Next season miles better for Latics

ATHLETIC are set to enjoy a division with a far more local flavour to it in 2011-12.

South coast duo Brighton and Southampton have already secured their respective upward departures from npower League One — Saints aren't yet guaranteed, but would have to give up a huge goals advantage to blow it in favour of Huddersfield — with Swindon, Plymouth and, in all likelihood, Bristol Rovers exiting in the other direction.

Guaranteed to be facing Athletic next time around are Chesterfield and Bury from League Two, with relegated Preston, Scunthorpe and Sheffield United also in the pot in what is a far more northern-based mix than has been the case this season.

Purely in terms of cutting down further on mileage for the team and its coaching staff, Athletic will now hope that Bournemouth manage to claim victory in the League One play-offs, with Dagenham going down and Shrewsbury and Accrington coming up from League Two.

Athletic chief executive Alan Hardy told the Chronicle that, depending on the distances involved, travelling to away matches on the day of the game saves between £2,500 and £3,000 on hotel bills and other associated costs of overnight stays.

Another knock-on benefit of a more localised division — the total accumulated mileage could drop by more than a third — is the increase in number of away fans coming through the Boundary Park turnstiles.

Against that, it means the club could be hit with bigger policing bills.

Miles covered by Athletic in 2010-11: 7,754.

Best-case scenario for miles to be covered in 2011-12: 5,078.




The runners and riders for npower league One, 2011-12 season:



IN: Preston, Scunthorpe, Sheffield United (relegated); Chesterfield, Bury (promoted).

POSSIBLY IN: Shrewsbury, Wycombe (one promoted automatically, the other entering the play-offs), Accrington (in play-offs); Torquay, Stevenage, Gillingham, Port Vale (all attempting to get into play-offs).

OUT: Brighton, Southampton* (promoted); Swindon, Plymouth, Bristol Rovers* (relegated).

POSSIBLY OUT: Huddersfield*, Peterborough, MK Dons, Bournemouth (one team promoted via play-offs); Notts County, Dagenham, Walsall (one side from these three will be relegated to league Two).

*Final placings are correct providing there are no extreme last-day scorelines.




Selected remaining fixtures —



Npower League One (all Saturday, 3pm): Bournemouth v Rochdale; Notts County v Brighton; ATHLETIC v MK Dons; Peterborough v Dagenham; Southampton v Walsall.

Npower League Two (all Saturday, 3pm): Barnet v Port Vale; Chesterfield v Gillingham; Rotherham v Torquay; Shrewsbury v Oxford Utd; Stevenage v Bury; Wycombe v Southend.