Rochdale keen on share talks

ROCHDALE have confirmed they are the club which has been approached by Athletic to share a base at a new purpose-built stadium.

And Spotland officials are keen to explore the proposal put to them by their neighbours.

After initial speculation that Athletic were involved in groundshare talks with Bury, Rochdale or Stockport, Rochdale have gone public.

In a statement they said: “Rochdale chairman Chris Dunphy was approached by Simon Corney over the possibility of sharing a new ground to be situated between the two current sites.

“Whilst we are not discarding the possibility of this move, this is as far as negotiations have gone so far. We would certainly like to look into the idea further, but at the moment things are still at the earliest possible stage.”

Sharing would cut down maintenance costs for one thing. Athletic, for example, spent £427,000 on ground expenses in the year to the end of May 2009.

Mr Dunphy is away with Rochdale at their pre-season training camp in Spain and was not contactable, Nor was Mr Corney.

Athletic have suffered their first injury setbacks of their build-up to the new campaign.

Midfield men Rob Purdie and Danny Whitaker have both been forced to sit out training sessions this week.

Purdie, a summer signing from Darlington, has missed a couple of days with a stomach-muscle strain while Whitaker was unable to train once due to a tight hamstring.

Manager Dave Penney is confident both players will be available for Monday’s first pre-season friendly at Conference North club Hyde United, admission prices for which will be £6 for adults and £3 for children/pensioners.

Penney added he is making progress in his efforts to sign a striker and central defender, the final two pieces of the jigsaw.

The Athletic manager was forced to look at other targets for a front man after Lee Hughes rejected an offer to remain at Boundary Park.

“I am talking to players and agents and some of the negotiations are progressing,” remarked Penney.

Penney would not confirm or deny reports linking him with Antoine Sibierski, the 34-year-old French striker who has played for Manchester City, Newcastle, Wigan and Norwich.

Sibierski has also been mentioned as a potential target for League One rivals Huddersfield Town.