The Roughyeds offered £100,000, which was £50,000 less than Athletic's demand. Mr Moore did offer a personal loan to cover the shortfall, but rugby chief Chris Hamilton turned it down and accused Moore of trying to gain ownership of the Roughyeds “through the back door.” The Roughyeds now
play at Hurst Cross, Ashton.
Mr Moore said, “I bent over backwards to accommodate them, including at extra cost to myself. I made an offer and was virtually libelled in the papers for it, which I took great exception to. Although back-to-back stands and two pitches would also involve extra cost, we could make that arrangement and try to accommodate them again. But there would have to be a whole lot of bridge-building between the rugby and me personally for me to even sit down with them again.”
Any possibility of Athletic and the Roughyeds sharing Boundary Park's current pitch was dismissed. Mr. Moore stated, “It was relaid last summer for £500,000. The two disciplines don't balance together because rugby would ruin the surface. The best possible pitch is a pre-requisite for the football we play, and rugby just doesn't sit with that.”
Mr Moore said he was a long way from completing the buy-back from OPP and revealed, “There are a lot of negotiations involved, but we will eventually develop the stadium and incorporate everything we need. There's no alternative site because that wouldn't make sense and, at the moment, we are only at the stage of getting quotations from construction companies. I haven't seen any plans I like yet. They are all too big, too grand or too costly. Whatever we end up with will be exciting. It won't be all-singing, all-dancing – it will be right for the size of the club and the ambition we have.”