24th June 2000
24th June 2000 I have to say that I was disappointed at the tone of some of the questions. I offered this facility in good faith, and I shall answer the questions as honestly as commercial interests allow, but the spirit of my intentions has, in my view, been abused by the very tone of some of the questions.
Let us not forget, we all want the same thing, i.e. success for our club. We may differ on how we get there, but my colleagues and I have a responsibility to everyone with the interests of Oldham Athletic at heart. That is why we committed ourselves to the club.
That said, here goes:Sportspark 2000
Do you agree that the recent developments regarding the new stadium show a huge lack of foresight and a frightening level of incompetence by all concerned? Was this possibility ever considered and if so what measures were put in place to address it? If the stadium on Clayton Fields is dead, as it seems is true, what prospects does he see for the bankrupt, homeless, assetless Athletic in five years time?
No, I most certainly
do not agree that there has been any lack of foresight, on the contrary,
we all displayed great vision to try and achieve a stadium worthy of today's
standards. As to the question of incompetence, the statement does
not deserve a reply as the problems associated with the entire project
have been well chronicled and debated and are not of the football club's
making. If the stadium on Clayton Fields is dead, and this would
appear to be the case according to the new political masters at Oldham
Council, then
the future of Oldham Athletic still remains secure.
The stadium will, we hope, be redeveloped to a high standard, providing a facility incorporating hospitality and conference suites, enhancing our revenue streams not only on match days but also on non-match days. It was always a basic tenet of the redevelopment that the new stadium, and now the redeveloped Boundary Park, meets these basic criteria.
Where Sports Park 2000 is concerned, wouldn't it be fair to say that OAFC are being bullied and rail-roaded into the venture, by the local council, and that the club is merely a passenger on the councils gravy train? Also, is there any idea of a percentage of all revenue raised by the new development, that the club might receive?
I do not accept that we are being bullied and railroaded, but it is a fact that without the local authority it is not possible to proceed with a new stadium. As to percentages, once the new Board is in place these considerations will be high on the agenda.
In the light of yesterday's news that Hull City were locked out of Boothferry Park by the bailiffs for non-payment of ground rent. And given that we are reported to be losing £1m a year, how close are we to being in a similar situation, now that we no longer own Boundary Park and that the new ground has been canned?
The Hull City situation and ours are not remotely similar. We are working with a supportive local authority and a sympathetic landlord.
With the change of leadership in the local council having said no to the Sports Park 2000, why not stay at Boundary park and develop the George Hill stand etc., followed by the Lookers stand etc. later? Obviously the funding would have to come from some housing / retail development on part of what is now the car park / training ground areas. For a comparatively small club, as we are it would be best to proceed one step at a time and are not the two stands behind the goals more than adequate for the foreseeable future.
The answers to this have been chronicled already. I agree that redevelopment of the existing stadium is a sensible, achievable option and that the stands at the Chadderton and Rochdale Road ends are not only adequate, but excellent.
Given the new council leader has squashed the chances of building the new stadium on Clayton fields, which are the other two (private) sites supposedly under consideration and where does this actually leave the club now that they have already sold boundary park?
The location
of the two alternative sites cannot be revealed for commercially sensitive
reasons but I can reveal that the Board
categorically
ruled out both as being not high-profile enough for our needs and were
not in areas that met out demanding criteria, one of which was ease of
access for fans. Part two of this question has been answered earlier.
Are there
any plans to buy back the ground from Hiretarget given the recent developments?
There are no
plans at the moment to buy back the land but this has always been an option.
Is the club still ACTIVELY seeking additional backing from investors and if so how is this being done?
We are always seeking investment in the club, as is any responsible business and we are certainly in that category.
If the club was not managing to maintain healthy finances when we owned Boundary Park, and was moving further and further into debt, how is it envisaged that the finances will be in a better position with the additional outgoing of rent to the new ground owners? I understand that this move got the club out of financial trouble in the short term, but many of the press reports originating from the club insisted that the move was beneficial in the long term. What was the difference between the cost of the upkeep of the ground in comparison to the rent being charged by Hiretarget? And in any financial comparisons of the two options, how much was the benefit of owning the asset given? Banks etc. will be far less willing to lend money to an organisation without its major asset.
To answer this question it is necessary to remember that, had the sale of land not gone through to Hiretarget, then the club simply would not be in existence today. That is a fact, palatable or not. The current stadium does not lend itself to the modern criteria of seven-day a week use. The Reebok at Bolton makes more from its non-football activities than its football matches. It was designed thus. Boundary Park cannot hope to host any other activity in its present form. A well-thought out redevelopment, creating in-house, on-site commercial opportunities will enable the club to generate income streams currently not available to us. For instance: we can keep our Sportsman's Dinners in house, and that is to name just one revenue activity. There are many others, increased commercial revenue on match days, hire of the facilities to other organisations and so on.
Leeds link up
Where any other club’s besides Leeds United considered and how did you decide to approach Leeds with the idea?
I approached Leeds because they are one of the leading sides in the country, have an enviable reputation within the game, were within a reasonable catchment area and I approached them in a positive, open manner, confident I had an idea worth considering. I never considered approaching the Manchester clubs.
If the proposed Leeds deal is blocked are there any other plans to obtain additional sponsorship?
If the deal is blocked, which I do not expect, it will proceed in another form. This is a good deal for Oldham, for Leeds and for football and we will pursue this vigorously.
The Players
If we were able to offload a few players (e.g. Allott and McNiven) in the summer would the money be used SOLELY for strengthening the squad?
We have some players available for transfer, and this is well known. It is also well known that we would prefer to keep Mark Allott and Scott McNiven, it is their decision to seek moves. Any income that accrues from transfers will go into the club accounts. It would be fiscally irresponsible to commit any income to one area of expenditure.
David Reeves has been mentioned as a target. Has any consideration been given to Marco Gabbiadini who is out of contract at Darlington and is looking to move on considering Darlington failing to gain promotion?
Marco Gabbiadini. Our Manager did consider him as a possible transfer target but, when we looked into the deal he was seeking, and being offered, by other clubs, then we did not pursue the matter. We were not prepared to break our existing wage structure to such a degree.
Given that Scott McNiven and Paul Allott have the same agent of Paul Gascoigne. And in the light of Richard graham's agent telling him to turn down what appears to be an eminently sensible offer from Latics, what does Mr Brierley really think about the effect agents have on the game?
Agents are with us and will continue to be so. There are good ones and bad ones. We will endeavour to deal with both in the best interests of Oldham Athletic.
Has any agent EVER recommended that their client sign a contract on first offer?
Not to my knowledge..... having said that, we have to accept that agents are part and parcel of the modern game and will be looking to achieve the best for their clients, i.e. the players
Which agents represent the Latics players?
There are far too many to list, but Mel Stein - who represents Mark Allott and Scott McNiven is certainly the most high profile.
Does anyone at the club know what happened to or the whereabouts of Oooh...Roger Palmer since he left the club? Oh, how we needed a (fifteen goal / season) replacement for him last season!
We have an address for Roger Palmer in Sale, and we have written to him inviting him to a game. We have yet to receive a reply, but we are hopeful that he will be able to come and see us next season.
Is Andy Ritchie’s inexperience a concern? He appears to struggle to get players to join Oldham and he is often tactically naive. Cannot we afford another more experienced manager?
Andy Ritchie, I would argue, is not inexperienced. He has worked with some excellent Managers in his exceptional career. He has proved an excellent Manager of this football club, and I would dispute strongly that the question of "afford" a more experienced Manager is not an issue at his time.
I am sure you will agree that Paul Jones is an excellent prospect for the future. Was it a Latics scout that first recommended him? How is the Latics scouting system operated and what is its budget?The Past and the future
Paul Jones was spotted by Billy Urmson and has proved an excellent investment. The scouting system operates extensively in Greater Manchester, the North West, the Irish Republic and Scotland. We have made three visits to our Eire scouts in the last month. The budget is commensurate with a club of our standing and, I believe, has proved an excellent investment given our record of consistently producing players of First Team standard.
With the benefit of hindsight would you agree that the appointment of Graham Sharp as manager was a mistake and that one of the many experienced managers who applied for the position at the time would have been of better benefit to the club. I am thinking of someone like Howard Kendall who was said to have applied at the time.
I do not believe Graeme Sharp was a mistake. He had a number of qualities which he brought to the job and the football club, but things do not always work out in football management. We did not consider Howard Kendal to be the right choice at that time.
What are your ambitions for the club during the next few years?
Please see my answer to question five.
Have the "good times" in the late eighties and early nineties given Latics supporters unrealistic expectations of where a club the size of Oldham Athletic belongs?
The good times were achieved by good management, which recruited good players, supported by a realistic Board of Directors. Those good times can return and such hopes are not unrealistic - I believe Bradford, Barnsley, Watford and Charlton have proved this point. But It will take a good deal of hard work and a lot of luck.
Many of the long time supporters where very unhappy with the way they were treated in the top flight days and often felt they where marginalised by the club in preference for the "hangers on" and "Johnny come lately’s" almost all who have now deserted the club for pastures new. That period was a disaster in customer relation terms for the established supporter. Would you change the way things where done at that time?
I would agree that mistakes were made when we were in the top flight, but they were made in good faith and for the good of the club. Lessons have been learned and we are still building bridges, successfully in a lot of cases. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, many of us would think.
Where do you hope to see the Latics in 5 years time? I.e. league position, attendance’s, ground capacity/location, and do you think your hopes will be fulfilled?
Where will we
be in five years time? Making progress, in a new stadium which will
be helping us pay our way. I want to see a modern, 20,000-seater stadium,
mostly filled with Oldham supporters, enjoying good football produced (in
the main) by a team from within our own youth system. A dream? Maybe,
but I believe it is a dream worth pursuing and one which is eminently achievable.
At what level? Within five years I would expect us to be in the First
Division and, hopefully, challenging for promotion. It will be a
long, hard road
but we will not fail for lack of effort and enterprise.
Does the club have a professional produced set of goals e.g. a 5 year and a 10-year plan. If so what are the targets (are we just ambling along living or is there a definite target/objectives/performance indicator in play for ALL areas of the club)?
I believe I have addressed these points in the previous answer (five).
What expectations does the board have of the forthcoming season? It is clear that many fans believe that next season might be the dawning in a turn of fortunes, but does the board follow the same attitude? And will any of the ambitions that the board might hold, be backed with a small financial investment to the transfer kitty?
Having seen a dramatic improvement in our playing fortunes in the second half of the season, I would hope, indeed expect, that we can at least challenge for the play-offs next season. If the management team can persuade the Board that a player can be brought in, within our budget, that will help us achieve our ambitions, then we shall do our best to help bring that player to Boundary Park.
The Children
I believe that Oldham Athletic offer free tickets to schools, allowing a number of children to see the games during a season. Couldn't this be increased? If a large number of empty seats around Boundary Park could be filled, extra revenue could be made, through the sales of refreshments, Latique goods, programmes and the possible conversion of youngsters supporting the Latics in the future. Even better, wouldn't it be possible to offer schools in the surrounding areas, a number of tickets, spreading the OAFC catchment area even wider.
Free tickets
for children.... There are a number of issues to be addressed here. We
have to be fair to those families and parents who support the club financially
and purchase tickets, or season tickets, for our junior fans. There is
also the safety aspect: children need to be supervised, we cannot become
a creche or baby-sitting service. As in all things, it is a balance
between marketing and realism and we shall be monitoring the system, liaising
with other clubs and, where we can, be providing incentives for our
younger fans.
We believe in encouraging our fans of the future and, if pump-priming via
free tickets is a way forward, then this is an experiment which we will
continue. We also give away tickets to junior football teams in the
areas.
I have a 14-yr. old daughter who is a very talented footballer. Unfortunately, she has to travel outside the area to get a decent grounding in football. At present she is at the Stockport county school of excellence, where her coach is also an oldhamer. Do athletic have no aspirations in this area, as I see that Oldham Curzon are no longer affiliated to the club which is a shame as a great opportunity to promote the club in the community has been lost.
We are actively seeking to adopt a ladies' football team and this is one of the issues which will be addressed by our new Director of Youth Development. On that score, an appointment is imminent.
Inside the club
Does the club monitor the number of people who get into Boundary Park on matchdays for free? To my untrained eye there are many that know someone or are related to someone who does a job on matchdays and they "get them in for free". How about an audit, of everyone who shows a pass on matchdays.
We keep a careful eye on people with access to the ground on matchdays.This is an area which is closely monitored, please rest assured on that point. We simply cannot allow funds to haemorrhage in such a way.
Has the travel agency been a success in the Latique? On my frequent trips to the club shop they never have any customers.
Yes, the Travel Agency has been a success, contributing to our profits and revenues, but, like any business, would obviously benefit from more custom and more support from our fans.
How will the pitch recover in time for the new season?
Yes, our consultants assure the pitch will be ready for the August kick off.
Is there any plan to re-install the money-raising friendly, against Stalybridge Celtic in the near future?
I am in touch with the officials of Stalybridge Celtic and I have assured them that, when our respective commitments permit, the game will take place at Bower Fold.
Yourself
Have you read the Boundary Bullet-zine newsletter that Gary produces and what is your thought’s on it? Could any more be done to improve the Official Web Site?
I believe the Bullet-zine is a good sounding board for fans' opinions. I am a fan, and I have an opinion, so it is only natural that others should have. However, I keep my views constructive and not destructive....there is a world of difference.
Have you supported Latics ever since you were a boy?
Yes.
Why isn’t there a blue stripe down the back of the kit!
A blue stripe down the kit would, arguably, add to the aesthetic appearance of the kit, but we have considerations such as numbers and players' names to take into consideration. A single colour back becomes a prime consideration when these circumstances are taken into account.
By the end of your time as chairman of Oldham Athletic what are the main goals you want to have achieved?When my time comes to bow out as Chairman, I want Oldham Athletic to have made substantial progress, on and off the field. I want people to know that I have taken decisions for the right reasons, those being solely for the good of the club, often if those decisions have been painful, both personally and to those who care for the club. I would like to be remembered as someone who made a contribution to putting things right.