Luke Rothwell has called the proposals for the use of the pitch and surrounding land “the biggest thing that’s happened to the town” for decades, and he maintains that his family is still fully devoted to Oldham Athletic.
Following Latics’ second-try failure to be promoted back to the Football League, which resulted in the club losing its EPPP academy and other financial consequences, there have been speculations that the Rothwells are considering selling the team.
Director Luke, however, asserts that this is untrue and that their goal is to build on the work they have accomplished in the two years since taking over.
Proposal specifics are being kept under wraps until all necessary parties have approved and signed off on them. Luke Rothwell anticipates it happening as soon as next week. However, the Rothwells have never concealed their intention to create a neighbourhood in and around Boundary Park.
The girls’ and women’s teams have partnered with the boys’ and men’s teams as a first step towards that, and the £1 million field that was laid last season allowed rugby to return to OL1, in addition to hosting a number of community and charity events over the previous 12 months. But that’s only the beginning.
“I believe it will be the most significant event in the town’s history throughout my lifetime. I really do,” 48-year-old Luke replied.
“I think my excitement level has increased from the day we purchased the club. Sincerely.
We are all really excited, I believe. I can’t wait for it to all come together and simply get out of this league because the potential is only growing.
“Trying to operate a business at the same time requires a lot of dedication and hard work in all areas. Due to the current hectic work schedule caused by the festivals, the Isle of Man TT, and Glastonbury, I worked until 1.30 a.m. on Thursday and returned at 6 a.m. However, we adore it.”
And despite things on the pitch not going as planned the previous season, the Rothwell family—Frank Rothwell, his wife Judith, son Luke, and daughter Su Schofield—have no intention of leaving Latics because of that and the opportunity for progress at the team.
Luke declared, “We’re in it for the long haul.”
We have ambitious objectives that we can do on our own, but they will take longer. Since we intend to stay in this for the long run, we don’t mind.
“There are no concerns regarding our business’s performance; also, my mother is loving it too much to sell it!
“While we intend to make this club self-sustaining, we don’t want to leave, and we’re still a long way from reaching that initial objective.
“Rumours are just that, just believe what we say.”
“Su and I could sense the opportunity when we first started talking to Simon Blitz, and the opportunity is incredible,” he continued.
“The problem with developing residences here is that you don’t get something that will support it for generations; you only get that money once. Our main goal is for this team, in whichever league it plays in, to become self-sustaining within five years.”
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