The Nursery Club Debate

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 04/08/2000

The Nursery Club Debate

David Peasgood this weekend finds Bert and Fred have read that Oldham are to be the Leeds United nursery club, with Leeds having bought a 10% stake in the club as a starter.
Hear their views and YOU decide in our latest 'fishy' poll.

The Nursery Club Debate

FRED:
I see Leeds have bought a percentage of Oldham.

BERT:
Why have they done that then?

FRED:
Well I suppose that in return for baling Oldham out, Oldham must give Leeds first option on any potential good players they develop.

BERT:
Supposing its not so much a first option as a direct transfer with Oldham having no choice in the matter?

FRED:
I don t know. Depends how much of Oldham is bought by Leeds. At first it may be a friendly arrangement but I'm sure once they have a foot in the door Leeds will start to impose themselves.

BERT:
It seems like a fiddle to me. Leeds could use Oldham as their reserve team. Sometimes Oldham would be strong with Bowyer and Woodgate and others playing and other times they could be weak if Leeds are at full strength. That's gonna mess up the division that Oldham play in.

FRED:
And what happens if Oldham are close to promotion. Do they cheat and bring in a few ringers from Leeds to help?

BERT:
And what about cup games. Oldham v Leeds in the FA cup. They could shuffle the teams or Leeds could simply tell Oldham not to win. What could Oldham do about that?

FRED:
It could happen. What I cant understand is that Chairmen are not allowed to own more than one club so how can this deal can be allowed?

BERT:
Well it has happened so it must be allowed.

FRED:
It sets a bad precedent to me and I feel most sorry for the Oldham fans.

BERT:
Yeah. They'll never be able to be their own club again. There's be no chance of them dreaming about a return to the premiership cos Leeds wouldn't let them.

FRED:
Mind you if they were heading for bankruptcy, maybe this Leeds buy-in has helped keep them alive. Anything's better than going to the wall.

BERT:
I'm not so sure. This looks a bad precedent to me and if its repeated throughout you can see what'll happen. Top 24 clubs buy lesser 24 clubs as nurseries. The others go to the wall or become amateur cos they cannot compete or get a look in, and the top 24 clubs stay top forever.

FRED:
Well no-one is going to buy Grimsby that's for sure.

BERT:
How do you know? we are losing 15K a week and can't afford that either. What would Doug Everitt say if Forest for instance came along offering a few million quid for us to be their nursery club?

FRED:
I just hope it doesn't happen. What do others think.

Now for the vote...

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