Raiders Will Leave Oxnard Training Site

Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis announced Wednesday that the team will not return to train in Oxnard, as he expects to settle on a Northern California site for a training camp as early as next week.

Oxnard officials learned last June that the Raiders planned to return to the Bay Area after 12 years of playing in Los Angeles, so Wednesday’s news came as no surprise.

“It would not be very practical for them to retain their training quarters here and to play in the Bay Area,” Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said. “I never expected them to stay here once they moved the team.”

Davis said club officials have considered 25 possible sites and have narrowed the choices to two unidentified cities. A decision is expected next week.

Oxnard lured the Raiders to the city in the mid-1980s with the offer to maintain a practice field for the club near the River Ridge Golf Course for $1 in annual rent.

City officials had hoped residents and fans could watch the team practice, but the team built a fence that kept outsiders from looking in on the field.

The deal soured further after the city helped finance construction of the Radisson Suite Hotel so the team would have a place to stay in Oxnard.

But the hotel developer fell behind on its payments on bonds used to pay for the hostelry, prompting the city last July to sell its stake in the property.