7th November 2000  

Dudley for sale?

ATHLETIC fans were fighting for the future of their club today when they lobbied the European Parliament in Brussels. Four supporters were among a large North-West contingent in the Belgian capital, where they were calling for the transfer system to be retained. Smaller clubs throughout Europe - many of whom need transfer fees to survive - fear they will go out of business if players are allowed freedom of movement. Alan Hardy, chief executive at Boundary Park, has already warned that Athletic could be “devastated” by the move. He even admitted they may have to go part-time. The European Commission sparked widespread controversy when it said that football should be like any other business. It claimed that, as employees, players should have the right to move from one job to another, provided they give notice. 

If the plans become law, every player will have the same value and there will be little point in clubs developing young stars only to see them walk away for nothing. UEFA and FIFA, the game’s top governing bodies, are drawing up counter proposals to try to prevent the Commission from getting its way. In the meantime, local MEP Arlene McCarthy has arranged for a group of 30 supporters to visit the European Parliament and state their case. Representing Athletic today were Keith Clegg, Martin Thomas, Lionel Martin and Trevor Storer. Mr Hardy was due to address the same meeting, along with other club officials including David Dein (Arsenal), Maurice Watkins (Manchester United) and Rick Parry (Liverpool). The party flew to Belgium yesterday and are due back in Manchester tomorrow morning.

IF Athletic hadn’t been drawn against Sheffield Wednesday in the Worthington Cup, midfield star John Sheridan could already be back in the side. Sheridan admits he was so desperate to play against his former club that he rushed his comeback and suffered the consequences. The 36-year-old, who was arguably the most important member of the team, hasn’t appeared since the opening day of the season after having knee surgery. A routine operation to clear out the joint will have eventually kept him on the sidelines for over three months — but he admits he is partly to blame. “I was rushing a bit because of the Sheffield Wednesday game,” revealed Sheridan, whose recovery was hit when he twisted his knee while running on Clayton playing fields. “It would have been nice to play against them, especially at Hillsborough, but it backfired on me. “If it hadn’t been for that cup draw, I would have taken more time and I might have got back a bit sooner than I have. “It has been a long time, but the most important thing is that I’m back in training and looking forward to playing again.”

To make matters worse, Athletic lost 8-2 on aggregate against Wednesday, including a 5-1 drubbing at Hillsborough. Sheridan hasn’t played on the famous ground since he left for Bolton, but he still has hero status among the faithful. The former Eire stalwart was hoping to play for Athletic’s reserves tonight, but their game against Tranmere was postponed. In any case, manager Andy Ritchie says the veteran needs a few more days of training before he puts his knee under serious stress. It is a sign of Sheridan’s enduring love for the game that, even after 20 years as a player, he is itching to be back in action. Enthusiasm still burns intensely and he is hoping surgery has cleared up the problem for good. “I have steered clear of injuries pretty much all the time I have been here,” he said. “What I need now is games to get my fitness back, although all this rain isn’t helping me.” But whether Sheridan can force his way back into the team is another matter entirely.

He may command enormous respect within the club — and within the game as a whole — but midfield has been Athletic’s strongest area recently, with Tony Carss and skipper Lee Duxbury doing sterling work in the centre. Sheridan conceded: “It will be hard to get in, especially if we keep winning. And I won’t expect any special treatment. “Since David Eyres and Tony Carss came to the club, we have been much more solid and steady. All I can do is try to make it hard for the gaffer to leave me out. “Everyone is confident at the moment because we are going out there and looking like we can win games. “That wasn’t the case a few weeks ago — when we had the bad run, it was because we were playing badly. “We have switched to four in midfield since I got injured, but it’s no problem because I have played in a four for most of my career. “I will still play the same way and try to get on the ball as much as possible.”

Since the arrival of Eyres and Carss, Athletic have been blessed with a host of options in midfield. Both players have made fine starts, also inspiring Duxbury and Neil Adams to raise their games. Added to the equation are Danny Boshell, Phil Salt and the still untried Danny Walsh. And both the men operating at full-back, Paul Rickers and Mark Innes, are midfielders by trade. That makes 10 players vying for a maximum of four places. Ritchie always said he wanted competition — and he certainly has it now.

ATHLETIC fear they could lose striker Craig Dudley if the exciting youngster continues to make rapid progress. Dudley has been terrorising defenders with the best form of his career and manager Andy Ritchie — aware that all his players have their price — admits he is vulnerable to wealthy predators. Ironically, Dudley began the season on a low note when he was criticised for a lack of stamina and couldn’t even get a place on the bench. He may have been left out again on Saturday, effectively serving a second punishment for his recent red card, but Athletic rate the 21-year-old as a future star.

Ritchie said: “If Craig really gets his act together and carries on the way he has been playing, we might have a problem keeping him. “We signed him because of the potential we saw in him and it’s good to see some of it coming through. “It has taken time to get him to the stage he is at now and there’s still a lot more work to do. “A lot of that must come from Craig himself and he also needs to keep his feet on the ground. “I don’t think he’s ready to play at a higher level just yet and it’s important to take things one step at a time. “A lot of people are asking about him already, not because they want to buy him but because they are wondering how he is coming on. It’s entirely up to him how far he goes.” Dudley has improved steadily since moving to Boundary Park in what now looks a bargain transfer.

The ambiguous “nominal fee” was around £10,000, an amount Notts County must wish they could multiply several times over. He quickly flew to Africa and played in the World Youth Championship with England under-20s — nowhere near as prestigious as the under-21s but still including Tottenham’s Matt Etherington and the Arsenal duo Ashley Cole and Paulo Vernazza. Yet Dudley had to wait for his Athletic debut and was even sent on loan to Chesterfield as Ritchie tried to toughen him up. As well as beginning treatment for asthma, the 5ft 11ins forward has filled his frame considerably in the last few months, making his frightening pace an even bigger weapon. He is now more adept at holding off tackles and, when moving at top speed, is very hard to rob of possession.

As a result, and because he likes to commit defenders, Dudley seems to go clean through on goal at least once in every game. But, though he is Athletic’s joint top scorer with three goals from eight starts (two of them at wing-back), it is here that his biggest weakness becomes evident. The problem was summed up at Northampton last month when Dudley had a tremendous game — until he got inside the box. He missed five clear chances and, after coming on against Swansea on Saturday, was thwarted again when faced with the ’keeper. Athletic are now focusing on his final touch, which Ritchie believes should have a hint of craft and cunning. He explained: “In one-on-ones, Craig might need to use a feint or try something different to keep people guessing. “When he got his chance (on Saturday), he sent the ’keeper a letter to tell him what he was going to do. “When he first came, we wondered who on earth had been coaching him because he was very raw and needed a lot of work. “We have smoothed him out since then and, if he keeps learning at the same rate, who knows how far he can go?”

Dudley isn’t the only young player being groomed for the top at Boundary Park. One of the most promising is 19-year-old Danny Boshell, who looks to have a bright future as a creative midfielder. And next could be someone who isn’t even a regular in the reserves yet, but is highly rated by everyone at the club. He is Will Haining, a Scot who turned 18 over the weekend and is an outstanding prospect in defence. Ritchie added: “We have high hopes for Bosh and Will, but there are other people like David Miskelly, Phil Salt and Mark Innes who are also young and improving. “Innes is still on the transfer list, but I wouldn’t like to lose him because he is doing well. “To be realistic about it, though, our situation means everyone in the squad is basically available. “It would be hard to resist a tempting offer for any of them, but we do want to keep hold of players with good futures.”

ATHLETIC’S youngsters warmed up for this week’s FA Youth Cup tie against Crook Town with a 3-1 victory over Burnley. Although the game was in the Football League Youth Alliance — a competition in which first-year professionals can play — both clubs agreed to field youth teams. And Athletic were much the stronger, with midfielder Joe Doran and exciting young defender Will Haining standing out. There was also a good display by Mark Donnelly, who has impressed since switching from midfield to attack. Athletic missed several chances in the first half, but Donnelly made amends just after the break. Burnley soon equalised, but their goalkeeper — who was otherwise excellent — then gifted a goal to Danny Hall. In the last minute, Donnelly scored his second after a move involving Hall and Danny Chadderton. Athletic are hoping to beat the weather and play their FA Youth Cup tie at Boundary Park on Thursday night.

STOKE City, who play host to Athletic on Saturday, are strongly advising away fans to travel to the game by coach. Amazingly, the club didn’t see fit to provide decent parking facilities when building its 24,000-seat Britannia Stadium. Athletic have been issued with only 50 spaces, which can be reserved by purchasing a ticket in advance from Boundary Park. The cost is £3. Anyone parking without an official pass will have their car clamped, while there is no street parking whatsoever around the ground. Executive coach travel costs £9.50 (or £8.50 for Supporters’ Association members) and standard places £6.50 (or £5.85). All coaches depart at 12.15pm. Athletic have been allocated 4,964 seats in the Signal Radio Stand, priced at £16 for adults and £9 for OAPs and juniors. It is all pay on the day. A handful of places are still left on the Junior Latics trip, which leaves at noon. The cost, including travel and admission, is £7.50 and bookings can be made at Latique. 

Looking a week ahead, 300 seat tickets (£13 and £6) are now on sale for the FA Cup tie at Hednesford, with season ticket holders being given priority. They have until 5pm on Thursday (produce voucher ‘B’) or until all tickets are sold. Any left will be available to members from Friday to Tuesday before going on open sale on Wednesday. Standing will be by payment at the turnstile.

THE new owners of Boundary Park football ground have officially registered their title to the land. There was confusion a few weeks ago when checks showed that, a year after it paid £3 million to Oldham Athletic for the site, new owner Hiretarget was still not listed with the Land Registry. Hiretarget is a joint venture company set up by Oldham Council and developers Brookhouse, of Sale. Until a few days ago documents still showed the football club as the sole proprietor and the delay was said to be due to a backlog of requests for change of ownership. 

Hiretarget’s company secretary, Mr Jim Banfi, said: “We are pleased that the confusion, which was caused by the Land Registry delay, has now been resolved. “The Registry has now completed the registration of all the Boundary Park land in the ownership of Hiretarget Ltd.” Part of the process also included removing a restriction on the ground, dating back to aborted plans for a retail development on the neighbouring Clayton playing fields site, in favour of developers Intercity Properties. Hiretarget bought Boundary Park from Athletic last year as the club faced mounting debts. The Sheepfoot Lane ground is now at the centre of a massive redevelopment plan to create a joint football and rugby stadium, with associated hotel, conference and other facilities. 

Plans to develop a stadium on Clayton Playing Fields have been abandoned. 

it's amazing how things are reported when a team like Swansea, who like ourselves have struggled this season, don't lose.

I myself, write reports on the Latics for the Latics Supporters Club, Canada and while I try to include everything, I also attempt (quite successfully) to portrait the game is it was. It does no favours to be biased with such reports being on the web and existing for both sets of fans to read.

So why do I say this? Well, for those who witnessed Saturdays game, it was quite fair to say that we had more possession and chances and were by far the team more likely to win it. However, Swansea must be commended for their excellent resilience in defence. If they had more of a midfield and attack to help ease the pressure we put on them, then they may have kept a clean
sheet. However, they didn't.

So isn't it ironic that the report from the Swansea website claimed that they should have won the game? Maybe if they had, had 4 one on ones (which Dudley did in our defeat vs Northampton) then they might have a claim. It's laughable to see how their steal of a point, which it was, gets these types of fans/reporters all giddy. I must admit, I sometimes go over the top with my expectations, but for some, it is more a case of flights of fantasy. Could anyone see Swansea winning that game on Saturday?

Finally, why are we always portrayed as ordinary? Can anyone explain this to me? I thought our passing was better than it had been for a good while and that we put some great moves together. If we were ordinary, what were Swansea?

Who knows? To them, probably the best team in the world.

Cheers. Ross.

Tickets for the FA cup tie at Hednesford are selling well, over 100 were snapped up by season ticket holders yesterday, these will remain on sale to season ticket holders only until 5 pm on Thursday 9th November.

John Sheridan is cursing the bad weather which has forced the cancellation of tonight's Reserve game against Tranmere Rovers. The ageless midfielder was hoping to make a comeback in the game, even if it was only for 15 minutes. However Manager Andy Ritchie was not sure whether he would have given Sheridan a game because the very slippy surface could have had a detrimental effect on John's knee. Either way it doesn't matter now .... John will have to wait for the Reserve game against Burnley next week (15th November)

The continuing bad weather has affected training schedules at Boundary Park with no pitches being available to train on. The club quickly telephoned the new JJB training complex at Dumplington, Manchester and booked an indoor pitch for the next few days. It came as a surprise however when the Latics players arrived at the state of the art venue to find Bury, Rochdale, Stockport and Chester all had the same idea. A few impromptu matches were quickly arranged!! Hopefully the rain will cease soon and the lads will be able to get outside again.