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What was it like when we were good?


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I lived in Milnrow at the time and was 18 in 1990. During the cup run in 89/90 we used to start queuing to get to our car parking place near the Old Grey Mare in Rochdale Road at the big lamp roundabout in Shaw. We used to set off well over an hour before kick off to get there and get in on time to see the kick off.

 

As others have said, virtually every game was total entertainment, Big Joe never set up to simply defend no matter who the opposition was, it was a mentality of we’ll score one more than the opposition. Even during the odd poor game, Andy Ritchie would produce a piece of brilliance that was worth the entrance fee alone. The following season when we won the league we had home games against Brighton, Wolves and Plymouth in December which we won 6-1, 4-1 and 5-3 imagine that! I have a feeling we were 3 down or perhaps 1-3 down against Plymouth as well!

 

Unbelievable times which I’m glad I was able to witness, genuinely feel sad for those who’ve never known us a anything more than shit lower league strugglers, hard to believe we were once the whole nations favourite second team.

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Fuck me. I want to cry. On topic, I remember the defeat to Vale in the promotion season (one of my first aways). Think we were unbeaten to that point. Just to put everyone in a good mood before Saturday.

 

For me, the whole day was an event. 30 a side in the Clayton (from about 12 onwards which gave my old man plenty of time to drink cans of breaker), the smell of that Tata hash they used to do, all 3 rooms being full. Queues getting in/out. If it wasn't for all that and I was 10 years younger, I'm not sure I'd have the same affinity I've got for the club. The premier League was good but the championship season was the one I remember the most and standing (sitting on the hoardings) and invading the pitch as a 7 year old against Wednesday is etched in the memory.

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10 minutes ago, longtimeblue said:

Fuck me. I want to cry. On topic, I remember the defeat to Vale in the promotion season (one of my first aways). Think we were unbeaten to that point. Just to put everyone in a good mood before Saturday.

I was there. People were moaning at a 1-0 defeat despite it being the first one in ten or so games i think. Moulden missed an absolute sitter as i recall.

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1 minute ago, longtimeblue said:

The premier League was good but the championship season was the one I remember the most and standing (sitting on the hoardings) and invading the pitch as a 7 year old against Wednesday is etched in the memory.


Agree with that sentiment but would go further personally.  For different reasons to how I feel now, the time in the top division was when I felt that Latics were no longer my Club.

 

Yes it was great but all of a sudden, it’s was difficult, sometimes impossible to get tickets for games.  Corporate Hospitality took over and things just seemed different.  From feeling like we were a big family, we then had interlopers in suits and ties hoovering up the best seats.  It all got a bit prawn sandwich-like.  The team changed too and some of the real characters left to be replaced by what I saw as mercenaries.  I’ll admit that I lost a bit of interest.

 

The Cup runs and the couple of seasons leading up to promotion were the best days for me.  Those memories and the sense of pride in my Latics will never leave me.

 

See, it wasn’t all sweetness and light 🤣🤣🤣

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Getting to the ground 45 minutes before kick off to get your place in The Chaddy and in readiness for the team to warm up. Ritchie always seemed to come out last for the warm up and got the biggest cheer, almost like the main mans here now, all is well. Must have demoralised the opposition before kick off. Then kicking towards the Chaddy and them not being able to get out of their half as Holden and Adams supplied cross after cross.

 

Like Inspiral says I too think they lost something when they went up. Could never take to the likes of Pointon, Redmond and Sharpe. 

 

My best memory is after the 6 - 0 Semi Final game, walking back home when it just hit me, Christ we're going to Wembley, I was so captivated by the game on the night I had forgotten what we were achieving.

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When Latics were nearly everyone's second club, I kept this quote from respected football journalist Patrick Barclay:

People no longer underestimate Oldham Athletic as a playing force.  Perhaps they began last season tilting at windmills, but as mighty teams fell in their wake, Oldham earned a reputation for flowing, adventurous football which made them one of the most popular and watchable sides to emerge in a League which seemed to have forgotten how to entertain.

 

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Absolutely sensational..... and must of all, fun.  The football was exhilarating. 
 

You had to turn up early and getting out of the car park could sometimes take forever.  It was brilliant. 
 

You need to understand that we still had people that bitched and moaned relentlessly though.... as social media didn’t exist they just got told to “STFU” at the actual match.  😁

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9 minutes ago, Diego_Sideburns said:

When Latics were nearly everyone's second club, I kept this quote from respected football journalist Patrick Barclay:

People no longer underestimate Oldham Athletic as a playing force.  Perhaps they began last season tilting at windmills, but as mighty teams fell in their wake, Oldham earned a reputation for flowing, adventurous football which made them one of the most popular and watchable sides to emerge in a League which seemed to have forgotten how to entertain.

 


Patrick Barclay used to live on Nudger Green in Dobcross.  Always been one of my favourite football journalists.  Very nice bloke.

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Their were a million reasons why things were different then to what they are now. I'll try and give what I believe is a piffy answer to my take on that time as an (at the time) very young supporter Im 36 now.

 

Back then when we lost it didn't seem to matter so much if we lost you'd walk away from the ground and people would still be laughing and joking. Probably because we were punching so far above our weight just being there a few defeats didn't matter. Whereas nowadays it feels like the opposite even after a win now Im feeling a sense of indifference because we just aren't coming close to fulfilling our potential.

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it was fucking brilliant 

every other car had a Latics kit hanging in the window as you drove into manchester 

Ricky Holden was on  QOS think about that likkle Oldham had a player on question of sport !

we were on the telly every other week and we were winning !

 

it was fucking brilliant !!!!

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5 hours ago, maximus1267 said:

Imagine this,

 

Rivalry and epic league and cup games with with Leeds, City, Blackburn, United, Everton, Sheff Wed, Bolton, Arsenal, Villa and West Ham to name a few.

 

Boundary Park packed to the rafters, great atmospheres, great away days, great players semi finals and a cup final.

 

I am 48 and this does not seem that long ago to me although it is.

 

I started going in the mid 70s with my Dad & Uncles etc and we were Div 1 ( Championshiop ), we had low crowds and we were just survivng season after season at that level.

 

Then came the 80s and a MR J ROYLE, things changed and the fun started.

 

You asked " What was it like "

 

It was the most exhilarating trip of my life, hard for anyone who wasn't there to understand.

 

 

This..an unbelievable ride,  

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10 minutes ago, peanuts said:

it was fucking brilliant 

every other car had a Latics kit hanging in the window as you drove into manchester 

Ricky Holden was on  QOS think about that likkle Oldham had a player on question of sport !

we were on the telly every other week and we were winning !

 

it was fucking brilliant !!!!

Wearing a daft hat. 

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I have to say that if you are in your late 40's early to mid 50's now say 18-25 at the time. You had the best of it.

 

Thats the time in peoples lives where they have the most disposable income and generally less responsibilities thats the time when going home and away isnt a problem. You were old enough to appreciate how good it was and young enough to fully enjoy it.

 

Its very en vogue for the older generation to have a pop at the younger generation these days (usually out of ignorance or a fear of being replaced) but less face facts we are very lucky to have the supporters we do under 30 as they haven't seen anything close to success.

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The was a time when we expected to win pretty much every game, best time for me was the few seasons before we got into the premier league. Taking over proceedings at away games, battering teams at home, awesome cup runs and a sometimes electric atmosphere at BP.

 

Heady days...

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24 minutes ago, peanuts said:

it was fucking brilliant 

every other car had a Latics kit hanging in the window as you drove into manchester 

Ricky Holden was on  QOS think about that likkle Oldham had a player on question of sport !

we were on the telly every other week and we were winning !

 

it was fucking brilliant !!!!

 

QOS was good then as well... 

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Even the reserve games were great entertainment.

 

Between 1987 and 1994 i had the best time of my life. Never missed a game. Even the first pre-season on the Isle of Man was brilliant. Still got a picture with Palmer after the game against Hibs (people camping on the edge of the pitch). I always remember Gary Williams scoring the winning goal at Leeds. The 6-0 defeat there still hurt, but that moment felt like a turning point. We went top of the league and went mad. Still a couple of years from the finished article, but we were on the way. It just got better and better and better. Beating City again and again. Joe Royle actually turning them down to stay with us. The cup runs. The away games.  Southampton away in the cup, mid-week. Coach blew a tyre and no one gave a shit about getting home hours later. Chelsea hated playing against us. Heaven. Wow. I feel like crying.

 

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10 minutes ago, bigfatjoe1 said:

.....Southampton away in the cup, mid-week.....


...my grandmother had passed away not long before this game. We’re not a religious family. I was sat in my bedroom - I wasn’t allowed to go to Southampton as I was 13 and at school next day - listening to one of those handheld radios with a big Ariel and a dial you twisted to find the frequency you wanted, through the fizzing and crackling. After Le Tissier had put them 2-1 up from the spot in the 85th minute I lay on the floor of my bedroom deflated..... as the whistles began to sound from the 90th minute, I turned the radio off, put my hands together and said a prayer asking my Gran to have a word with the big fella. I turned the radio back on.... “Holden crosses the ball, Ritchiiiiiiiiieeeee”. I can still feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

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1 hour ago, GlossopLatic said:

I have to say that if you are in your late 40's early to mid 50's now say 18-25 at the time. You had the best of it.

 

Thats the time in peoples lives where they have the most disposable income and generally less responsibilities thats the time when going home and away isnt a problem. You were old enough to appreciate how good it was and young enough to fully enjoy it.

Balls to that - I'm 41 and had it brilliant, my dad paying for everything and driving us up and down the country to watch it all. Handily he was well placed to pick up comps, meaning we often watched us beat teams from the home stands - still remember taunting Chelsea fans below us at Stamford Bridge after winning there, and watching our top flight debut from the main stand at Anfield. Also being in the home end at Upton Park as West Ham failed to turn round the 6 goals, and watching the players celebrating on the pitch, with the away end going mental. Good times.

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23 minutes ago, lookersstandandy said:


...my grandmother had passed away not long before this game. We’re not a religious family. I was sat in my bedroom - I wasn’t allowed to go to Southampton as I was 13 and at school next day - listening to one of those handheld radios with a big Ariel and a dial you twisted to find the frequency you wanted, through the fizzing and crackling. After Le Tissier had put them 2-1 up from the spot in the 85th minute I lay on the floor of my bedroom deflated..... as the whistles began to sound from the 90th minute, I turned the radio off, put my hands together and said a prayer asking my Gran to have a word with the big fella. I turned the radio back on.... “Holden crosses the ball, Ritchiiiiiiiiieeeee”. I can still feel the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

It was you that made it happen, remi d me to buy you a drink next time I see you. In fact forget that, if you had said your bloody prayers properly I would t have been locked out of the game. 

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It was a great time to be alive. I had been a regular home and away supporter since 1974 and had witnessed the great days of 1973/74 and our establishing ourselves in the Second Division over time, mixing it with much bigger clubs. We hadn't really had a cup run to speak of apart from 2 visits to round 5 of the FA Cup in late 70s. The good days for me really started when we overachieved and came 3rd in 1986/87 (the first season of the play offs and we came bastard 3rd lol). The crowds didn't really come then but the team was homegrown and doughty and our support base was growing again slowly. 1987/88 was a bit flat results wise (kept drawing 2-2) but the football was very watchable, 1988/89 started very disappointingly but in late November, big Joe signed Frank Bunn and the fun really started. in the last 20 games of that season, we scored 50 goals - beat bastard Rovers 4-2 at home on Good Friday (they were going up that season and we leathered them) and 1989/90 came with a fair sprinkling of optimism. What happened was beyond belief. A slow start and then the team really clicked, I think the players started believing in themselves, they really gelled and we beat Arsenal 3-1 in 4th round of the league cup in front of 14,500 in November. It was unbelievable, Latics thumped mighty Arsenal (top of the First Division at the time) and in front of the BBC cameras. The league form was great at home as well and the whole country started waking up to this wonderful little club who played great attacking football, home and away, never played with cynicism, just a refreshing venture into how football should be played. We went to the Dell in 5th round, Saints were a great home side at the time and attacked with great aplomb, 2000 supporters travelled on a Tuesday night only for the home club to take one of the away pens for their own fans leaving 600 locked out. Ritchie's last minute equaliser was more than deserved and we won the home game easily in front of 18,500. The crowds at home games were increasing too, 12000- 15000 were quite regular in second half of that season. If you went out in town, there were always lots of lads / lassies who wanted to talk about Latics, we used to park near Chaddy Town Hall and the Sun Mill Inn was packed with latics fans on match days. Beating West Ham 6-0 on Valentines Day was surreal - came out thinking "Bloody hell, we are going to Wembley for a Cup Final".  Wembley was fabulous, Latics had more than 30,000 there - perhaps 1/2 proper Latics and 1/2 ex-latics or hangers-on or just Oldhamers out for the day. We had more there than Forest!! The FA cup run was in full flow as well and we beat Everton in a 2nd replay (2 home games x 19000 crowds) and then beat Aston Villa 3-0 to reach the semis against United. We actually were playing much better football than United at the time but they managed to scrape through the semis after a replay. The league form held up but too many games in too short a time with a small squad meant we finished 8th. At the time, Latics were everybody's second favourite team - they really took the nation's heart and Joe Royle was interviewed for the England job.  Joe had stayed on to finish the job instead of going to City in December and the whole town loved it. We had 5000+ season ticket holders the following season and went 17 games unbeaten at the start of the season before losing at Port Vale 1-0. I think the regulars all knew we were going up - many of us selected Ipswich as the place our dream would be realised at the start of the season. The football never faded, we scored goals aplenty, won 15 at home in a season, scored a total of 88 goals and the Chaddy End was roaring. Great days - easily recalled, I went to 58/67 games in 1989/90 and missed about 4  in 1990/91. Wonderful wonderful days, players who loved the club, fans loved the players and manager......60000 turned out in Oldham to welcome the lads home from Wembley and the following year to celebrate promotion.  Never ever forget the feeling of pride at being a Latics fan...…...God they seem a long time ago now                                    

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26 minutes ago, disjointed said:

It was you that made it happen, remi d me to buy you a drink next time I see you. In fact forget that, if you had said your bloody prayers properly I would t have been locked out of the game. 


It’s crazy to think the game wasn’t all ticket isn’t it.... it’s just little old Oldham, they won’t bring that many down here midweek for a certain defeat.....

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2 minutes ago, lookersstandandy said:


It’s crazy to think the game wasn’t all ticket isn’t it.... it’s just little old Oldham, they won’t bring that many down here midweek for a certain defeat.....

Think they misjudged the interest from their own fans as well - they had planned on giving Latics 1/2 the Archers Road (think that's what it was called) but by about 6.30 the ground was filling up well with Saints fans (Latics fans still in boozers) and so they made the decision to limit Latics support to 2 pens and allow Southampton in the rest. We heard that the ground was filling up quickly and it was 5 deep at the bar at 6.45 so we headed to the ground to join the queues and were amongst the last to get in. I think at least 600 were locked out, maybe more - all part of Latics rich pageantry nowadays

          

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58 minutes ago, oafcmetty said:

Balls to that - I'm 41 and had it brilliant, my dad paying for everything and driving us up and down the country to watch it all. Handily he was well placed to pick up comps, meaning we often watched us beat teams from the home stands - still remember taunting Chelsea fans below us at Stamford Bridge after winning there, and watching our top flight debut from the main stand at Anfield. Also being in the home end at Upton Park as West Ham failed to turn round the 6 goals, and watching the players celebrating on the pitch, with the away end going mental. Good times.

 

Im sure you had a great time, bet you would have preferred to drink at it though.

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