27th January 2000
27th January 2000 ATHLETIC have escaped a fine following their late arrival for last month's league match at Stoke City. The Football League's management committee has accepted Athletic's explanation that the delay was unavoidable. A motorway crash involving a coach and nine vehicles completely closed the M6 and resulted in Athletic arriving at the Britannia Stadium 25 minutes after the scheduled kick off. Athletic chief executive Alan Hardy argued that leaving at noon gave sufficient time for the journey which normally takes 1hr 15min. He pointed out that on the return the coach's tachograph revealed the journey time was 1hr 12min. Mr Hardy said: "We are pleased that common sense has prevailed. Two hours is more than adequate time to set aside for the journey and such an accident cannot be foreseen." Athletic have had more than their fair share of troubles on their travels. Only last season their coach broke down in London en route to Fulham and there was also a late kick-off. Again the Football League took no action, though in 1990 they imposed a suspended fine after Athletic were delayed for a match at West Brom.
Athletic won't be pursuing interest in Finnish trialist Tero Karhu. The midfield player made his third and final reserve-team appearance in last night's 2-1 win at Wolves. Manager Andy Ritchie has decided that Karhu is no better than the players already at Boundary Park. Athletic are still seeking international clearance for Aussie trialists Kon Antoniou and Peter Mihalopoulus.
It is hoped the pair will be available for next Wednesday's Pontins League game against Preston. Richard Graham played the full game last night as he took another step on the road to recovery after his lengthy injury lay-off. But the central defender, who was on the bench at Burnley, is still some way off full fitness. Top scorer Mark Allott has recovered from the stomach bug which kept him out of Saturday's match at Burnley.
Fans to be at heart of football
OLDHAM Athletic supporters were today offered Government help to buy shares in their club. Grants are to be made available to encourage fans to establish supporters' trusts, which will play a part in running their local club. Fans will have access to free advice from lawyers and accountants about setting up trusts, through which supporters will be able pool their resources; and they will also be urged to stand for election to their club's board of directors. In November, chairman David Brierley and directors Peter Chadwick and Derek Taylor, bought a controlling shareholding in Oldham Athletic. The previous owners, brewers JW Lees, had put their shares on the market, but said no suitable buyer came forward. Then, in a bid to ease the crippling debts at the Boundary Park club, Hiretarget — a partnership between Oldham Council and Brookhouse Properties — bought the land the ground stands on for £3 million.
If planning permission is granted, Latics will move to a new all-seater stadium, shared with Oldham Rugby League Club, with the Boundary Park land becoming a new Clayton Playing Fields. The Government's move is aimed at smaller clubs such as Oldham, rather than giants such as Manchester United. It is part of a plan to ``democratise'' football, and weaken the control of the powerful companies which have come to dominate the national game. Ministers fear that large companies —such as Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB — see football as an investment opportunity, rather than as a sport. Culture Secretary Chris Smith said start-up grants would be available to fans' groups through a new organisation, called Supporters Direct. The Co-operative Bank has agreed to offer preferential rates through special football fans' accounts.
Mr Smith said: ``There is an increasing danger, in these days of high finance in football, that clubs can become separated from their fans. Supporters Direct will be a great help to those who support clubs, especially perhaps smaller clubs, in gaining a sense of ownership and representation. "It will help to cement the critical relationship between football and the community." The initiative follows a recommendation by the Government's football task force that more should be done to boost supporter involvement in clubs. Malcolm Clarke, vice-chairman of the Football Supporters' Association, said: ``It's important that supporters, who are the emotional shareholders of their clubs, should have an opportunity to have a financial and more direct involvement if they wish it. ``We want to see supporters generally having a much greater involvement in the management and decisions of their club, and this initiative will certainly help that. But the Football Task Force has also recommended clubs should identify other methods of involving supporters, as well, so we see it as part of a wider picture.'' Adam Brown, a committee member for the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association, and a member of the Football Task Force, said: ``This is a huge step forward. It is important to tie representation of supporters to club ownership. ``I think this will take off. There is a lot of interest by fans' groups in this sort of question. Given that it has the full backing of the Government, the signs are good.''
Just when it seemed that Haavard Flo's header had salvaged a point for Wolves, Oldham hit back to snatch a last-minute winner at Molineux last night. Flo headed home following a Paul Simpson free-kick three minutes from the end and it was no less than Wolves deserved after a hard-working display. But Adrian Williams' back-pass was intercepted by Ryan Sugden who rounded Aaron Kerr before netting the winner. The highlight of a poor first half was a cracking shot from Simpson that crashed against the underside of the bar. The visitors didn't get a shot on target until first half stoppage time when Jordan Tait's stinging drive was confidently taken by 16-year-old Kerr. Oldham took a somewhat fortunate lead in the 57th minute when Tero Karhu's shot took a wicked deflection of the back of Darren Wardle and looped over Kerr. Shane Tudor, Jermaine Easter and Colin Larkin all went close for Wolves before the dramatic finale.