LaticsPete

Slim Pickens was an American actor, often in slightly comic roles as in Blazing Saddles and Doctor Strangelove, and TV shows like Bonanza and B.J. and the Bear. If you saw him, you’d recognise the face. This month we’ll be looking at a few “slim pickens” ourselves, as Oldham publications using no more than a single sheet of paper come into view. To begin with, there’s a single sheet production for a game that brought silverware to Latics, in one of the oldest football competitions in the region, the Lancashire Senior Cup. Dating back to 1879, Oldham first competed in 1906/7 and, a season later, after beating Preston North End 2-0, the name was on the trophy for the first time. 60 years passed before the next success, another 2-0 victory, this time over Barrow on 9th May 1967 at Boundary Park. Whilst the Boundary Bulletin for that season had been a large colourful programme, there was just a black & white sheet for this game, given away free at the turnstiles. The style was used on some other occasions, mainly for pre-season friendlies. One side was predominantly given over to the team line-ups, and at the top of the page was the old Latics crest, an owl perched on the Borough’s coat of arms. On the reverse side was a welcome to Barrow with pen pictures so small that even strong floodlights would have made them hard to read. More prominent were adverts for two upcoming matches; the last home league game versus Watford and a charity match between Northern TV All Stars and a Celebrity Select XI. Younger readers may not recognise some of the promised players but (honestly) they were big at the time including Gerry Marsden (of the Pacemakers) Roy Hudd, Simon Dee (the DJ), and Stuart Hall. The win by Oldham was chairman Ken Bates’ first silverware in football (apparently, he had later success with a club in London) and the first for Jimmy McIlroy as a manager, and was much enjoyed by a crowd of just of just 3512. Another monotone programme, a “Mini Bulletin”, this time priced at 2p, was published during the power cuts of the Three-Day Week in 1974. A Tuesday afternoon, 8th January, was the Third Round FA Cup Replay with Oldham hosting Cambridge United. The first game on the previous Sunday morning had finished 2-2 and a home tie against First Division Burnley awaited. A simple front (although without the date) listed both teams and the match officials. There was an announcement that a minute’s silence would be held before kick-off in memory of the late Oldham Chairman, John Lowe, and the reverse featured brief pen-pictures of Cambridge players and a reminder that there would be extra time if the game was all-square at 90 minutes. That indeed turned out to be the case and the match eventually ended in another draw 3-3, entertaining a bumper afternoon crowd of 10,250. So, on to the second replay, this time at a neutral venue, the City Ground of Nottingham Forest, 79 miles from Oldham and 92 from Cambridge so a decent choice in terms of distance. Once again it was an afternoon match, 1.30 pm on Monday 14th January 1974. A small (about 17cm x 9cm), pale green “Official Team Sheet” was issued, match details, the Forest crest, and provisional teams on just one side of print. I say provisional as there were four changes to the published Oldham line-up and two to that of the Us. A winner at last, Latics edging it 2-1, with a crowd of 3563. Burnley in the 4th Round was a step too far but between Jan 12th and March 12th, Oldham won ten successive league games, moving towards the Third Division Championship that season. Still in the FA Cup, there was a standard issue for the Ist Round Replay at Boundary Park against Northern League Shildon Town. Programmes that season were a sheet of paper in the odd size of 25cm x 37cm with two folds, producing six pages for 3d. No floodlights at the ground for another two years so, once again, an afternoon match, 2pm on Tuesday 17th November 1959, clearly marked on the front, along with the club officials and contact details. These were financially dire times for Oldham and there had been just three wins on the pitch since the start of the season, form that was to continue right through to the end and (fortunately) re-election, despite finishing five points behind Gateshead who were ejected from the League. The programme was on poor quality paper, there were gaps in the advertising spaces and even the prospect of unbleached as well as bleached tripe from Heginbotham & Sons wouldn’t have lifted spirits. A last-minute equaliser up in Co Durham had got Latics the replay and they made no mistake in it, a rare 3-0 victory cheering up most of the 4567 there on a cold November afternoon. A local derby in the next round but a loss to Bury meant that the road to Wembley ended at Gigg Lane. A similar style (one sheet, two folds) was used by Gillingham in the 1967/8 season. A punchy production with no advertising and a good amount of information with league tables and fixtures for first team and reserves, “Supporters Notes”, pen pictures, team line ups (Oldham in “alternative colours”), and a welcoming editorial. Judging by a serial number, there was also a “lucky programme” competition for the 4186 spectators. The teams are interesting in that each had a future Manchester City manager in its line-up; Mel Machin appeared for the Gills, and Jimmy Frizzell for Latics. It was a 1-0 home win for the Kent side in a season where neither club pulled up any roots, Gillingham ending 11th and Oldham 16th. By 1981, Oldham had been in the Second Division for several years whilst Bolton Wanderers were back in it after relegation from the topflight. The Sunday Observance Act was still in place, meaning that Sunday matches that took place allowed admission by other means than payment at the turnstile. Bolton used coloured “Team Sheets”, different tints for different parts of the ground or concessions. For the derby match with Oldham at Burnden Park on 22nd February 1981, I’ve shown a pink item, price £3.20 that was for a seat. I’m aware of a gold sheet for standing, at £1.60 for a standing area, and a green one, 85p, also for the terraces, presumably for youngsters. Other than the prominent price and Bolton name at the top, there was just room on the A5 paper for teams and match officials. The reverse was a full-page ad for Season Tickets for the following year, certainly getting in early. The top “early bird “price as £48, rising to £59 after 31 May, and you could stand for £19. I’m not sure how successful the early marketing was, given that Wanderers didn’t have a good season, finishing fifth from the bottom and not giving much encouragement to sales. The team did, however, notch up a win in this game, 2-0, so maybe some of the 9641 present considered a purchase. Finally, a programme from the 1983 European Youth Championships. Two Iron Curtain nations, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria, met at Boundary Park on Sunday 15th May. Sixteen teams qualified for the nine-day tournament, four groups playing at venues across England. As well as a Tournament brochure, “available inside the ground”, an A4 single sheet, black on a pale blue background, was produced for this game at Oldham. The tournament logo, match details, officials, and squads took up nearly all the page (although a small plug for Latics Season Tickets is present). Many of the u-18s representing their nations I have never heard of, but a little bit of research showed that at least nine went on to play full internationals. For Bulgaria, Nikolay Illiev got 53 caps and was Bulgarian Footballer of the Year in 1987, whilst Nikolay Todorov played 13 times and his son of the same name, has been on the books of several British clubs, most recently Dunfermline Athletic last season. Michal Bilek received 35 caps for Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, whilst Tomas Skuhravy may be remembered for his five headed goals in the 1990 World Cup, part of a career that included 49 full international appearances. As for the others who featured in this 0-0 draw, at least they can look back and say that turned out at Boundary Park.

“The Iron has today rejected an offer from Vanarama National League side Oldham Athletic for defender Reagan Ogle. As previously stated, Reagan remains firmly in Jimmy Dean's plans for the 2023-24 season.” From Scunthorpe OS.

It’s a third kit. So what if it wouldn’t make Milan Fashion Week. No such thing as third strips a few years ago. The OS makes it clear that it is from a standard Puma range but that the first and second strips will be bespoke. What do young folk say? Chill.

Hope & Glory have supplied them with a kit. https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2023/may/04052023-hope--glory/

Don’t recall him making a tackle when he was with us

Fortune’s Always Hiding Paul Brand Pitch Publishing 2023 Hardback 350pp £18.99 Timing is everything. So, writing a book about West Ham with a central theme of absence from winning anything was probably tempting fate. Cue the victory in Prague and European success. Not that the author will feel miffed about having a plank pulled out from underneath much of his narrative. A long-term Hammers’ supporter, even if uprooted to Chester, he may well have preferred the win over Fiorentina to his book coming out. It's a look back over six seasons, from 2015/6 to 2022, although not, apparently, written retrospectively. Many (most?) of the pieces were apparently written for a blog and stand on their merits as being the author’s thoughts on and responses to the events at that time. So, some seem, with hindsight, misplaced or inaccurate, but they do convey the perceptions that were then contemporary. There’s plenty to get his teeth into; individual matches, players, managers, the Board, fellow supporters, and, of course, the move from the Boleyn Ground to what had been the Olympic Stadium. That’s before wider football topics like VAR, foreign ownership, or ticket prices. It’s written in what is probably as even-handed a manner as any book by a club’s supporter. Whilst, at first, I thought it was going to be a bemoaning of lack of trophies, “poor old West Ham”, it actually recognises some of the stability and well-being of the set-up and contrasts it with what happened at other clubs with their financial mismanagement and chaotic performances. There’s a recurring strand of what the move of ground has meant. Did it rip the heart out of the community and history of West Ham? Did it impact upon performances? Is it now accepted? The timeline of the book allows for changing perspectives to be portrayed on this and other issues. So, the same is true of the managers – Bilic, Moyes, Pellegrini, and Allardyce – and a raft of players, some transient, some rocks. And were James Tarkowski, Nathan Ake , and Andrea Belotti really possible realistic targets that would be beneficial in the January 2022 Transfer Window? All water under the bridge now but topics that would have been batted about at the time. Look at any club’s social media over the last few years and what and who seemed crucial and critical then often pale into a sideshow when seen through a rear mirror – “Did we really think that?”. It's a brave book, intelligently written and even if the West Ham trophy cabinet key has been found and used after many years, still one that is a useful and entertaining window on recent history.

As forecast on May 2nd LaticsPete's topic in The opinions4u Terraces - Latics Forum A Southend player may feature according to a senior executive.

Joel Coleman a trotter? https://therealefl.co.uk/2023/06/19/released-ipswich-town-goalkeeper-set-for-league-one-move/

Iyo. You “ have studied all possibilities “. Wow. Humility sometimes doesn’t go amiss.

Wouldn’t a more constructive question be “what plans are there for a B team next season and , if there is one, will it be playing competitive football”? No need to pin an answer down to some particular competition.

Any names?

Curtis Main to Wrexham?! https://www.sportbible.com/football/wrexham-transfer-news-championship-ryan-reynolds-933617-20230606?source=facebookstatic&fbclid=IwAR3PqStbL1eo20lI9zmUjZSWqDcwqmRhHsrBIRYwU8oSS10rzZIsHWM14nk_aem_th_ARLmMdaZATTfahfVcKMzmSr0sndtHHGuZlFsKdovMDiF7RvTQyfMjAt5GBi0_-zgemg

Jamie Hopcutt and Ostersunds in Book Reviews. Potter, Hopcutt, and a desk in East London George Mallett Pitch Publishing 2023 Hardback 224pp £16.99

Potter, Hopcutt, and a desk in East London George Mallett Pitch Publishing 2023 Hardback 224pp £16.99 It’s been five years since Graham Potter left Swedish club Ostersunds FK. Since then he helped stabilise Swansea City, rebuilt Brighton into a top-ten Premier League team, and became Chelsea manager. The author, writing in February this year, recognised that expecting that to continue Had “inherent risks”, and, just two months later, he was sacked from the Stamford Bridge job. This story, however, is really about that period up to 2018, when the solid but not outstanding York City defender moved into coaching and took a club from the third tier of Swedish football into the topflight and European competition. It's told from the perspective of a York fan (first game as a youngster in 2001) who held on to his affiliation after university and whilst living and working in London, getting to matches when the Minstermen, by now in the Conference, travelled south. It used to be that exiles could keep in touch through their local paper; many have now become defunct or are published from offices well away from their readership. So, the “York Press” was an invaluable source of titbits about City and related topics. Ex-player news was a useful seam of copy and so it was that Potter’s Swedish saga began to seep into the author’s life. Osterunds had another former Yorkie: Jamie Hopcutt had been let go from hometown Bootham Crescent in 2010, gone semi-pro but did well in a trial match (at Warwick University) for Ostersunds and so ended up in the “Winter City”. The summer playing season in Sweden provided good copy for the Press and the interest of the exiled York fan was well and truly piqued. Somewhat bored by his job and not really into conversations about London football, he and his fellow York exile James, grew more and more absorbed by the advance of Ostersunds. Against many odds the team won the Swedish Cup (“Svenska Cupen) in 2017 and the UEFA Cup beckoned. Their Group included Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin, and Zoryha Luhansk, intriguing “away” trips for York fans who were unlikely to get there with their own club. It’s here that the narrative expands into much more than a series of match reports and develops into perceptive pieces on the culture and history of such clubs, intertwined with a travelogue getting to and from theses destinations and friendships forged across the continent. The excitement of success for the rank outsiders is enjoyed, culminating in reaching the Round of 32 and the subsequent tie against Arsenal. For these London-based Ostersunds’ supporters this was almost a dream come true. The sheer pleasure of the two matches cannot be hidden, even if the First Leg was a 3-0 win for the Gunners on the artificial pitch halfway up Sweden. Part of what was the biggest away following that the Swedes had had outside their own country, the author and friends joined with 5000 other watch the team made up of other clubs ‘discards win the return 2-1, winning at the Emirates even if the European journey was over. At the end of the book there’s a chapter on what happened next to the squad. Hopcutt moved to another Swedish club, then to Israel before, arriving back in England for an injury-hit season with Oldham Athletic. Currently he’s with IFK Mariehamm in Finland whilst some of his former teammates are dotted around the globe too. The book itself sums up what it’s about – it’s “an ode to the underdog.an invigorating reminder of the power of football fandom to provide the perfect escape”.

The progs I covered were Crewe, Northwich and the two replays against Utd.

Nearly but not quite ….

I looked at four programmes of matches that Latics played at Maine Road ,not against City, for a recent article. One was the Dec 19th December 1949 FA Cup 2nd 2nd Replay v Crewe. First match had been 1-1 at Gresty Road, the replay goalless. Anyway, in what was Latics’ fourth match in nine days, the teams met again , at Maine Road on a Monday afternoon. Relevance to this thread? I’ll transfer a bit of what I wrote about the programme. At just 2d for 8pp there is a decent amount of reading inside, not least a full-page review of the first replay at Boundary Park. Apparently, the pitch was heavy and there was a “downpour of rain”. In Oldham? Surely not. Anyway the game and extra time led to soaked kit, heavy cotton in that era, and Latics’ players went through 24 jerseys and 26 pairs of shorts in the match, changing on the pitch “scorning any cover at all”. Eye-openers for the nearly 12000 at BP that day…. Anyway, Latics won the game at Maine Road 3-0 to earn a glamorous 3rd Round home match v Newcastle. The four matches at Maine Road? The other three are ones that many of us ( at least those over 60) will have been at .

You and your irony ….

Thanks BigDog. Think that’s fixed it

Help please I’ve started receiving email notifications that there are new posts in OWTB. Why and how can I stop them ? Thanks

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-12128721/Brian-Killer-Kilcline-invites-Mail-Sport-hobbit-hole-Cornwall-lay-bare-unique-life.html?ito=social-facebook-sport&fbclid=IwAR1ygT5Dg5u-lvQ9Qac0xcXkWcsMi8BvNDIYHghO8Rn7rKg1CtSk90HX2Co_aem_th_AdeaY_fw9UEpRoFh63esckpOP98tZ8ConFUra45eBX2iiRzcvMDSxOPKH_mHwxJefyE Kilcline. Such a disappointment after he signed.

“Still” ?

Fair enough, I’ll do it and say “But we’ve already done that” Edit: Hemel has corrected his post

The season, for us, ended less than three weeks ago. Players, agents, officials, are allowed to go on holiday. Under this regime, communications are much more organised and professional than previously. When there’s something to be said, it will be.

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/sport/23532899.investigation-attack-oldham-athletic-striker-ongoing/?fbclid=IwAR3yYiQhtnUcbLqpjFYVQpGUHQ2zMsVgq6B7zHiCnYhA9k6doMUEl2DfBSA