Oldham in Bower Fold talks

Oldham chairman Chris Hamilton has confirmed that he is in talks with soccer club Stalybridge Celtic about the Roughyeds continuing to play at Bower Fold in 2017.

Hamilton insists the players and supporters of the Roughyeds like the venue, and would prefer to stay put for the moment.

“If we are still in the Championship – we’re almost there, touch wood – there is a strong possibility that we’ll be back at Bower Fold in 2017,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.

“We like it there and the feedback from fans is that they like it too.”

Hamilton also insists that the club want to end the season in style, and not limp to safety from relegation.

The club have also learned some valuable lessons from this season.

“We don’t want to limp over the line,” he said.

“On and off the field it’s a massive leap from League One, but we’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way.

“The bottom five Championship clubs get £150,000 from central funding, but financially it’s hard to compete with what the mid-table clubs get let alone the clubs that are up at the top.”