Chadderton’s fate may be decided

THE future of Chadderton Football Club could finally be resolved tomorrow following a summer of turmoil after owners Tony Bhatti and Craig Halliwell withdrew their financial support leaving the club heavily in debt.

A meeting is to take place involving representatives of the owners, club officials and officers from Oldham Council who own the Broadway ground.

There are a number of prospective new owners who have made offers to buy the club.

But they are unwilling to take over unless Oldham Council offers them a lease as opposed to the licence which the current owners have.

Any new owner, who would inherit debts of at least £10,000, would seek the security of a lease to safeguard their investment in the Broadway club.

Meanwhile, manager Paul Buckley is facing a massive challenge with the new season little over a month away.

As the future of the club remains uncertain, Buckley is resigned to kicking off the campaign without as many as 15 of the players who helped them finish fifth in division two of the Vodkat North West Counties League.

Buckley says it is understandable that players are looking for security, something he is unable to offer them.

Players who have definitely departed include Carl and Danny Taylor, Ian Hulme (all Royton Town); Nehru McKenzie (Runcorn); Arron Sutcliffe (Ashton Utd); Lee Neville (Hyde Utd); Phil Edgehill (Curzon Ashton) and Troy Hayder (Atherton Collieries).

Nick Fraine is coaching, while others are considering their futures or are ruled out through injury or work commitments.

Buckley has also temporarily lost his assistant Derek Ogden through health problems.

He admits it is a challenging situation, one complicated further by Oldham Council suspending training facilities because of a £1,400 bill from last season not being paid.

The clubhouse is also dry after the brewery halted further supplies of drinks for similar reasons.

To add to the problems, vandals have been on another wrecking spree at their Broadway ground.

Buckley added it is hard from his own viewpoint after seeing two-and-a-half years work unravel in front of his eyes.

He had lifted Chadderton from battling re-election to challenging for promotion.

Buckley said: “It has been hard to keep spirits up and the easiest thing would be to walk away.

“But I will battle on and, with a bit of luck, things will work out and I can start rebuilding again.”

Buckley has been encouraged by the turnout for pre-season training with as many as 30 players attending.

And he says they still have some exciting young players who may get their chance sooner than expected due to the club’s adversity.