Oldham

[Davo5]

46 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Sutton and Harrogate had one and had to rip it up, it gave them the income to actually challenge ex football league teams but naturally thats having a chilling effect. Mac immediately put one down when new owner came in and are cleaning up with it. Maidstone put one in and they are going back to conference, Newcastle have one, as do Widnes. Wakefield announced their intention to put one in . 

Over 10 clubs had 3g pitches at National League Step 1-3.

If you are going to ignore the chilling effect of clubs being banned for it as a reason it´s not massively popular but the clubs that can afford to put one down not at risk of having to tear it up are doing so. 

I really doubt any income from a 3G pitch played a big part in those clubs challenging well funded ex football league teams.

Have you any figures to back your claims up.

So in reality Widnes have one & they don’t own the stadium,the 3G pitch at Kingston Park was put down before the RL team was taken over by Kurdi and isn’t Wakefield’s if it happens going to be a training pitch rather than the main one.

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

The basic problem is associating Oldham athletic with Oldham football club(original name of the rugby club) . Both clubs have different philosophical foundations. There is very little love between the two groups of supporters. Although latics don't legally own boundary park, the fans own it in their hearts and tend to object vociferously at any attempts at sharing. So it's generally a non starter. I personally think the yeds should share with one of the traditional rugby clubs based east of the town. Oldham St Anne's is ideal as it's  central and has space to develop. Waterhead is based smack bang next to the old watersheddings ground, but has limited potential for development. I hate with a passion the current ground. Wrong side of town, no potential for development and not a traditional rugby ground.

Edit, having sad that, there is one  soccer club I would consider sharing with and that is Chadderton FC. It's a stone's throw from boundary park, easy motorway access and has potential for development. Now as luck would have it they are currently running a fund raising drive to have a 4g pitch installed. So no conflict on churning up the grass. 

Edited April 25, 2022 by The Art of Hand and Foot

[Damien]

Just now, ShropshireBull said:

Because there is a ban on the pitches which I told you about, obviously speaking to someone who cant read is a waste of my time. 

We were talking about professional sports clubs. You said so many clubs are doing it, they aren't.

No need for the insults just because you can't back up anything that you claim.

[Damien]

5 minutes ago, Davo5 said:

I really doubt any income from a 3G pitch played a big part in those clubs challenging well funded ex football league teams.

Have you any figures to back your claims up.

So in reality Widnes have one & they don’t own the stadium,the 3G pitch at Kingston Park was put down before the RL team was taken over by Kurdi and isn’t Wakefield’s if it happens going to be a training pitch rather than the main one.

What do you think? Its just another sweeping statement without basis.

[gingerjon]

22 minutes ago, Damien said:

What a complete waste of your time that was. They aren't professional clubs.

I know Eastbourne Borough. You can't hire the pitch. And it wouldn't matter anyway because there are 3G pitches elsewhere in Eastbourne, including at the Sports Park which is where all the teams that want a 3G pitch play.

What Borough do really well - and this isn't meant to lecture anyone, it's just an observation - is they have a clubhouse/bar/social club that is full *all the time*. They're one of the few football clubs I've seen who seem to act like a rugby union club with social memberships and the like.

Bit like, to connect it back to RL, how the Willows Club was back in the (before my) day at Salford.

[Damien]

14 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

I know Eastbourne Borough. You can't hire the pitch. And it wouldn't matter anyway because there are 3G pitches elsewhere in Eastbourne, including at the Sports Park which is where all the teams that want a 3G pitch play.

What Borough do really well - and this isn't meant to lecture anyone, it's just an observation - is they have a clubhouse/bar/social club that is full *all the time*. They're one of the few football clubs I've seen who seem to act like a rugby union club with social memberships and the like.

Bit like, to connect it back to RL, how the Willows Club was back in the (before my) day at Salford.

And that's it in a nutshell.

As I said initially on this there are plenty of ways to generate revenue. Many RL clubs are incredibly poor at this as your example illustrates. Thinking a 3g pitch is always the answer is incredibly simplistic.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Damien

[JM2010]

I came on this thread to read a debate regarding RL in Oldham but have come away with a thorough list of advantages and disadvantages of 3G pitches

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I came on this thread to read a debate regarding RL in Oldham but have come away with a thorough list of advantages and disadvantages of 3G pitches

I think the problem is that there really aren't too many discussion points with regards to Oldham RL. Any kind of joint working with the football club is basically a non starter for about a thousand different reasons - and all options that could move them out of their current situation seem to have already been explored and/or proven to not be practical.

They need a miracle.

Or a 3G pitch.

[Just Browny]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

I came on this thread to read a debate regarding RL in Oldham but have come away with a thorough list of advantages and disadvantages of 3G pitches

Quite. What an odd thread.

[paulwalker71]

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

I came on this thread to read a debate regarding RL in Oldham but have come away with a thorough list of advantages and disadvantages of 3G pitches

You and me both. And I started the thread!

My premise was that, perhaps, Oldham Athletic had descended to such a parlous state of affairs, that just maybe they might put aside petty historic differences and work together to benefit BOTH sports.

But, no, it seems like both football and rugby would rather take a fast-track to extinction than collaborate. And, from the looks of it, neither are that far off

Sad, really

[LittleboroRoughyed]

With Oldham Athletic’s relegation into non-league football, likely new ownership & potential inability to fund Boundary Park ground hire then their could be an opportunity to work together to either jointly use the stadium (limited to no financial benefit to either club) or to seek funding for a new smaller community stadium. The big issue is that neither club has any assets, both have small support bases & the Council have blown millions of pounds in the past trying to deliver a new stadium for the sole use of the football club.

[The Future is League]

9 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

I was just watching a piece on BBC Breakfast about Oldham Athletic getting relegated down to non-league.

Inevitably it focussed on the gradual decline over a 20 year period - and of course the rugby club has had a decline which mirrors it. Remember the Oldham Bears were in Super League back in those days!

The football fans are agitating for new ownership because it won't be a given that they'll bounce back - plenty of other teams have fallen down that trapdoor and not come back.

My question to the Oldham RLFC fans here is whether there is now any possibility that the football and rugby clubs could get together, share the ground and for both teams this might be a new beginning?

Or could the local council bang their heads together and get them to work together?

Because, right now, it doesn't look like Oldham RLFC are going anywhere

A good idea, but i don't think Oldham RLFC could afford the rent the soccer club would want for sharing the ground

[Rowan]

Just an aside - and different times I know - but when the Bears were in Super League the cost of ground sharing for Oldham Rugby was, according to the chairman (Jim Quinn) at the time was £8,000 a game. Which, again according to JQ meant  that cash from the first 1,000 spectators at £8 a time, went straight into the coffers of the Latics. I don't know how true that was - I was only the club's media officer (unpaid) at the time and it was Mr. Quinn who disappeared from the scene one fine morning.

[The Future is League]

10 minutes ago, Rowan said:

Just an aside - and different times I know - but when the Bears were in Super League the cost of ground sharing for Oldham Rugby was, according to the chairman (Jim Quinn) at the time was £8,000 a game. Which, again according to JQ meant  that cash from the first 1,000 spectators at £8 a time, went straight into the coffers of the Latics. I don't know how true that was - I was only the club's media officer (unpaid) at the time and it was Mr. Quinn who disappeared from the scene one fine morning.

Which proves my point that Oldham RLFC couldn't afford it, but with the soccer club's financial problems perhaps they would be a bit cheaper just to get some money in

[Pie tries]

Who owns the football ground ? 

[Womer]

20 minutes ago, Pie tries said:

Who owns the football ground ? 

The owners are the previous directors.

They put £5million into the latics but held on to the ground when selling on the club to the dummy who's in charge now

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

20 minutes ago, Womer said:

The owners are the previous directors.

They put £5million into the latics but held on to the ground when selling on the club to the dummy who's in charge now

Apparently they own the pitch, chaddy end, Rochdale rd and the old stand. The new stand is owned by someone else. I believe there's some legal case going through the courts at the moment.

[meast]

13 hours ago, paulwalker71 said:

I was just watching a piece on BBC Breakfast about Oldham Athletic getting relegated down to non-league.

Inevitably it focussed on the gradual decline over a 20 year period - and of course the rugby club has had a decline which mirrors it. Remember the Oldham Bears were in Super League back in those days!

The football fans are agitating for new ownership because it won't be a given that they'll bounce back - plenty of other teams have fallen down that trapdoor and not come back.

My question to the Oldham RLFC fans here is whether there is now any possibility that the football and rugby clubs could get together, share the ground and for both teams this might be a new beginning?

Or could the local council bang their heads together and get them to work together?

Because, right now, it doesn't look like Oldham RLFC are going anywhere

To think, around 1991-1996 both Oldham's professional clubs were in their respective top flights and pulling in around 15,000 fans between them.

How sad.

[meast]

7 hours ago, The Art of Hand and Foot said:

The basic problem is associating Oldham athletic with Oldham football club(original name of the rugby club) . Both clubs have different philosophical foundations. There is very little love between the two groups of supporters. Although latics don't legally own boundary park, the fans own it in their hearts and tend to object vociferously at any attempts at sharing. So it's generally a non starter. I personally think the yeds should share with one of the traditional rugby clubs based east of the town. Oldham St Anne's is ideal as it's  central and has space to develop. Waterhead is based smack bang next to the old watersheddings ground, but has limited potential for development. I hate with a passion the current ground. Wrong side of town, no potential for development and not a traditional rugby ground.

Edit, having sad that, there is one  soccer club I would consider sharing with and that is Chadderton FC. It's a stone's throw from boundary park, easy motorway access and has potential for development. Now as luck would have it they are currently running a fund raising drive to have a 4g pitch installed. So no conflict on churning up the grass. 

Chadderton has one very small covered stand, the rest of the ground is open, flat, hard standing and grass, is that really suitable for professional RL?

[meast]

6 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I came on this thread to read a debate regarding RL in Oldham but have come away with a thorough list of advantages and disadvantages of 3G pitches

Me too, but like many threads these days, it goes off topic very quickly and the crux of the post is completely lost in pages of debating and points scoring which could really be done in a private conversation and get back to the subject of the post.

[Just Browny]

12 hours ago, The Future is League said:

A good idea, but i don't think Oldham RLFC could afford the rent the soccer club would want for sharing the ground

Who else would want / pay rent for it? 

[Chronicler of Chiswick]

To add some thing to the artificial pitch debate (sorry, but it may have wider implications). as we know part of the make up of the pitch consists of tiny rubber balls that hold the structure together and help absorb impact. These are made largely from recycled tyres and a report has just been published that says that they contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that have health implications for those that come into contact with them.

[gingerjon]

10 minutes ago, Chronicler of Chiswick said:

To add some thing to the artificial pitch debate (sorry, but it may have wider implications). as we know part of the make up of the pitch consists of tiny rubber balls that hold the structure together and help absorb impact. These are made largely from recycled tyres and a report has just been published that says that they contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that have health implications for those that come into contact with them.

Do you have a link for that?

We've discussed it on here before and I think most of the data and reports we were referring to were either small scale and/or pretty old.

[The Art of Hand and Foot]

12 hours ago, meast said:

Chadderton has one very small covered stand, the rest of the ground is open, flat, hard standing and grass, is that really suitable for professional RL?

It has potential for development though. A joint application to the relevant funding authorities may help.

[paulwalker71]

22 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

It is amazing that anyone would buy a club without its only asset.

Well, we (Bulls) have had multiple people who've done just that!