Man with a plan –– but will it happen?

Dr Marwan Koukash — Oldham in his sights

LET’S take a nuts-and-bolts look at where things stand. Dr Marwan Koukash has grand plans to build a new stadium for Oldham Athletic and Oldham RL and to take over both clubs.

The rugby club could not be more welcoming. The football club has publicly invited a firm takeover bid, but has already been told its valuation is too high.

All parties would love a deal to be struck. The vast majority of fans who inhabit Boundary Park and Whitebank would relish a shiny new stadium to watch their sport in. And the ragingly-ambitious Koukash would love a new project to sink his teeth into.

But the course of true love never runs smooth, does it? There is so much legwork to get through, not to mention unanswered questions.

For starters, where would a new stadium be built? Koukash says he has identified sites, but isn’t revealing anything.

Will Failsworth be resurrected? That would send a shudder down more than a few spines. It was a painful-enough farrago last time.

There is the issue of what becomes of Boundary Park. Redevelopment is off the agenda for Koukash — it’s not big enough for sufficient commercial income, he says.

So what about the proposed new £6million North Stand? A six-figure sum has already been invested, not to mention countless man-hours of work before the actual building work begins.

And don’t forget Trust Oldham’s three-per-cent stake in Athletic.

There are, understandably, doubts over whether Koukash can ultimately strike a deal to buy Athletic.

That invites knock-on suspicion over whether anything at all will happen with a new stadium, wherever that may be.

Speaking to the Chronicle this week, he suggested there might be an option where Simon Corney and Co. keep hold of the club and the land, but move the team to the new stadium. It remains to be seen whether that offer is taken seriously.

But for all the doubts, there is no doubt the doctor is very serious about his sport.

Just look at his work in horse racing; or in raising the profile of the rebranded Salford Red Devils in a matter of months, since saving the ailing club.

He won’t go away. And he won’t stop talking to the media about his plans.

There could exciting times to come: Koukash’s vision is for Championship football at least, with even a hint of old faces from the glory days returning behind the scenes. Imagine that.

And he wants the Roughyeds in Super League, to compete with Salford and create a new top-level local rivalry in the sport.

“I see it when players walk into the stadium in Salford,” Koukash told us. “They are impressed and want to join us. It is human nature.

“With no disrespect to Boundary Park and its great history, we have to move with the times.

“I have absolutely no interest in taking over to see the club languishing in League One. If I go in, there will be a clear strategy to go into at least the Championship.

“With the rugby club — and I want to emphasise that I am completely serious about this — I want to take it to Super League.”

A vision is one thing, reality something else.