Latics and 'SportsTown' chief Royle dreams of having new Oldham 'arena'

A huge new project to transform Oldham’s sports grounds will attract up to 25,000 weekly visitors to the borough, it is hoped.

The £70m project will expand Boundary Park football ground into a four-sport hub, with plans for new pitches, an education centre and – eventually – a 3,000-seat sporting arena for netball, basketball and wheelchair rugby.

At a launch event this afternoon (Monday), the borough’s sports figureheads unveiled plans for the new and improved facilities around Boundary Park, which include a new state-of-the-art astroturf pitch for rugby and the club’s football academy, improved cricket facilities and a netball court. 

Darren Royle, CEO of Oldham Athletic and SportsTown, said: “Our dream is to have an arena here.

"And crucially, to have proper cricket nets in the town.

"The opportunity is to have 25,000 visitors a week here in the next five years. 

“In five years time, SportsTown could attract that number of visitors with the plans that we’ve got.” 

Royle added he intended to make Oldham play its part in turning Greater Manchester into one of the ‘top ten sporting city regions’ in the country. 

The scheme has already received a £6m funding boost from Oldham Council.

Around £1m financed a new pitch in the Boundary Lane stadium. 

The remaining £5m, taken from a £20m pot of cash from the government’s recently announced Community Regeneration Fund, will transform the top floor of the Oldham Events Centre into a ‘world class’ learning centre.

The site will provide an ‘unconventional route’ into nationally recognised qualifications for those invested in athletics-adjacent fields – including health, wellbeing and education. 

The aim is also to use ‘the power of sport’ to help engage pupils who do not fit into mainstream education or are at risk of being excluded. 

A partnership with the Northern Care Alliance and a number of universities would also provide routes into health, physio-therapy and mental health training.

Council leader Arooj Shah added that the whole scheme would have ‘wide-reaching benefits’ for the community, from promoting community togetherness through a ‘shared love of sports’ to boosting local businesses and communities. 

The remaining £64m, which would largely go towards creating the arena, will be secured through government and GMCA grants, alongside public investment, according to project leaders. 

Speaking to the LDRS, Royle said: “We’d love to have the arena in three years’ time, but realistically we’ve got to look at the funding and how that can be done.

"What we are sure about is that it would add a huge value.”

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