Making the most of moving home

ATHLETIC have sought to allay some of the concerns arising from the decision to relocate from Boundary Park by pointing to examples of similar moves by other clubs - in particular they have used Shrewsbury Town and Colchester United as models.

What can we learn from these two examples?

The first thing that stands out is that both cases involved clubs moving from their “spiritual home” to a new purpose-built state-of-the-art stadium in another part of the town.

Both new grounds have initial capacities of 10,000 spectators and are capable of further expansion, in much the same way as the proposed Latics stadium will be.

Colchester’s Stadium can grow to 18,000, while Shrewsbury already have plans to add another 2,500 seats when attendances justify. The scale of their ambition is clear with an upper capacity of 40,000 - not bad for a club that has never been higher than the old second division and has a record crowd of just under 19,000.

The need for Shrewsbury’s move was identified when the club came under new ownership in 1996 and first proposals were tabled in 1999. It took six years for the plans to be approved and there was opposition from both a section of the fans – who opposed the move because it was “a betrayal of the club’s history”- and from residents near the new ground.

The residents ran an organised and vocal campaign with a main focus on the loss of amenity that would follow the opening of the new ground. In particular they had concerns about increased traffic on match days and problems with parking.

The club consulted widely and was able to involve fans in some aspects of the stadium development and to meet some residents’ fears with a well-presented Transport Action Plan.

The Transport Plan was devised in consultation with fans, the local council and a local bus company and has many interesting and imaginative features, including Park and Ride and Park and Walk schemes to keep traffic down on match days.

The club also provide bike racks for more energetic fans and drop-off facilities for disabled fans.

Both developments involved the creation of community facilities, both in terms of natural and artificial football pitches and conference, hospitality and banqueting facilities.

The sports grounds and community access are managed in different ways at the two clubs.

In part, the Shrews deliver community access by linking with Powerleague - a national company that organises “short-sided” football on a commercial basis.

Colchester had the advantage of being able to use the Colchester United Community Sports Trust (CUCST), established in 2001, to oversee the use of its community facilities. CUCST brings together a wide range of community, sporting and educational activities and is widely regarded as a model of its kind.

What stands out from both cases is that the concerns being raised about Latics new home aren’t unique to Oldham and the problems faced by Latics are shared by other teams in the lower leagues.

The conclusion that both Shrewsbury and Colchester reached is that relocation is a vital part of securing a future for professional football in their towns - and with full consultation and imagination it can bring benefits to club, the fans and the wider community.