Oldham Athletic’s Darren Royle is adamant that the team won’t operate on a smaller budget the next campaign.
As the Latics get ready for their third season in the National League, they will have to make some cuts.
Notably, the club’s former EPPP (Elite Player Performance Plan) academy designation has resulted in the club losing funds and player asset protection, marking a substantial shift in the way youth development is conducted.
It will now be replaced by an alternate youth development programme that was launched last year and runs concurrently with the academy.
However, Royle insists there won’t be any changes to the first team’s budget as the team aims to make a third effort at getting back into the Football League.
Manager Micky Mellon declared the team needed “major surgery” following the season’s penultimate game, but he also hinted that budget restrictions might be implemented.
“Everybody that’s here they’ve all got another year’s contract so it’s difficult because everything’s pretty much tied up, everything’s already been spent on the group that’s here and the difficult part and frustrating part is that the group needs a lot of help and we won’t have the ability to do anything about that, even with outgoings won’t be able to do anything about that, so it’s difficult,” Mellon said following the loss to Wealdstone at on Sunday.
It’s challenging because we may even need to make some budget cuts because I believe we’re even overbudget. That’s the current scenario, and we will collaborate closely with Darren and the family. After several discussions, we’ve determined that the best course of action is to put in a lot of effort and talk a lot before taking any concrete action.”
But Royle responded, “No,” when asked by The Oldham Times if Mellon would be operating on a smaller budget this summer. The Rothwell family, the proprietors, has provided incredible financial support.
“As a board, we wish to support the manager in developing that team in order to promote them the following year. That needs to be our goal.”
Devarn Green, Dan Gardner, Harrison McGahey, and Mike Fondop are all without contracts. Although the four have been informed of the uncertainties surrounding recruiting and are free to explore for another club, The Oldham Times understands that the door has not been closed to them all.
Magnus Norman, the custodian, Nathan Sheron, Mark Shelton, and captain Liam Hogan are among the contracted players that manager Mellon is reportedly encouraging to join a new team.
“It doesn’t necessarily depend on players leaving to bring in,” Royle continued.
“However, workers are contracted through the end of June, and the market isn’t open yet. Since the EFL will also be opening at that time, I anticipate it becoming busy after that.”
