Long-term plans still on – Blitz

ATHLETIC chairman Simon Blitz has reassured supporters that the club’s American-based owners are as committed as ever to the club.

Despite the ambitious £80million plan to redevelop Boundary Park being put on hold due to the credit crunch, Mr Blitz says they remain keen to see their dream fulfilled.

He said: “We are here for the long term and determined 100-per-cent to see it through, but we have to wait for the right time as the whole world is on hold at the moment so far as such developments are concerned.

“We are in the same boat as everybody else, and I hope the fans understand that. We don’t have a magic wand and we have to wait until credit loosens up and banks start to talk to people again.”

Mr Blitz also offered an upbeat message on the finances at Boundary Park, despite managing director Simon Corney warning that the owners won’t be able to bankroll the club as they have done in previous years due to the economic downturn.

Mr Blitz said: “I think you will find that a lot of budgets across the leagues will be reviewed.

“If we are still in this division and season-ticket sales are down we will cut our cloth accordingly. We are determined the club will stand on its own two feet. We are looking to be as near to being self-financing as early as we can, possibly by next season.

“We are healthy financially and are not carrying a lot of long-term debt.”

Mr Blitz explained that the losses for the current financial year won’t be as great as envisaged despite the absence of a lucrative cup run.

The transfer fee received from Brighton for Craig Davies and money collected from Manchester City and Preston as part of the deals for Micah Richards and Neal Trotman had made sizeable inroads into the deficit.

The decision to hire out car parking space to the Royal Oldham Hospital will also bring in thousands of pounds of additional revenue.

Mr Blitz added that attendances remain disappointing given Athletic are challenging for promotion, but he says the support of the die-hard fans is “incredible.”

“We suffer in that we have lower gates than we should have considering the position we are in.

“We can moan until we are blue in the face, but the fans who come week in, week out are the ones we appreciate,” he said.