That’s it, we’re off

ANGRY man . . . Latics chairman Simon Corney

LATICS STADIUM FALLOUT
Chairman sees red as stadium plans scuppered

LEAGUE football will not take place at Boundary Park next season as the full implications of the collapse of the plans for a new stadium are realised.

That is the stark prediction of “sickened” Latics chairman Simon Corney as he struggles to come to terms with the fact that 18-months of work towards a move to a £20 million new facility at Failsworth has hit the Charity Commission buffers.

Corney says there is “just not the will” to carry on with football at the dilapidated old ground beyond the end of their current season and that he is now exploring every option — including ground-sharing outside of Oldham.

“I am afraid the writing is on the wall for us. What else is there for us in Oldham? A brand new stadium on the Boundary Park site is just not an option — nobody is coming along with £20 million with which to build it.

“I have been in contact with a whole host of other organisations — no avenue is off limits. What I refuse to do is put the club into administration.

“Of course fans will be angry at some of the decisions we have taken regarding the current ground but we have taken all of these with the best of intentions — a new permanent home with improved facilities — but it has not been enough to secure a long-term future for the club in Oldham.

“Do we really want to go through this whole process again and again in Oldham — £35,000 for plans here, £20,000 for environmental reports there and what for — all for nothing, just bills, bills and more bills.”

The only remaining member of the Three Amigos who took charge of the club back in 2003 to still be at the club, Corney said they had pumped something like £14million into Latics and were also now faced with the problem of owning the Lancaster Club land — they paid £3million — with little hope of a return.

Corney, speaking exclusively to the Chronicle from London, said he was so sickened by what had happened and the way in which the club felt left down that he would not be coming to tomorrow’s game with Dagenham and Redbridge: “I feel personally shattered. I am not looking for sympathy but I just cannot face coming to the town at the weekend and that is sad because the new-look team under Paul Dickov is doing fantastically well.

“I just feel that I have to stay away from the club and the town and reflect on how I deal with this from here on.”