Listed status for football ground

PROTECTED . . . Oldham Athletic's stadium has now been listed as an Asset of Community Value

TRUST Oldham has succeeded in its goal of getting Athletic's home ground listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV).

The culmination of over a year's work, the first successful such listing in the town, means that in the event of a proposal by the owners to sell Boundary Park - currently known as SportsDirect.com Park - the Trust must first be notified, in order to get the chance to place a bid.

That would also mean applying a brake on the sale for up to six months to enable a Trust bid for the stadium to be put together.

Full disclosure of a rival bid would be presented to the Trust, which would then only need to match that offer.

Other grounds to have been listed as ACVs include Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park, The Valley at Charlton and Manchester United's Old Trafford.

The Trust says that throughout the process, stadium landlord Brass Bank Ltd, whose directors are ex-Athletic chairman Simon Blitz and former director Danny Gazal, has been very supportive of a move that further safeguards the use of SportsDirect.com Park into the future.

Diane Mellor, Trust Oldham chairman, said: "We are delighted with the news that the ACV listing has been successful.

"The team at Trust Oldham have worked hard on what has proved to be a complex process. We would like to thank the landlords, who have been supportive throughout the process. It is also an honour to be the first successful listing in the town."

Boundary Park is already protected through an agreement with the current landlords that stretches to 2031, with the provision to extend for a further 15 years after that.

The ACV serves as a guarantee that no sale of parts of the ground or the land it lies on could take place without fans knowing about it first and it does not prevent any future redevelopment.