Frank Rothwell heralded the “rebirth” of Oldham Athletic, and marked it with a piece of history.
Work on SportsTown, the £75million partnership between council and club that is set to revolutionise sport, education and health in the borough, officially got under way today.
And the original spade which dug the first piece of turf at Boundary Park in 1896 was used to break the soil at Little Wembley, where a new 3G pitch will be installed for use by the club and community.
“This year is a rebirth of Oldham Athletic. We’re back in the English Football League and it’s really exciting times for everybody,” said Latics chairman Rothwell, who was joined by council leader Arooj Shah for the turf-cutting ceremony, for which the century old spade was used.
“This year is Oldham Athletic’s 130th anniversary year and this is the spade that was used to dig the first piece of turf at Boundary Park
“It’s solid silver and it’s dated the 15th of July 1896, and I want to thank everybody in history that has looked after this spade to enable us to use it today to cut the turf here for the new 3G pitch we’re going to have here on Little Wembley at Boundary Park.
“It means a lot to me, to be able to use something from history to be able to do this and do something that’s going to make a difference in Oldham and leave a legacy and encourage more people to come to Boundary Park not just for football but to participate in (various) sports here.
“It will make a difference and cultivate more talent.”
And Rothwell said promotion also signified the rebirth of Oldham Athletic.
“It’s exciting times for everybody,” he continued.
“We took more than 20,000 people to Wembley. One tenth of the population from Oldham spent over £100 each to go to Wembley to watch Oldham Athletic get promoted.
“That means a lot, and thank you to everybody.”
And the celebrations continued with Rothwell recently awarded an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List.
“To get an OBE in the birthday honours’ list was special,” said the 74-year-old, who joked that it stood for Oldham’s Best Engineer.
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