The Mick Wadsworth story
Last updated : 11 July 2002 By Dave Moore
Chairman Chris Moore (pictured) recently spoke to GMR's 'Extra Time' when he gave an frank and open account of Mick Wadsworth's departure from the club.
He said, “I'm abslotulely delighted with Iain Dowie, I was absolutley delighted when he joined us in the first place and I always said then that if Mick wasn't with us - going back to the middle of last season - Iain could quite easily have done the job. I came to the stage where I felt that I wanted to see more of Iain on the first team duties. I felt that the struture and the setup that we put into place with Mick and Iain was broadly holding Iain back quite frankly and not moving at the pace that I wanted to move at with the changes in the club. Mick pretty much resisted some of the changes that I wanted to make to basically speed things along and give Iain his full reign sort of thing instead of holding him back with obviously the knock-on frustrations that were apparent inside the Club - and Mick found this completely unacceptable to him. I come from a very simple standpoint. At the end of the day Mick Wadsworth worked for a limited company, it's called Oldham Athletic Football Club Limited and he was requested to carry out a reasonable request for work under his contract and he refused to do it and there's only one conclusion to that and it would be the same with anybody quite frankly. I'm now delighted that Iain's in charge - I'm absolutley thrilled that he's in charge, quite frankly. And quite frankly there's a completely different mood change around the entire Club from the playing staff to all the support staff and administrating staff and everything throughout the Club. No disrespect to Mick whatsoever, I wish him every good lick at Huddersfield”.
“I didn't want him to go and I never asked him to go. And the day before he actually went he said he was going and I refused to accept his resignation and urged him to go home and sleep on it and think about it one last time. He was kept at the Club for 24 hours on my insistence that he didn't just act emotionally. He was in a very emotional state. He didn't want to go either, but I'm sorry, I have to do what I think is best for the Club. I don't do it very autocratically or anything like that, I consult with the other Board Members, I consulted with Alan Hardy and we were completely unanimous on this. This was the best thing for Oldham Athletic Football Club and I will never ever stop doing what I believe to be in the best interests of the Club. Putting aside anybody's
individual ego or personal agenda that is contrary to the Club's agenda and I include everybody there, including my own. I don't have a personal agenda. There's only one agenda and that's the Club's agenda and anything that gets in the way of that, I'm sorry but it will have to move out of the way”.
“It was a difficult thing to do. I've been doing it for twenty-odd years now in business with Torex and any business that I'm involved in and yes it is very difficult, it never gets easier but I'm the sort of character that won't shirk from my responsibilities. I'm a Director of the Club and I have a legally binding duty to the Club to do what is in the Club's best interests and I'll never ever shirk from that. Some people don't think of me as being that tower of strength I suppose but it's never easy, it's never easy at all. And it's even more difficult writing out more than a six-figure cheque and saying thank you and goodbye”.