Corney’s grounds for optimism

ATHLETIC chairman Simon Corney believes there could finally be light at the end of the tunnel as the club look to build the planned new Broadway Stand at Boundary Park.

Years of frustration and setbacks have dogged the club’s efforts to either move to a new location or redevelop their current home.

And while Corney is still not in a position to reveal a time frame, he is more optimistic about the future after discussions with Oldham Council leader Jim McMahon.

“I am more hopeful about the stadium situation than I have been at any other point since coming to this club,” said Corney.

“And that is down to the hard work and determination of Cllr Jim McMahon.

“This has nothing to do with politics, but the fact is, discussions with his predecessors did not get us anywhere.

“Now there is a man at the helm who returns my calls at 10.30pm at night. He works around the clock.

“I don’t talk about the situation much anymore and I still cannot go into specifics because there is a lot of work still to be carried out behind the scenes.

“But at least we are now in a position to be genuinely optimistic and I honestly believe we are on to something here.”

Discussions with architects, and environmental and planning issues remain at the top of the agenda for the time being.

The Broadway Stand was demolished in 2008, but ambitious plans to overhaul the ground with a hotel, new stands a conference suite and a housing development were stopped in their tracks by the recession.

The following summer Athletic and the council revealed plans for a new stadium in Failsworth, only for protesters to claim the land was paid for by the War Memorial Committee and was a trust.

A residents’ petition and action group was formed.

By March, 2010, the council had declared a trust and was backed by the Charity Commission, and three months later a consultation got under way on the council’s plan to swap the trust land for other Failsworth sites.

The council’s Trust sub-committee voted to transfer it to Warwick Road and Vale Lane, but the club was stunned when, in 2011, the Charity Commission refused to agree the transfer.

Corney has labelled the arrival on the scene of Cllr McMahon as a “turning point” and believes a long-awaited breakthrough is a possibility.