Ciderspace Away Travel Guide » Oldham Athletic AFC

Club Background

The origins of Oldham Athletic could justifiably be said to be that of a pub team as they are descended from Pine Hill FC formed by the landlord of the Featherstall & Junction Hotel in 1895. In 1899 the then local professional side, Oldham County, folded and Pine Hill took over County’s ground and adopted the name Oldham Athletic. They moved up from Junior football to the Manchester Alliance League in 1900 but ran into ground problems with their landlord mid-season and had to move to Hudson Ford Field.

In 1904-05 the Latics advanced into the Lancashire Combination, winning the B Division at the first time of asking and gaining promotion. The J.W. Lees Brewery leased them another site and Boundary Park was born, with 2006 the Hundredth Anniversary. They made their first application to join the Football League in 1906 but missed out by one vote to Clapton Orient. They failed again to get elected in 1907, as Lancashire Combination Champions, but fate played into their hands when Burslem Port Vale went bankrupt. Oldham Athletic were given their place in Division Two and remained in the Football League continuously until 2022.

After two very creditable campaigns they were promoted to Division One as runners-up to Manchester City in the 1909-10 campaign. Apart from one poor season, where they just escaped relegation by a single point, they were a strong presence in the topflight and in the last campaign before the Great War brought football to an end missed out on the title by one point to Everton.

However, when the leagues restarted in 1919 Oldham was a struggling side, and three campaigns where they only just kept themselves up were followed by a fourth in 1922-23 when they finished bottom and were relegated back to Division Two. There they remained, mostly a solid mid-table side, until 1934-35 saw them relegated to the Division Three North. They were a good Division Three side, but not quite good enough, usually in the hunt for promotion but not quite making it.

After the Second World War they struggled for a couple of seasons but then began to improve, winning the title in 1952-53. It was a false dawn and they were immediately relegated, coming bottom of Division Two by some margin. Their record through the remainder of the Fifties in Division Three North was not good, and so when the League was restructured in 1958 they found themselves placed in Division Four.

These were grim times, with the Latics having to apply for re-election in 1959 and 1960. They recovered a little to get out of the basement with a promotion as runners-up to Brentford in 1962-63, only to find Division Three a struggle and it was no surprise when they went back down again in 1969. In response they appointed Jimmy Frizzell as manager in 1970 and this was a turning point in Oldham’s fortunes. He was twelve years in charge and took them up to Division Three in 1971 and then as Champions into Division Two in 1974. After a dodgy first couple of seasons they became a firmly established side at that level.

In 1982 Joe Royle took over. He would become the second manager in succession to achieve a dozen years at the club. In 1989-90 they got to the Semi-Finals of the F.A. Cup for the first time since 1913, and the League Cup Final, where they lost to Nottingham Forest; but better was to come, as in 1990-91 Royle brought them the title and a return to the First Division after 68 years. They were still there when Division One turned into the Premier League but only lasted until 1993-94 when relegation caught up with them, though they got to a third F.A. Cup Semi-Final where Mark Hughes famously denied them with an equaliser at the death, Manchester United then comfortably winning the replay. Joe Royle departed for pastures new.

After twenty-four years of stability and success Oldham entered a period of relative mediocrity, with frequent changes of manager, and some financial incompetence, as they chased the ambition of a return to the glory days. Graeme Sharpe and Neil Warnock both resigned after relatively short terms when they realised the gap between the Board’s delusions and the resources they were being provided to achieve them, with the club in fact travelling in the opposite direction, slipping into the third tier at the end of the 1996-97 season. Andy Ritchie, Mick Wadsworth and Iain Dowie then came and went in quick succession.

Meanwhile off the pitch, the club had been bought in 2001 by an Oxford businessman, Chris Moore, promising he’d return the Latics to the Premier League in five years. One of those all-mouth-and-no-trousers owners, what he actually did was take to club into administration in 2003. With massive debts and teetering on the edge of folding, Oldham wasn’t finally rescued until the arrival of Simon Blitz with a couple of partners, Simon Corney and Danny Gazal, who took it on in 2004 and spent the next couple of years just about keeping the club’s financial head above water.

The Latics flirted with a further fall into the basement of the Football League, with that excuse of a manager Brian Talbot looking like he’d achieve it for them until they sensibly disposed of him after less than a year in charge. Ronnie Moore, who had defied gravity at Rotherham United for a number of seasons but was sacked as they plummeted towards relegation, was brought in and eventually kept them up in 19th place. However it was never a happy marriage, and he soon departed, going to Tranmere Rovers.

In came John Sheridan, in June 2006, who’d previously had two short caretaker spells with the club. In his first season he managed to take them into the play-offs – something of a slight disappointment given that mid-way through the season they had been league leaders. As often happens with the team that drifts downwards as the season progresses, they were knocked out in the semi-finals. The next season they decided to do it the opposite way – starting slowly but working their way upwards as the campaign unfolded. At the death they just fell short of the play-offs, finishing 8th.

The 2008-09 season ended in something of a shambles for the Latics. They started the campaign like a train, and although they couldn’t maintain an automatic place they were in the top six for virtually the entire time until a fracas at Belle Vue dog track during a team social event in March triggered the departure of Sheridan. Former hero Joe Royle reappeared to huge fanfare and excitement, only to see the club not win another game until the final match of the season, by which time it was far too late and they had already blown any play-off spot.

Royle mooched off back into semi-retirement and TV punditry, and in came Dave Penney. Nothing changed, and nor should anyone but the Oldham board and the most rose-tinted-spectacle-wearers amongst supporters have expected it to. Despite having avoided liquidation the club’s problems remained deep seated and fundamental, but the hierarchy appeared, with yet more lack of realism, to have convinced itself that the Latics should be play-off bound at least. Unsurprisingly they spent the 2009-10 season floundering at the other end of the table, with crowds frequently in the three thousands.

Of course, as is all too common in football, the board couldn’t bring itself to analyse and face the real issues, and so took the usual easy route of sacking the manager with one game to go. Paul Dickov became the next lucky man expected to walk on water to cover up for those at the top. Their 18th place finish for the 2010-11 season was about par for the course, although two places lower than what got Penney the sack on the previous season, whilst in the 2011-12 season he matched Penney with a 16th place finish.

The 2012-13 season saw Oldham manage a fine FA Cup run that involved knocking out Liverpool. However, one week later, Dickov fell on his sword – badged as a resignation, although with his Chairman having hardly been supportive in the week leading up to it. In stepped Lee Johnson – a surprise choice as the then youngest manager in the Football League at the age of just 31. The early signs were good, steering them clear of relegation problems, with a 19th placed finish in the end. The 2013-14 campaign saw some consolidation as they ended 15th. The next campaign, 2014-15, it looked as if Johnson Jnr might be putting something together with the Latics competing up in the top seven come the New Year. Unfortunately for them, that raised Lee’s profile and in February 2015 Barnsley came calling for his services. Under replacement Dean Holden they gradually slid down to 15th place by the end of the season.

After a flurry of further managers, including two more spells from Sheridan, none of whom lasted a full season, the finale of a 2017-18 campaign under Richie Wellens saw Oldham relegated after 21 continuous seasons in the third tier, and the first time the club would be in the Football League basement since 1971.

Off the pitch the seeds of the Latics coming crisis were being sown. Blitz and Gazal had stepped back from the club in 2010 leaving Corney as majority shareholder. Finances were rocky again, with a series of winding-up orders lodged by HMRC in 2017, and in January 2018 Corney sold his stake to Abdallah Lemsagam. For a supposedly astute football agent Lemsagam doesn’t appear to have done much due diligence as he found himself with 97% of the football side of the club but not Boundary Park. And ownership of Boundary Park had become a mass of complexity over the years: starting with how the club had come out of administration back in 2004; compounded by all the wheeling and dealing around the project to build a new stadium at Failsworth (with never eventually happened); Council grants and loans for developments at the ground that might or might not have been conducted properly (and subject to police and HMRC investigations are various points); the ownership and control of the Oldham Event Centre (a.k.a. The Joe Royle Stand) side of the stadium… the whole thing was a complete mess… and foreshadowed off and on legal battles through the courts between Blitz, in the form of his company Brass Bank, and Lemsagam over the following years. Blitz even moved to put the club into administration in 2020 claiming unpaid debts, though in the end he didn’t carry this through. HMRC were in and out with more winding up orders. Lemsagam locked fans out of the Joe Royle stand claiming health & safety concerns but they believed it was because he wasn’t meeting the rent on it. There were unpaid wages, threatened player strikes, transfer embargoes, three life-long fans were banned (eventually over-turned) for criticising the owner in print, supporters were in uproar… culminating in on-pitch protests.

Amidst all this chaos things, unsurprisingly, weren’t going well on the pitch either. As well as dubious acumen as a businessman Lemsagam proved little better as a football chairman, getting through ten managers in four years. A somewhat unexpected appointment was Paul Scholes, who lasted seven games before he walked out. Our friend Harry Kewell was another – he did last eight months. Perhaps suitably it was John Sheridan, on his sixth spell (including a couple caretaker roles), in charge when the Latics fell through the trapdoor into Non-League in 2022.

We’ve Met Before

Previous Results for Yeovil Town First Team vs Oldham Athletic

Results Summary For Yeovil Town First Team vs Oldham Athletic

Club Statistics

RECENT RESULTS

LEAGUE ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 9,496
Lowest League Attendance: 6,074
Average League Attendance: 7,425

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Club Information

Address :
Boundary Park
Furtherwood Road
Oldham
Greater Manchester
OL1 2PA
(click here for map)

Telephone Number : 0161 6244972
Email : enquiries@oldhamathletic.co.uk

Chairman : Frank Rothwell
Club Secretary : Mark Sheridan
Ground Safety Officer : Rod Cross
Supports Liaison Officer/Ticket Office : Adam Street
Team Manager : David Unsworth

Capacity : 13,513
Seated : all-seater
Record Attendance : 46,471 v Sheffield Wednesday, F.A. Cup R4, 25/01/1930

Colours : blue shirt with red and white trim, white shorts, blue socks with red and white trim
Nickname : The Latics
Programme : £3.00

Ticketing

Such was the bizarre mess the club got into, the newest part of the stadium, the Joe Royle (North) Stand which was only finally completed in 2015, was not included in the sale of the club in 2018 and ownership remained in the hands of Simon Blitz, who was chairman of the Latics from 2003-2010, and his company Brass Bank.
The previous ownership under Abdallah Lemsagam announced the stand would be kept closed for the 2022-23 campaign on cost and safety grounds – one rather suspects the former being more relevant to the decision than the latter. However, since the purchase of the whole club by Frank Rothwell in August 2022 it appears Boundary Park is back to fully functioning.

Away fans will be in the Chadderton Road End (unless numbers are expected to be particularly low when other arrangements may be made) which is at the West end of the stadium (the opposite from where we were in Football league times). You can expect to be searched before entry.  Boundary Park is an all-seater stadium. Don’t recall stewards being particularly officious on earlier visits. Times may, or may not, have changed.

There are two sets of prices, advance and matchday. The on-line ticket purchasing system wouldn’t co-operate for me but some other fans appear not to have had these problems, so go here for the portal to see if have better luck than I did.

If not, the other way to avoid paying the surcharges is to buy by phone: 0161 785 5150 or 0161 624 4972. They will post out; but given the timeframe (and current postal industrial action) it’s probably better to arrange to pick up any advance tickets from the Ticket Collection Point which is in Furtherwood Road and is also used as the programme office.

Official Away Travel

The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running away travel to Oldham Athletic on Saturday 22nd October, 3.00 p.m. kick-off.

Details are as follows:

Members: Adult £33; Concession £31
Non-Members: Adult £36; Concession £34
Coach departs Huish Park: 7.45 a.m.

To book, call Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570 or email him on paulhadlow@outlook.com.

If you are getting in touch by email, please make it clear which match you are booking for and that you give your full name, the names of people that are travelling and a contact telephone number.

You may be asked to pay a £5 deposit to reserve your seat.

Directions To The Ground

General

The locals will doubtless be very cross if you say so, but Oldham is basically an eastern suburb of Greater Manchester. Huish Park to Boundary Park is 230 miles.

By Road

Once you’ve done all the M5 and M6 stuff take the M56 and then the M60 to get around the south and east of Manchester. Leave the M60 at Junction 22 and take the A62 towards Oldham. Approaching the Manchester Street Roundabout take the filter to get on to Oldham Way (A627) northwards. (If miss the filter one can also get onto this road off the roundabout itself but will have to go through several sets of traffic lights.) Follow Oldham Way to the next Featherstall Road North Roundabout, taking the third exit on to the A6048. At the second set of traffic lights bear left on to the A671 (Rochdale Road). After about 300 yards turn left in to Sheepfoot Lane. As Sheepfoot Lane becomes Furtherwood Road the stadium is to the right.

Parking

Parking at the stadium is relatively limited, especially since the new ownership has seen a big up-turn in crowds so far this season; and could well now only be for those who’ve purchased permits – though the Official Site is (unhelpfully) not specific one way or the other on this. The stadium car parking (sat nav OL2 5BL) is on the North (Oldham Event Centre Joe Royle Stand) and East (home end Jimmy Frizzell Stand) sides of the ground. The club also recommends the nearby Royal Oldham Hospital Car Park to the South of the ground (presumably it has an agreement with the hospital as it mentions stewards will indicate which sections to use) if the stadium car parks are full – sat nav OL1 2PA. This is £5.00.

By Rail (and Tram)

If you are training it from the South you will arrive at Manchester Piccadilly. You will then need to get across to Manchester Victoria, which is a 10 to 15 minute walk, or a short ride on the Metrolink, away. Choose the Yellow Line service (with ‘Bury‘ as the terminus) for Piccadilly to Victoria.

Unless you happen to live locally you’re unlikely to have a contactless Metrolink Card, so be aware one can’t buy tickets on the trams. These must be pre-purchased from the ticket machines to be found at every stop before you board. Oldham is in Zone 3, and best value on a Saturday to get out to Oldham and back (and travel round the bulk of the rest of Greater Manchester should you so wish before and after the game, only the more remote parts stretch into Zone 4) is an All Day Zones 1-3 Travel Pass at the princely sum of £4.30 for an adult. Concessions/Children are around half that.

The old Oldham Loop Line Railway has now closed and been converted into an extension of the Manchester Metrolink. That new tram Pink Line gives you a route from Manchester city centre out to its terminus at Rochdale, via Oldham. Note that the Westwood stop, which is before the three stops with Oldham in their names, is the closest to the stadium. Journey time is around 20 minutes. If you want to go to the town centre stay on until Oldham Central, but it’s a somewhat longer walk from there back to the ground.

From Westwood, get off and walk down the hill (Middleton Road). At the first set of traffic lights turn right onto Featherstall Road. Cross over a roundabout with Tesco on your right-hand side. When you reach a second roundabout, take the first exit (left) and you will be walking alongside a dual carriageway (Chadderton Way). Use the underpass to get across the dual carriageway on to Westhulme Avenue; follow it past a large B&Q store, and it will take you on to Furtherwood Road and the stadium.

If you really want to stick to the trains the nearest station is Mills Hill on the Calder Line between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale. The service is run by Northern Rail, out of Manchester Victoria, with trains leaving on and at half past the hour. Journey time is ten minutes. It is however just over two miles from the station to the stadium, so a walk of about 40 minutes.
If walking: leave the station towards the traffic lights and past the Rose of Lancaster (or stop, the beer and food are cheap) and continue along Haigh Lane. When reaching Chadderton Comprehensive School and a set of traffic lights, bear right and continue along Burnley Lane until reaching Chadderton Park Inn and a large roundabout. You’ll now be in sight of the stadium. Use the subway in the direction of the ground and keep going. You’ll eventually hit the ground at the away end.

By Bus

From the centre of Manchester there are lots of services for Oldham. From Piccadilly Bus Station the Nos. 181 and 182 are frequent (final destination Rochdale) and a good option as they pass very close to Boundary Park. Journey time is half an hour or so (traffic dependent). If looking for a service from Oldham town centre to the ground the No. 402 runs closest to the stadium. Journey time five minutes.

By Taxi

Some numbers for Oldham taxi services can be found here and for central Manchester more generally here.

Web Resources

Web Sites

Oldham Athletic – the Official Site. Still looks and feels very EFL rather than NL standard.

Official OAFC – the club’s official Twitter account.

Oldham Athletic Supporters Trust – very active Trust, understandably given the previous club ownership.

The Boundary Park Alert System! – Latics Podcast and Blog.

Oh When The Blues – a forum, and some other stuff.

LSC Canada – “The LSC website is the longest established ‘unofficial’ web site of Oldham Athletic AFC and is also the longest established message board (forum) of OAFC, official or not” – it says. A rather random collection of bits and pieces but the message board has some traffic. (LSC stands for “Latics Supporters Club”, if you hadn’t worked it out.)

Unofficial Latics – to be honest wasn’t particularly aware the old FootyMad forums were still going. From look of traffic here this one isn’t.

Local Press

Oldham Times – has considerable coverage of the Latics.

Oldham Evening Chronicle – also has fairly in-depth coverage, though often seem to be exactly the same stories by the same writers as in the Times (above).

Food & Drink

General

The ‘craft’ (however one chooses to define that) beer scene across Greater Manchester more widely is one of the most vibrant in the country, but only just seems to be trickling into the corner that is Oldham. In terms of tied houses the J.W. Lees brewery still dominates in Oldham. There are a number of pubs in the general vicinity (up to fifteen minutes walk) of Boundary Park, though only one very adjacent. However, they are all much of a muchness, and the variations between most of them is so marginal that you might as well use one as another. The one big plus point is that if coming from the South you should find the prices cheap in comparison. The downside is that what you get for your money is generally mediocre. As the locals themselves admit: “it must be one of the worst grounds in the country for fans to have a drink prior to the game”.

The Clayton Arms, which was the closest pub to Boundary Park, was closed and demolished in 2008. A newish Brewers Fayre hostelry (opened 2005), the Clayton Green, is on Westwood Retail Park a couple of hundred yards from the away end. It recently stopped offering any real ale. Opens from 11.00 a.m. As with the Clayton Arms this is very much a home venue, but no reports that visiting supporters need to steer clear. The Greyhound Inn (J.W. Lees) is about 10 minutes walk north of the ground (OL2 5ES); the Rifle Range Inn (J.W. Lees) is about 15 minutes walk west of the ground (OL1 2QP); the White Hart (a Stonegate pub, no real ale) is also about 15 minutes walk, this time north-west from the ground (OL2 6BB). All these three open from noon on a matchday. Apart from these one might as well look to the town centre where there are better options but is about a mile and a half away. The previous Wetherspoon, Squire Knott, was sold in 2017. It remained a pub for a while but has been sold again and is now a restaurant. There is however another Spoons in town and that remains operational, Up Steps Inn (below).

Club Bar

The Roger Palmer Fans Bar is situated on a corner of the ground on its Furtherwood Road side. It is not entirely clear from wording on the Official Site whether this is open to away fans or not. What it says is: “open to home supporters from midday on a Saturday matchday as well as first time visitors” – make of that what you will. If you do get in there’s both Sky and BT Sports. The beer range looks better than at many grounds, even risking something on hand pump!

Once inside the stadium reports are conflicting as to whether there’s any provision for serving alcohol in the away end, some saying there wasn’t any, another that there was one lager option served from a barrel on a trestle table. Food is the usual football stadium fare though the pies are above average.

Local Pubs

Ashton Arms: One room but split level Freehouse some distance (about a mile and half) from the ground, near the shopping centre and opposite the old Town Hall, it’s a long-time purveyor of Real Ale from small independent breweries (six hand pumps) and one of the very few traditional pubs (rather than micro-pubs) we’re aware in the town of that serves real cider. A good range of Belgian and German bottled beers are also stocked. It even does beer festivals from time to time. Food is served from noon to 8.00 p.m. There’s Sports TV, and a designated smoking area on the premises at the rear. Opening is from noon every day, closing 10.30 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 11.00 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 8.00 p.m. Sunday.
Ashton Arms, 28-30, Clegg Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 1PL. Tel: 0161 6309709. Map: Ashton Arms.

Cob & Coal Tap: One of two micro-pub ventures opened fairly recently by Oldham Beer Company Limited (the other is the Fox & Pine immediately below). Both are in the town centre but this one slightly nearer to the ground. In the Tommyfield Market, it keeps market hours: 11.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. Monday to Saturday. Six ales from small independent breweries on hand pump, a number of German Lagers on keg and a range of real ciders served on gravity. No food. 1.3 miles (half hour walk) from Boundary Park.
Cob & Coal Tap, Units 12-14, Tommyfield Market, Albion Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 3BG. Tel: 0161 6240446. Map: Cob & Coal Tap.

Fox & Pine: Second of the micro-pubs (see Cob & Coal Tap immediately above) opened by Oldham Beer Company Limited in Oldham town centre. This one is a bit further away from the ground at 1.5 miles. End of terrace conversion, rather ironically from an Alcohol Rehab Centre, the bar is downstairs and there’s a couple of small rooms upstairs. Has outside drinking area with tables and benches to the front. Ten hand pumps serving ales from small independent breweries, five keg fonts with German Lagers and a range of real ciders served on gravity. No food. Opening is a very simple noon – 10.00 p.m. seven days a week.
Fox & Pine, 18 Greaves Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 1AD. Tel: 0161 6282475. Map: Fox & Pine.

Secret Sip Craft Beer & Tap House/The Courtyard Bar: Bit of an outlier this one, up past the White Hart in the Royton district of Oldham but actually closer to the away end at Boundary Park, at 1.1 miles (so about 20 minutes walk) than the ‘craft’ beer outlets in the town centre. Small two floor micro-pub licenced for a maximum capacity of 40 customers. Five hand pumps and six keg taps all serving beers from small independent breweries. However, and the relationship is not entirely clear to me, seems to have amalgamated/has a relationship with the attached Courtyard Bar which has its own bar and also does food and coffee & cakes and has an outside space which the Secret Sip does not. No website but has a Facebook page. Opening hours during the week are described as “fluid” but Saturdays seem pretty reliable at noon – 10.00 p.m.
Secret Sip Craft Beer & Tap House, 4 Middleton Road, Royton, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL2 5PA. Tel: 0161 3768238. Map: Secret Sip.

Up Steps Inn: Now the only J.D. Wetherspoon (opened 1998) in Oldham, the other closing in 2017. As one would expect it’s right in the centre of town, so 1.4 miles from the stadium. Opening is 8.00 a.m. – 12.00 midnight Sunday to Thursday with an extension to 1.00 a.m. Friday and Saturday. No outside area so it’s smoking in the street. It’s a Spoons so you know what to expect.
Up Steps Inn, 17–23, High Street, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL1 3AJ. Tel: 0161 6275001. Map: Up Steps Inn.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You: Well, they’re in Non-League now, probably thinking as do all fans of clubs which come down that they won’t be here long… give it a few years and there’ll be plenty of conversations to be had about the wretchedness of venues, officiating, administration, lack of media attention and quality of football now to be suffered.

Top-Tip: Take the time to slag off Rochdale (not hard). Rochdale is their W*ymouth. They hate Rochdale, in a derisive way.

Local Amenities: The town’s website, Oldham: Gateway to the Pennines, would have you believe the National Football Museum is its local attraction. Rather stretching a point as it’s seven miles away in Manchester city centre.

Other Points Of Interest: Anywhere that gave us the wonderful recently departed Bernard Cribbins can’t be all bad. On the other hand it did go and spoil it by foisting Cannon & Ball on the world.

[No responsibility is taken for any inaccuracies. This page is entirely the product of bias and prejudice.]