THE Chronicle can reveal today that Athletic sold their Boundary Park ground for £3million . . . and saved themselves from going out of business.

At the time of the sale, Athletic had a bank overdraft of over £1.7m, a figure which had virtually doubled in the space of 12 months. That meant they were a total of £2.7m in the red and still losing money at the rate of more than £1m a year. The debts had reached crisis point. And, in the words of chairman David Brierley, the bank "were not prepared to offer any more latitude". That meant Athletic had no choice but to sell up and become tenants at their own stadium. The £3million down payment came from Hiretarget, a company partly-owned by Oldham Council and aiming to develop the Boundary Park site for housing. Hiretarget will pay a further amount if Athletic move to Sports Park 2000. But the initial cash injection wiped out the club's liabilities and meant they could beat off the threat of extinction. Another factor which forced Athletic's hand was the near-£700,000 they still owed on redeveloping the Rochdale Road End _seven years after the work was completed.

Had it not been for the £500,000 brought in by selling Carl Serrant to Newcastle early in the financial year, the situation would have been even more desperate. The insight into Athletic's terrible financial plight is provided by the latest accounts, which the Chronicle obtained today. The figures, relating to the year ending May 31, paint a worrying picture of more problems ahead. Acutely aware of the situation, Athletic's chief administrators are continuing to make severe cutbacks. On the playing side, that has entailed five players having their contracts terminated. And there could be more to follow. Overall income for the year actually increased by £300,000 to almost £2.5m. Of that, £66,000 came from extra gate receipts and season ticket sales. But, although the wage bill was trimmed, total expenditure was also up slightly, with the cost of running the club's vital youth development system leaping by around 150 per cent. Taking everything into account, Athletic made a loss of precisely £1,044,699. That compares favourably with the previous 12 months. If the trend continues, however, it will take only three years for the club to be back in the same position which forced them to take such drastic action in the first place.

WHAT better place than a great seat of learning for Athletic to hand out a few harsh footballing lessons? While Cambridge flunked the latest test of their survival credentials, Andy Ritchie’s side passed with honours and can continue aiming to graduate to the top half of the second division. For quality of attack and their refusal to accept anything other than victory, especially after they were hauled back to level terms, Athletic fully deserved to chalk up a third away win of the season. True, they made it hard for themselves. But, for the most part, they were a class above a Cambridge side who look in dire danger of the drop. Athletic were two up just before half-time, yet even that advantage didn’t reflect their domination of the match. Two messy goals later, it was 2-2. And it needed a winner from Lee Duxbury, plus John Sheridan’s last-second clearance off the line, to prevent Athletic heading home with a sense of injustice. Cambridge lurched from hapless to clueless, while the visitors were building their lead during that one-sided first half. Sheridan was masterful in midfield and Neil Adams provided excellent service from out wide as he revelled in an uneven battle with veteran full-back Clive Wilson. Mark Allott and Steve Whitehall, both of them surviving Craig Dudley’s return to fitness, made a useful pairing up front. At the other end, all goalkeeper Gary Kelly had to do was pick up over hit passes and gather the odd stray punt upfield.

It took precious little to knock the Christmas stuffing out of Cambridge, a team second from bottom of the table following their promotion in May. They would be struggling horribly without highly-rated striker Martin Butler and have yet to keep a clean sheet in the league. It isn’t hard to see why. Yet Butler’s first goal, after 43 minutes, altered the complexion of the contest. From that moment on, it was a much more even affair and Athletic came under pressure themselves as they sought only their second league win at the little Abbey Stadium. It was 11 months since Athletic last hit three goals in a league game and they were also without a victory for four weeks. Despite that, Ritchie stood by Allott and Whitehall — and it took only 11 minutes for his instinct to be proved correct. After Cambridge had huffed and puffed in the opening stages, Adams sent a searching ball between two defenders from well inside his own half. It was a pass which tested Allott’s pace and determination. And the 21-year-old responded in superb fashion, holding off one challenge and sprinting away from another before crashing his shot into the roof of the net from 12 yards. Allott’s eighth goal of the campaign was a terrific strike and equalled his tally for the whole of last season. It also inspired his best performance for several weeks, boosting his chances off seeing off competition from Dudley, or whoever else may challenge him for his place. Cambridge needed a top-class tackle from Marc Joseph to stop Whitehall doubling the lead from Allott’s deflected cross.

Allott then had an effort ruled out for offside after Shaun Garnett’s centre found its way to him at the far post. After 29 minutes, Athletic were again close to making it 2-0 following a break down the left by Duxbury. As Cambridge appealed for offside, Duxbury crossed low to Allott, who saw ’keeper Shaun Marshall make a fine block. Soon afterwards, Whitehall’s improvised 20-yarder curled just the wrong side of the post. And, finally, 11 minutes before the break, Athletic found the second goal which had become simply a matter of time. When Cambridge failed to clear a corner, Andrew Holt had plenty of time to measure his cross from the left. Adams was quick to react and, as the home defence stood and watched, the winger dashed in on the blind side to glance home a header from eight yards. Cambridge had offered hardly any threat at all until top-scorer Butler halved the deficit just before the break. Garnett was punished for climbing just outside the area and Butler drilled the free-kick inside Kelly’s left-hand post to leave the ’keeper furious at his crumbling defensive wall. That made the opening to the second half absolutely vital as Cambridge were sure to come out firing. But Athletic were ready for them and Sheridan’s drive flew just wide after the home side’s fragility was exposed once again. Although Paul Rickers brought another save from Marshall, and Paul Wanless wasted a decent opening for The U’s, the game settled into a midfield stalemate which suited Athletic’s ends.

After 72 minutes, however, the visitors were hit by the most unfortunate of blows as Butler grabbed the equaliser for his 17th of the season. The ball looped up 12 yards from goal and Butler’s volley — scuffed as he fell backwards — crept towards Kelly’s right-hand corner. The ’keeper had it covered, only for the rutted pitch to send the shot bobbling over his outstretched hand and into the net. Six minutes later, Athletic’s never-say-die attitude was back in evidence as they managed to restore their lead. Sheridan’s corner was floated to the far post, where skipper Duxbury charged into the ruck of players to head past Marshall from inside the six-yard box. Athletic looked in little danger of blowing their latest advantage until Sheridan appeared on the line to block Trevor Benjamin’s shot with virtually the last kick of the afternoon. His intervention made sure spirits will be even higher than usual this week when the players gather for their festive celebrations. It will be a merry Christmas at Boundary Park.

ANDY RITCHIE praised his team’s grit and determination after they had suffered the despair of losing a two-goal lead. The manager felt it took guts to bounce back and clinch Athletic’s sixth victory of the campaign — one which keeps them comfortably placed above the relegation zone. “We made hard work of it, but I’m really pleased with the result,” Ritchie said. “We dug in, played very well and, when Cambridge got it back to 2-2, we showed a lot of character. “It says something when our own fans are singing `It’s just like watching Brazil’ — although it wasn’t quite that good! “But we could have been four up at half-time. Then we made it hard for ourselves by conceding two bad goals. “The lads had some harsh words at half-time, because someone jumped out of the wall when Cambridge scored from the free-kick. “It shouldn’t have been a free-kick in the first place, but you have to be strong in those situations. “If you get the ball in the face or the nether regions, you just have to take it. “We should have stopped their second as well and John Sheridan held his hands up and said he should have cleared it. “He made up for it with that clearance at the end, although the game should have been over by then because the board was held up saying there were three minutes of injury time and that incident came after four. “It’s things like that that incense you and we do keep a check on it while we’re on the bench. “But, overall, I’m very pleased. It’s unusual for us to score three goals and encouraging that we have so many shots on target. “It’s the old cliché that if you don’t buy a ticket, you won’t win the raffle. So we keep telling them to buy tickets.”

Ritchie, who resisted the temptation to bring back Craig Dudley after the speedy striker’s recovery from injury, was especially pleased with his two frontmen. Steve Whitehall and goalscorer Mark Allott both vindicated the manager’s decision and never allowed the Cambridge defence to settle. Ritchie said: “It would have been out of order to leave either of those two out of the side. “They played very well at Preston last week and that showed again in this game. They both ran their socks off. “Until their form dips, we have to be loyal to them. It’s nice that we now have three strikers in decent form. And don’t forget about Matthew Tipton, who has been playing well in the reserves.”

Their most experienced defender Clive Wilson admitted: "At that point you should at the very least not lose the match, even if you can't go on to win it. "Martin got us back, after a poor first half, and it was a real kick in the teeth to lose after that, really discouraging. "We keep on saying we are going to follow up good performances like at Wrexham, and against Palace in the Cup, but it isn't happening." United lamely dropped the baton Butler handed them going into the final phase, losing the game and nosediving deeper into relegation trouble because they were outbattled by Oldham at that stage, after being outplayed in the first half. "We showed great character," said Oldham boss Andy Ritchie. "It was a shock to see the game at 2-2 when we had dominated. "Teams can go under then, especially if they settle for the draw, but we kept on playing. We needed a last minute goal-line clearance, but we more than earned that bit of luck. Apart from the goal from the free kick, Cambridge didn't get a shot on target in the first half." It was a very different story at the other end before the break, as the Latics stretched and sliced through a defence back to its shakiest after the clean sheet against Crystal Palace.

There was gift-wrapping around the goals Mark Allott and Neil Adams plundered in the 11th and 34th minutes. And it would have been as good as over before Butler's 43rd minute goal but for Marc Joseph making a vital tackle to stop Steve Whitehall in the 18th minute, Shaun Marshall pulling off a great save from Allott in the 29th, and Whitehall's 20 yarder flying inches wide three minutes later. A couple of runs each by Butler and Trevor Benjamin after lost causes were all United could set against that tally of attacks. John Taylor's display was probably final proof the old warrior's best role is as a substitute shock-trooper, while in front of a dithering defence -- hardly helped as Joseph succumbed to flu-like effects -- the midfield failed both to disrupt Oldham's game or piece together one of their own. It took Oldham just six minutes of greater grit and determination to restore their lead from a set-piece, and United looked a little lucky immediately after not to concede a penalty when Paul Wanless appeared to handle. The hundreds of United fans who left before the end were probably glad they missed the final dramatic seconds. Benjamin rammed in a shot after good work by substitute Neil Mustoe, Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Gary Kelly was beaten, but John Sheridan made a reflex block right on the goal line. It left United with what they deserved, nothing, apart from another stark statistic to add to their run of 24 League games without a clean sheet -- 21 goals against at home is the worst record in the entire Nationwide League.

THE FRINGE players will get their chance in tomorrow night's Auto Windscreens Shield match against Barnet to win places in Cambridge United's League side. Manager Roy McFarland made it clear: "There are a lot of places up for grabs," after the bitterly disappointing 3-2 home defeat by Oldham. He was hoping the team which impressively knocked first division Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup would carry that momentum into Saturday's match. But they were 2-0 down in just over half an hour, and crashed to a third consecutive Division Two defeat which anchors them in the next-to-bottom spot. "We had a great Cup performance," he said, "but we didn't carry it on. It should have given us confidence, but we didn't see it in this game. "The most disappointing thing was that when we had the ball we didn't use it, there was no movement. It was hit and hope. "Players weren't accepting the responsibility of wanting the ball. Oldham played the better football, and even when we got back to 2-2 thanks to Martin Butler they were looking more dangerous. "We made it more difficult for ourselves by giving goals away. And there were individual errors by Martin McNeil and Shaun Marshall particularly, which were costly. "Now I've got to look at people like Tom Youngs, Alex Russell and Scott Eustace, and decide whether they could come in to improve us. It's not a case of sticking the reserves in. We want to progress in the competition, but we also need to get a good look at certain players." Work went on over the weekend on the Abbey Stadium pitch which was unusually heavily sanded on Saturday after the postponement of the Auto Windscreens game a week ago. But the weather over the next 24 hours could still decide whether the re-scheduled first round tie goes ahead.