OLDHAM Athletic are not just working towards being more self sufficient on the pitch, but there are plans for sustainability off it too.

When it comes to the squad, Latics’ recruitment drive has focused acutely on players who can make an immediate impact on a team that is looking to significantly boost its win percentage and move up the National League.

But the board and management staff also have an eye on nurturing stars of the future; players who can improve them and go on to become assets which would allow money to be ploughed back into the squad and the club.

In addition, behind the scenes Latics are looking at ways to cut down on the ever increasing costs of running a football club, and offset the cost of living crisis that is gripping the nation.

And they are hoping the process will have dual benefits with the club also becoming more environmentally friendly.

“We’ve noticed a big increase in the cost of running the club, bills, looking back in years gone by,” said chief executive Darren Royle.

“We use a lot of water, a lot of electricity.

“There are solar panels on top of the Joe Royle Stand, which is a new stand. I think the Jimmy Frizzell Stand we could probably get solar panels on quite easily. It would be lovely to be self sufficient from an electricity perspective.

“It also depends on your rates, so if you’ve been rated as a Premier League ground in the past your business rates are huge, even if you’re not a Premier League club. We were after a certain cut-off so our business rates could be like a 10th of what another club that’s been in the Premier League are paying. They’ll have big business rates that they’ll have to pay.

“Our rates are quite sensible I think.

“We’ve recently changed over our rates supplier to the council, we’ve got a good relationship with them.

“Recycling and waste disposal rates are good.

“The big ones for us are with the amount of water we use, constantly watering pitches, particularly with the dry summer we had and that’s been related back to a few injuries, pitches being too dry, over training, it’s quite interesting how it all connects to each other.”

Chairman Frank Rothwell is exploring multiple ways in which Latics can cut back on their costs, but will have to spend money in order to save it long-term.

“Frank recently hosted, with the council, an Oldham business forum on being self sufficient and green. It wasn’t about having zero carbon emissions, it was about recycling and doing stuff like that properly as well.

“As a club I know that we’re looking at that,” Royle explained.

“There are some long term high cost opportunities like LED floodlights, which would cost £80,000, so £20,000 for each floodlight, just for the lights. But then you save money on electricity using LED floodlights.

“Also water, we’re looking at the potential for a borehole so it’s a self-sourced thing where we’ve made our own water supply for pitches, rather than off mains water.

“Frank’s ideas are all long-term, solar panels, boreholes for water. I think our water bill was over £100,000. If we pay £25,000 for a big borehole you get your own water supply, all legitimate and above board,” added Royle, who likes the idea of Boundary Park becoming more eco-friendly.

“It would be nice, wouldn’t it. As much as possible, as much as you can be,” he continued.

“We’ve gone through an electrical safety inspection, structural inspection, fire inspection, there’s loads of other minor ones like lift inspections, other forms of emergency lighting which are inspected. There are about 10 in total.

“All those things we’re getting up to date in terms of a stadium, and three parts of it are very old, so do we go for renewable energy and other things like that in an old stadium. It’s the only way forward really."