OLDHAM chairman Bill Quinn has threatened to step down from the Championship club after receiving “abuse” on social media.
Quinn has been a key figure in the Roughyeds’ recent revival and is the majority shareholder after becoming involved shortly after co-owner Mike Ford joined.
A recent row began when the club announced a change in ticketing arrangements for their home game against Toulouse on May 10.
Oldham plan the match to be a major community event, with 2,500 young performers coming in a bid to break the world record for the most dancers to perform with a music artist, in a pre-match show to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Season ticket holders were asked to request a new ticket, free of charge, as their pass would not work for the event, while supporters who purchased a ‘blue light’ card – a discounted season ticket for emergency service workers – were told it would not be valid, despite being advertised as covering every home league game.
The latter move has now been reversed, with club sponsors Amari stepping in to cover the cost and Quinn apologising for what he admitted was a “mistake”, but the backlash took a toll on the chairman.
“The thing that’s very disappointing is the amount of abuse and media attention this has taken,” he said in a direct address to supporters.
“We have families that go on social media and it doesn’t sit well when they’re reading some of the comments.
“I don’t feel, after everything we’ve done and the direction you can see the club is going in, that we can be attacked in the manner that we have been.
“I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of pounds. We’ve worked seven days a week. Everybody connected with the club is working so hard. We’ve been totally transparent.
“I just feel the experience that the fans now get, with the product on the pitch, with the media, with the gameday experience, is second-to-none and it’s really improved.
“We need your backing. It’s not just my club, it’s your club. We’re stronger together.
“But there are certain individuals who seem to want to attack us as soon as we make a mistake. We will make mistakes, but our intentions are solely for the club.
“It has got to the point, in my mind, that I would like to say if there’s somebody else out there who you feel can do this better and can put the funds into the club and move it to the next level, I would be quite happy to step down.
“At the end of the day, I’ve only ever been interested in what’s best for the club.”