Consortium’s anger at council’s football deal snub

THE Broadway home of struggling Chadderton Football Club

‘We had agreement to take over club’

LOCAL businessman Jim Royle is furious after his consortium’s bid to buy Chadderton Football Club was rejected.

The front man for a three-strong group, Mr Royle is demanding an explanation from Oldham Council as to why the offer was unacceptable.

Mr Royle, general manager of Oldham Letting Centre, alleges that the Council reneged on a verbal agreement for his consortium to take control of the local-authority owned ground and claims the move to install Oldham Rugby League club is being steamrollered through at their expense.

Mr Royle said: “When Oldham Roughyeds left Watersheddings, Oldham Council promised to find them a new home in the town.

“They have failed to do so in the last 12 years and, in my opinion, this is an opportunity for the council to finally fulfil that promise. They are clearly going for it — and nobody is going to stand in their way.”

Mr Royle last month resigned as the Broadway club’s treasurer because he was unhappy with the proposed take-over by the Roughyeds, feeling it is not in the best interests of the football team.

It is the latest twist in the protracted wrangle over the future of the soccer club.

Businessmen Tony Bhatti and Craig Halliwell took over the licence, forming a new company Chadderton (2006) Ltd and vowing to make them one of the top non-league clubs in the area.

When property company Hillstone Developments hit trouble last year they were forced to withdraw financial support and put the club up for sale.

Mr Royle said: “They offered the club for £1 so long as a new owner would take over the debts, which we estimated at £15,000.

“We haven’t been able to make contact with Messrs Bhatti and Halliwell but our offer was verbally accepted by officials from Oldham Council who are the owners of the ground.

“At that time we were the only party interested and I was confident we would be successful.

“The idea was three of us (two others wish to remain anonymous) — to clear the debts and hand the club back to the committee which ran it from 1946 to 2006 without any trouble.

“The club has never had a lot of money, but they have always scraped by and paid the bills.”

Mr Royle and the two other members of the consortium have all had previous links with Chadderton.

“We are not in it for personal gain and it will cost us a lot of money. We simply want to preserve the future of the club as we believe the football will eventually be squeezed out if Roughyeds take over,” he continued.

Mr Royle is demanding to know whether the council ever passed on his consortium’s contact details to Messrs Bhatti and Halliwell.

He said: “We received an undertaking that a take-over would be completed before the start of the season.

“Seven months on and the football club is still in a state of limbo and it cannot carry on as it is doing.

“From my time on the committee, I know the pressure they have been under from various quarters, including the Football Association and Vodkat North West Counties League, because at the moment they are technically not tenants and have no right to be using the ground.

“The committee has also paid off debts of between £2,000 and £3,000 since the summer — bills which ought to have been settled by the current owners.”

Oldham Council has so far made no comment on the claims.