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14th
January
2004
Stadium Plan - Peacocks Chairman Blasts Yampy Just what is happening about the much trumpeted plans to move Gornal Athletic from their long time home at Garden Walk to a new state of the art facility on the Ellowes School site? We revealed the story back in June, hailed by MP Ross Cranston as being a 'win-win situation' for all parties concerned. Yet little progress appears to have been made over the intervening months. Just before Christmas the Dudley News, in a poorly researched article containing a string of contentious claims, alleged that the plan was in doubt and that Gornal Chairman Chris Smith had not been in touch with the School for two months. Events then took a bizarre turn, at least as far as Yampy is concerned. Chairman Smith sent an email to Yampy accusing us of being the 'unnamed source' mentioned in the Dudley News article, saying that we had 'betrayed' him and that he had lost a major sponsor as a result. In fact we were not the source, but even the Dudley News' own attempts to convince Chris Smith that he has made a serious mistake has fallen on deaf ears. Significantly however, Smith has made no attempt to deny the substance of the Dudley News story, and this is bound to fuel speculation - particularly as high profile, quality players and officials have been attracted to the club by the prospect of an exciting future at Ellowes, which was going to be built at least to Doctor Marten's League standards. According to Paul Jenkins of the Dudley News, the Management team at the club are as fed up with off field antics as they are delighted with team performance on the park. However, speaking to Yampy last week Joint Manager Tony Wall would not be drawn into a slanging match and spoke diplomatically about the situation at Garden Walk: "The players and management are just concentrating on doing what we promised we would try to do, winning this League" he said. "All the speculation about the ground and other off field problems are not helping us achieve our objective. At the end of the season we can all sit down with the Chairman and Committee and decide where Gornal, ourselves and the players are heading." The Peacocks are currently on top of the West Midlands League Division 1 South, 5 points clear of Bilston, and have every chance of bouncing back to the Premier League at the first attempt, following their relegation last year. Here at Yampy we have been the exact opposite of fair weathered fans; we were ever present for the whole of the disastrous 2002/03 home campaign, whereas the pressures of Saturday site updates have kept us away for most of this season to date. All the very best to team and officials however, we will be down there cheering the side on as soon as possible - if they will let us in! newsdesk@yampy.co.uk. --> |
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