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Why we have to move — chairman

 

LATICS chairman Simon Blitz has spoke of the urgent need to find a new home.

 

Mr Blitz said: “I cannot see the club surviving if all we can offer is a dilapidated stadium.

 

“Boundary Park will only get worse over the next 10 years, so we have to find a way to build a new stadium somehow and somewhere.” Mr Blitz added that relocating is now preferred to redeveloping Boundary Park.

 

He continued: “A revamp of Boundary Park is getting harder by the day because property prices around the world have crashed.”

 

Mr Blitz did not rule out a groundshare,but believes Athletic will probably go it alone.

 

Athletic spent £427,000 in the last financial year maintaining Boundary Park and the club’s training facilities.

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that is fair enough, the problem with BP is theres only so much you can do,

I feel sorry for failsworth dynamos though and hope the council/latics can offer them something in return

 

I think any scheme now which involves us staying at boundary park would involve us ground sharing with another club for a season or three whilst boundary park is bulldozed and a new stadium is built all at once, as opposed to developing it stand by stand.

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I think any scheme now which involves us staying at boundary park would involve us ground sharing with another club for a season or three whilst boundary park is bulldozed and a new stadium is built all at once, as opposed to developing it stand by stand.

 

I'm very worried about this despite what the owners have said and I have no reason to mistrust them but all I can think of is Charlton, Brighton, Chester, Fulham and more importantly Wimbledon. I do not want to leave Boundary Park until there are definite approved plans in place or ideally the work has already begun. Until then I will take the stance of many other latics fans and believe this when I see it. Sorry for being cynical but the new ground idea has been rumbling around since the summer of 1989 when building on clayton was first mooted.

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I'm very worried about this despite what the owners have said and I have no reason to mistrust them but all I can think of is Charlton, Brighton, Chester, Fulham and more importantly Wimbledon. I do not want to leave Boundary Park until there are definite approved plans in place or ideally the work has already begun. Until then I will take the stance of many other latics fans and believe this when I see it. Sorry for being cynical but the new ground idea has been rumbling around since the summer of 1989 when building on clayton was first mooted.

 

I can understand where your coming from, but eventually I think unfortanately it is inevitable we will have to take a risk and I think its got to come sooner rather than later

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I'm very worried about this despite what the owners have said and I have no reason to mistrust them but all I can think of is Charlton, Brighton, Chester, Fulham and more importantly Wimbledon. I do not want to leave Boundary Park until there are definite approved plans in place or ideally the work has already begun. Until then I will take the stance of many other latics fans and believe this when I see it. Sorry for being cynical but the new ground idea has been rumbling around since the summer of 1989 when building on clayton was first mooted.

 

There's nothing in Blitz's statement to suggest otherwise.

It also looks as though the council and Latics are working together - a step forward.

 

edit: I read the groundshare bit as referring to the creation of a new stadium.

Edited by LaticsPete
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I'm very worried about this despite what the owners have said and I have no reason to mistrust them but all I can think of is Charlton, Brighton, Chester, Fulham and more importantly Wimbledon. I do not want to leave Boundary Park until there are definite approved plans in place or ideally the work has already begun. Until then I will take the stance of many other latics fans and believe this when I see it. Sorry for being cynical but the new ground idea has been rumbling around since the summer of 1989 when building on clayton was first mooted.

Spot on.

 

I would be happy enough to see us move ground if it's the best way forward but if we were to move away from Boundary Park without a replacement in place, there is a major danger that it wouldn't happen and we'd end up sharing someone else's ground for the foreseeable future.

 

I'm not saying that I don't trust TTA, far from it, but things change. We intended to build a new stand when we knocked down the Lookers but events overtook us and that was no longer possible. That was bad enough, but to be left without a ground would be unthinkable.

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That article is what annoys me the most about the Chron and kneejerkers, as far as I can tell it's only in the early stages of discussions and nobody knows what concessions would be made to the junior teams

 

Yep, yet again our so called local paper puts a negative spin on anything Latics, feckin' sick of their doom and gloom attitude. There's plenty of pitches in failsworth. This is private owned land, owned by BAE so despite my symapthies for the kids this should go ahead and if I remember correctly there isn't a great deal of residential units around so hopefully the NIMBY's won't come into play although i'm sure the kids footie club will set up some sort of protest group and i'm sure Simon whathisface will be commenting in the Chron all too soon.

 

One concern I do have is the proximity to Eastlands but if they're going to watch Citeh they'll go no matter what.

Edited by oafcprozac
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Yep, yet again our so called local paper puts a negative spin on anything Latics, feckin' sick of their doom and gloom attitude. There's plenty of pitches in failsworth. This is private owned land, owned by BAE so despite my symapthies for the kids this should go ahead and if I remember correctly there isn't a great deal of residential units around so hopefully the NIMBY's won't come into play although i'm sure the kids footie club will set up some sort of protest group and i'm sure Simon whathisface will be commenting in the Chron all too soon.

 

One concern I do have is the proximity to Eastlands but if tehy're going to watch Citeh they'll go no matter what.

 

 

Ferny field?

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I'm very worried about this despite what the owners have said and I have no reason to mistrust them but all I can think of is Charlton, Brighton, Chester, Fulham and more importantly Wimbledon. I do not want to leave Boundary Park until there are definite approved plans in place or ideally the work has already begun. Until then I will take the stance of many other latics fans and believe this when I see it. Sorry for being cynical but the new ground idea has been rumbling around since the summer of 1989 when building on clayton was first mooted.

I share that concern, not through any lack of trust in TTA but because the examples you mention all have their own stories to tell about how complicated and protracted such a plan could be. If the club was left in limboland for more than a season without a home, playing at Spotland or wherever, I would genuinely fear for our survival.

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Nah, I don't think it was ever truly viable.

 

+1

 

Developing boundary park stand by stand would have taken between 7-10 years, and by the time it has been completed, I dont think one could call it a 'new stadium'.

 

I think the only viable option which will see us remain at boundary park is to flatten the whole stadium and rebuild from scratch, groundsharing with another club whilst this is ongoing*

 

*Any reference to a groundshare here is based on the assumption that firm plans will be in place for a redevelopment, planning permission obtained, finances in place to fund it and a clear timescale regarding the development and completion of any new stadium.

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Mr Blitz said: “I cannot see the club surviving if all we can offer is a dilapidated stadium.

 

Agreed. The look of the stadium, especially with the Lookers gone, is a factor that is likely to put off potential supporters.

 

Mr Blitz added that relocating is now preferred to redeveloping Boundary Park. He continued: “A revamp of Boundary Park is getting harder by the day because property prices around the world have crashed.”

 

Not sure I can agree with this. Surely revamping BP a stand at a time is a cheaper option than a complete new build? So how does this make sense?

 

 

Personally I am torn between a new stadium and a revamp - there are pros and cons to each that mean for me there is no right answer. Though I have no issue if we do end up sharing a new gorund with a local team as long as the location is reasonable for both.

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Surely if we move to a new ground, we could stay at BP until it was built. Most other clubs do it that way, can't see why it would be any different for us.

Unfortunately, I suspect the sale of the entire BP site would be needed to contribute toward the financing of the new build.

 

And in answer to Ricardo, yes the figures are still much worse than before the crash, but we'd get a far better figure (even now) from a residential developer for the whole site than we would for the originally proposed residential development around the edges.

 

Personally, I'm really looking forward to the complaints of the NIMBY's when they realise exactly how many dwellings could fit on the BP site... :grin:

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Financing a new stadium - where is this cash coming from; the sale of the current BP site to whom?

 

As the Mr Blitz states property prices have crashed so whom is going to want the BP site in the current market?

They've probably had the 'feelers' out already and there are always people around who will buy land, sit on it and wait for the market to pick up, which it inevitably will. Then they build on it.

 

Chances are, if this comes off, BP will stay with us until we are ready to move, then, watch the Nimbys who protested at its renovation cry, as it becomes dilapidated in front of their very eyes.

 

A good opportunity, irrelevant of the proximity to Eastlands and hopefully the situation with those already involved can be remedied.

 

As for the 'Chron, well, it's not repeatable!

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that is fair enough, the problem with BP is theres only so much you can do,

I feel sorry for failsworth dynamos though and hope the council/latics can offer them something in return

 

No doubt there will be another Clayton Action Group/Local Residents Group/NIMBY Group set up in opposition to these latest plans. Echoes of Sports Park 2000 and the Boundary Park Re-development plans?

 

:huh:

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i'll belive it when i see it but i think this is the only place they could move to attract new fans even though it is closer to eastlands

 

i also recon that the TTA are holding oldham council to ransom saying that if they dont put the planning permision the trough they will move the club out of oldham andwe could end up in tameside!

 

im all for this as i would be able to walk to the ground instead of having to drive up oldham road :wink:

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