Owners make themselves public

Last updated : 17 December 2003 By Dave Moore

Athletic’s new buyers have finally made themselves public. The three men are originally from Londan and are now based in New York. Simon Blitz, Danny Gazal and Simon Corney are all lifelong friends and will own the club in its entirity. Their money has been amassed through the Cellular Network Communications Group and although Blitz and Gazal will remain in New York Corney will return to the UK to work hands on at Boundary Park.

Blitz said, “You have to follow your dreams. If you don’t fulfil your dreams then life passes you by and you realise you’ve maybe missed out. It’s exciting, nervous, it’s everything. You can’t believe that I was sitting in New York watching on the internet seeing the team lose and getting annoyed. Once you invest and that’s what you decide, you become an instant supporter and defeat hurts, it doesn’t matter who you are. We’ve purchased the land and now we will start taking on ideas in terms of what the council want us to do and what the locals want on the site.”

"Trust Oldham has been a key factor in influencing their decision and it is expected that the trust will play some sort of role in the future of Athletic. Barry Chaytow will continue in his role as Chairman and the new owners, limited in
footballing know-how, will welcome his experience gained during his 18 years in football. Their first role is to ensure that the team maintain their 2nd. Division status. New players will be brought in to ensure that the team remains secure but the emphasis will be based on common sense rather than emotion. All dealings must be built on a sound financial basis. The long term plan is that within 5 years the club must be stable in the first division."

Simon Corney said, “We need to be getting 7000-8000 fans here at Boundary Park on a regular basis in order to achieve that aim. The fun is seeing the
fruits of your effort, to develop through working with a good team and to reach our goals. We believe that if we put in the hard work, we will turn it round no matter how long it takes.”

“The important thing is to build a strong foundation to make sure the word ‘administration’ never has to be mentioned again. Once that’s in place, we can start to look forward. Purchasing the land was the first step and now, with the help of the council and local people, we will look at different ideas for developing it. These things aren’t going to happen overnight, but we hope income from the land will pay for the long-term running of the club. Ideas and support from the local community will be vital, and the Supporters’ Trust have been outstanding so far. They have been great every time we’ve spoken to them and we intend having a close relationship — the new board has yet to be fully decided, but a Trust member might be on it. It’s a matter of building a team off the field as well as on it because our whole attitude is one of keeping everything on a sound footing.”

“We like Iain Dowie (pictured) and have a good relationship with him. We’ve opened talks over a new contract, but it would be premature to say any more at this stage.” Mr. Blitz added, “People might wonder how we can suddenly find an affection for another club, but it really has happened. One or two visits here was all it took, and it seems strange to go from listening in New York to actually being here as a new owner. We have formed emotional bonds very quickly. There are times, though, when emotion can’t get involved in running a successful business, so we’ll try to separate the two for the good of the club.”