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Boundary Park is the main sports stadium of Oldham, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with the towns of Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively, giving rise to the name Boundary Park.[1] Boundary Park was originally known as Athletic Ground when it was opened in 1896 for Oldham's first professional association football club, Oldham County F.C.. When County folded in 1899, Pine Villa F.C. took over the ground and changed their name to Oldham Athletic.[2] Oldham Athletic A.F.C. have played their home games here since the stadium was opened. Oldham RLFC left their traditional home, Watersheddings, in 1997 and moved to Boundary Park. Other than a hiatus during the 2002 season when they played at Hurst Cross in Ashton-under-Lyne, they have played there ever since. The Rochdale Road stand, behind one of the goals, is the away end.
[edit] CapacityThe stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 10,638. It became an all-seater venue during the 1994-95 season - the season after Oldham Athletic's relegation from the top flight of English football. In the early days, the stadium could nearly hold 50,000 people. The highest crowd ever recorded at Boundary Park is 47,671, for an FA Cup tie between Oldham and Sheffield Wednesday. [edit] "Fantastic in Plastic"In 1986 the club installed an Artificial pitch which coincided with the clubs upturn in fortunes under Joe Royle. In 1987 the club reached the play-offs and in 1989/90 the club went through what is regarded as the clubs greatest ever season reaching the League Cup Final and the semi-final of the FA Cup, and the club claimed major upsets against the likes of Arsenal, Southampton, Everton and Aston Villa. Critics felt that the pitch gave the club an advantage, but in 1991 Royle responded to this when the Portsmouth manager declared that Oldham couldn't play away, he stuck the article to the dressing room door and the team responded with a 4-1 victory. At the end of the 1990/91 season the club secured promotion to the top flight, the final match on the plastic pitch was probably one of the most memorable games played at the ground when Latics had to beat Sheffield Wednesday and rely on West Ham to lose, 60 minutes into the game Wednesday were 2-0 up, but Ian Marshall pulled a goal back, then Paul Bernard eaquilised. By this point West Ham were losing and with an expectant crowd in the 90th minute Andy Barlow went down in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Neil Redfearn stepped up to convert it and a mass pitch invasion followed, as it was confirmed that West Ham had lost 2-1 to Notts County. [edit] RecordsBoundary Park is anecdotally known as being the coldest ground in the Football League which earns it the nickname Ice Station Zebra.[3] It is also the second-highest stadium of any Premier League or Football League club, after The Hawthorns - home of West Bromwich Albion. [edit] Redevelopment There were plans in the late 1990s for a move to a new stadium on adjoining waste ground, but these were scrapped. On 15 February, 2006, the club unveiled plans for the redevelopment of their current ground. The plans would see every stand other than the Rochdale Road end being redeveloped. When completed it would be a 16,000 seater stadium, estimated to cost £80 million, and with a working name of the "Oldham Arena".[4] However, by the time of the completion of the redevelopment the stadium is likely to bear a sponsor's name. On the 14 November, 2007 Oldham Athletic received planning permission for the North Broadway stand, whilst the Oldham Borough Council rejected the further development of the stadium. On 12 December, 2007, this was overturned at another council meeting and the entire ground was given permission to be developed. Facilities would include conferencing and a hotel plus the option of a casino.[5] Demolition of the Broadway Stand started on 8 May, 2008 with the work completed before the start of the new season. The building of the new 'Main Stand' was due to commence in December 2008 and was expected to take 16 months.[6] On 5 September, 2008 Simon Blitz told podcast World Soccer Daily that although Oldham still plan to continue the development of Boundary Park and surrounding areas, the plans are on hold for now because of the financial crisis of 2007–2009 and the subsequent downturn in the UK property market. He also stated that even though the demolition of the Broadway Stand had been completed, they could not secure a loan to even build the Main Stand let alone the rest of the project. He stated that the work will continue as soon as the economic climate looks a little better.[citation needed] Because of the problems, the club announced in the summer of 2009 that club is considering moving to a new stadium in Failsworth, this has caused some controversy amongst some supporters as Failsworth has a Manchester post code and is not considered by some people as part of Oldham. If all goes according to plan the new stadium could be open by the beginning of the 2011/2012 season. [edit] References
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