Chris Moore (pictured) has got the go-ahead to reissue shares which will give him a massive 90% stake in Athletic. His aim is to buy back Boundary Park from OPP and turn it into a 25,000-seat stadium suitable for the Premier League. He said, “We haven't even started negotiations yet, but once we have a design we are happy with and it has been broadly costed we will look at buying the place back. I couldn't give you a proper timescale, but I hope we are in a position to start some physical work by the end of this year. It would be disruptive during the season and ideally we don't want to be dismantling the ground while trying to win football matches. But everything I do, whether in business or in private, I try to do properly, so we are looking at the best possible quality.”
The stadium would cost over £3million and the Lookers Stand would be demolished and replaced to become a new main stand and there are talks of building a second tier to the Rochdale Road End. Mr Moore continued,
“Promotion isn't a pipe dream, and if we end up in the Premiership there's a chance they will have brought in a minimum capacity of around 25,000. We never want to be in a position where we can't go up because our ground doesn't reach the standard. That would be something I could have done and should have done, but hadn't. At the same time, we don't want a grand stadium for 25,000 when our crowds are about half that number. So we'll take things step by step and always have our minds on quality.”
Athletic sold Boundary Park two years to pay off £2.7million in debts but a clause will allow them buy it back for £3.1million, the original selling price.