while to go through the death throws.

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I'm from Oldham originally, lived there 18 years but as soon as I could I hightailed it out of there never to go back. I now live in Bury and the only reason I go to Oldham now is for Latics or to see the parts of my family that haven't had the good sense to get out of the dying town.

 

I know of at least 4 or 5 others that come over from Bury to go to the games and several that go from oop Rochdale way.

 

Oldham is dead, it is just taking a while to go through the death throws.

 

 

 

Personal anecdotes are only partly relevant. We all know people who no longer live in Oldham and still attend BP. However, it is completely absurd to suggest that a majority of our support comes from other towns.

 

Oldham is no more a dying town than many other places, including those that have relatively successful football clubs. Do you really think places like Burnley, Blackburn, Bolton or Preston don't have similar problems to Oldham?

 

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Personal anecdotes are only partly relevant. We all know people who no longer live in Oldham and still attend BP. However, it is completely absurd to suggest that a majority of our support comes from other towns.

 

Oldham is no more a dying town than many other places, including those that have relatively successful football clubs. Do you really think places like Burnley, Blackburn, Bolton or Preston don't have similar problems to Oldham?

 

...... Rochdale and Bury is local in my book, I don't class this as support coming from other towns

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You referred to local support earlier ...... Rochdale and Bury is local in my book

 

 

 

By local I mean within the boundaries Oldham Met. Borough-which is obviously where the majority of Latics' support comes from, the reasons for which have already been given. I've already agreed that pockets of support might come from other nearby towns.

 

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