For you non - Oldham residents

[garcon]

There are a few nice bits...

[Guest oa_exile]

There are a few nice bits...

 

Aye , give me a bit of time to think of some before i respond

[EASTLEY]

I'm from Denton originally, so it was a straight choice between 'tics and city. My Dad who is from Oxford originally started taking me to BP because it was easy to park. That was 33 years ago and we are both still season ticket holders though don't get to many midweek games tbh.

 

In terms of small crowds, i honestly believe that the town doesn't support its club as much as it could in a general sense.

 

The split community doesn't help nor does the current economic situation nor the proximity of premier league teams and football availability on sky. The cost of football is now far higher than it was in the late 80s early 90s when we last had regular decent crowds and Oldham is not a city club with a sleeping fanbase.

 

However with some good offers and a team winning it has been prooved before that you can get people into BP but the downside is that they then don't stay once the prices go back up.

 

However if we are still at the top and playing good football by oct/nov then I think the crowds will start to rise as they did in the "pinch me season." We have been here before

[OldhamSheridan]

Aye , give me a bit of time to think of some before i respond

 

He never said he was moving up in the World.

[Stitch_KTF]

I am born and bread in Norn Ieland and still live there. I started supporting oldham over 20 years ago to my familes surprise as they are all big Liverpool followers, I remember watching a game on the tv against West Ham on the old plastic pitch and I have supported Oldham ever since.

 

Its quite amusing as I have purchased every home and away top over the last 20 years and wear them on a regular basis around Norn Ireland, and the amount of people and give you a good look trying to identify the top you have on is quite funny.

 

I always get asked the question by Utd, City, Liverpool and Chelsea fans why Oldham, I always turn it back on them why do you support Utd or Liverpool.

 

I know 6 other Oldham fans who live in Norn Ireland one an ex Oldhammer and the rest from over here.

 

Lost count to the games I have been at over the years, thankfully I have seen nore wins than losses.

 

Isn't that the way with Latics??

 

Anyway, congratulations on discovering the most magical club in the universe......you were clearly quite lucky to do so!

[Stitch_KTF]

It used to be £7 to stand in the Chaddy in the late 80's early 90's (and about £3 or so for kids), now the casual fan is looking at paying £20.

 

Really? Was £7 in 1990 not pretty much the equivalent of £20 today, 18 years later??

[singe]

Really? Was £7 in 1990 not pretty much the equivalent of £20 today, 18 years later??

Surpisingly no.

Bascially accoring to a couple of websites, if you times the figure by 1.6(ie 60%), you get the figure

IT would be just over £11 now

Or £12.50 then

Edited August 28, 2008 by singe

[athleticus]

When it boils down to it the support is missing for all the reasons stated in the poll but the local glory hunters who follow the big boys are the major dissappointment to me.

[Stitch_KTF]

Surpisingly no.

Bascially accoring to a couple of websites, if you times the figure by 1.6(ie 60%), you get the figure

IT would be just over £11 now

Or £12.50 then

 

Ok thanks for that....I didn't know.

 

So the price is getting towards double.....not the fault of TTA though. After all they are in line with the market.

 

It's all about finding the most profitable ratio between ticket price and tickets sold. I bet they are there or there abouts at the moment though. Should it be cheaper I wonder how many localish 'football fans' could be attracted rather than just 'tics?

[oafc1955]

My dad took me to my first game on Boxing day 1962 and you don't need reminding of that result. I remember it like it was yesterday and my dad took me to a few home games in those days.

 

When I started senior school everybody seemed to be Man U or City and I have to admit to be in with the crowd I went to Old Trafford a few times in the mid sixties but there was never anything for me to get excited about and while everybody was jumping around I was ...well ..pretty bored by the whole experience.

 

I suppose I started to go to Boundary Park on regular basis in the mid to late seventies during the Ken Bates era when we played in Tangerine.

 

I think young lads in those days were influenced by who their dad supports and I certainly was, however, these days Man U and City get so much exposure that kids really don't have a choice.

 

I reckon we have to tap into local primary schools, get kids interested in the club from a very early age, maybe organise day trips both home and away by the club including free admission to a live game cos if we don't I can't see a long term future for our club.

 

I would let all juniors under 12 in for free as they are the future of the club.

 

However, to really progress we're going to have to have some success on the pitch and at the very least get into the championship.

 

Dead simple really...init!!!

[singe]

It is intersting, trends arlready developing.

Quite a few drift away

Dads taking sons

Going with mates.

Got to be some target marketing out of this lot.

 

In my case it was me badgering, and a neighbour took me to my first game, and then my Dad

[Ponte Carlo Blue]

I'm from Cheetham Hill originally, meithered my dad to take me to a game (meaning Man U) got taken to Gigg Lane.... it was the late 70's early 80's so now I can see why. Wasn't happy at the time mind.

 

We moved to the golden acres of Chadderton in 82, and off to Boundary Park it was. My Dad is a Red but now you have to force him to admit it.

 

First game I think was against Sheff Utd, and we won, stood on the Chaddy end near the flood lights.

 

Thats it I was smitten. Close enough and amazingly judged safe enough to go an my own from the age of about 8 or 9 (would that happen now?). I could go to Boundary Park but some days I wasn't even allowed to ride my bike off the street!

 

Still if someone had said that parenting was made up as you go along I would never had believed them!

 

Anyhow the reason I dont go anymore is I moved away from Oldham, but I have had kids, I have been paying £1000 a month for nursery care (i have three) so something had to go. That was it.

 

i am wanting to bring the eldest,but she can't even sit through a half on the telly with out needing at a wee at least once (doesn't happen in Harry Potter though).

 

I cannot wait to take the kids but from where i am standing its going to be one expensive do!

 

But all three know that they will only ever support Oldham.

 

Ponte

Edited August 28, 2008 by Ponte Carlo Blue

[ghostofcecere]

So the price is getting towards double.....not the fault of TTA though. After all they are in line with the market.

Totally agree it's not the fault of TTA at all, it's players and agents who have over the years pushed up players salaries way out of line with inflation. We heard that Lee Hughes is on £80K a year, and my guess is he's by no means the top earner at the club. I work for a large multi national company and the top guy at the plant where I work who is responsible for over 200 employees will I guess only be on that type of salary. This is League 1 football!!!! As a result the admission prices have gone up way out of line with inflation too to cover these costs.

[ghostofcecere]

I reckon we have to tap into local primary schools, get kids interested in the club from a very early age, maybe organise day trips both home and away by the club including free admission to a live game cos if we don't I can't see a long term future for our club.

 

I would let all juniors under 12 in for free as they are the future of the club.

It the only way to move forward, this thread has shown that a lot of us came because our Dad's took us as kids.

 

I would let under 12's in for free, under 16's in for £3 - 5 or I would let all those in that catagory in for free if there parent/guardian has a seson ticket. The only way to secure our furture is to get the next generation of fans hooked.

[fleetwood Blue]

I lived in Chadderton from birth until being 8 years old when my mum and dad split up i was taken to Fleetwood by my mum, I watched my first game at B.P when i was 4 and was taken every home game by my grandad until he died around 10 years ago. I attend as many games as i possibly can but not as many as i would like to, my brother who is also hooked on the Latics has never even lived in the town it is only down to my early years bullying that he loves Oldham now.

Dwindling crowds has to have a lot to do with cost, its not just the ticket its the petrol and the rising prices of household bills, oh well when i win the euromillions lottery jackpot on friday i will pay for everybodys season ticket and petrol costs for all those living outside Oldham.

[Scapegoat]

I have lived in various locations in Yorkshire for the last 15 years and I often get asked the question of why I support Oldham. I answer 'because I am a glory hunter'

 

I was born and bred in Shaw so another local that moved away. But have kept my season ticket ever since with very little thought of stopping going (though when I lived in Beverley and Colin was serving up utter dross I did question my sanity).

 

My thoughts on the crowds at Latics is that we've never had great crowds in my supporitng lifetime except during the Royle success period, and we have now been in the 3rd tier for too long so its bound to be poor.

 

Also football on TV is now a much bigger draw than it was 20 years ago - then if you wanted to watch football you went to a ground. These days you can watch Prem football from the couch 2 or 3 times a week.

 

Not living in the area I don't know what Latics do to attract fans locally. My dad was a lapsed Latics fan (marriage / kids etc) and then Joe Royle and a few players came to my junior school and gave an assembly talk, did some ball juggling on stage and gave out free parent and child tickets for the next home game - this included ground tour, signed programme, pie and a drink. Of the 10 kids that went, I still see 50% of them regularly at BP.

 

Huddersfield a year or so ago (not sure if they still do this now I have moved to Wakefield) gave a free home shirt and parent/child ticket for a home game to kids on their 12th birthday I think. It seemed a good way to get the kids hooked.

 

Rugby League over here is very very well marketed - town centres on match days have attractive girls in short-skirts etc (OK sexist, but it works) promoting the games. They use bill boards around the town to promote the clubs etc.

 

A bill board near the end of the A627(m) promoting the club - photo of Talyor celebrating goal against Leeds etc. "Top of the Table Latics v XYZ at BP this week" etc. might help a bit.

 

At the end of the day though, unless we get some success on the pitch the above things will only have limited impact. But if we can start to get both running - it might do the trick.

[oafcprozac]

Whilst this thread doesn't directly concern me, I'm due to start PGCE course next week, at its conclusion I will be looking for a teaching position anywhere and everywhere, so it is likely I will become an exile myself. actually it's more than likely as i'm finished with this dump of a town. Eventually the wife wants to emigrate and if i'm honest i'm all for that too. However, whilst i'm still over here will I still get to BP every other week? I'll certainly try, will I get a season ticket? If its viable yes.

 

I wasn't interested in football until I got to 9, first live game I watched wass Liverpool v Everton, the '86 Cup Final, where I supported Everton, then Liverpool won so I changed my allegiances, I watched the World Cup highlights from Mexico that summer (the live games were on very late) and became hooked. My dad had been unemployed for a couple of years but he had always been a Latics Fanatic since his first game - the 11-0 win vs Southport on Boxing Day '62. The fact he was short on funds coupled with years of underachievement in the same league (Dejavu?) saw him attend very few games in the early-mid 1980s. His interest was rekindled about October time 1986, he went to the home win vs Millwall and the top of the table clash vs Portsmouth, both Friday Night matches and his interest (nay obsession) was back. I wanted to experience a 'live' game so I mithered and mithered and eventually he gave in and took m e to the Palace game at BP in November '86. I managed 6 games that season, but being the product of a broken home and custody wrangles I only went infrequently over the next few seasons, although I usually managed between 8-10 games per season and I managed the 3-3 at Maine Road and Wembley in 1990.

 

The turning point was getting a paper-round when I was 13, not only did I have my financial independence (of sorts) but I could afford to go games and since the beginning of 1990-91 I have very rarely missed a home game. I missed a fair few in 96-97 through working in retail but apart from that missed about 3 home games in 11 years. There used to be a big gang of us that went during the glory years, but now there's just me out of that group. Now I come to games with my dad, my son (when he's not at his mum's), my nephew and Scouselatic. I remember my dad grumbling about the attendances in the 80s and he would often say, "crap crowd again son, this town doesn't deserve a football team", his comments back then are still appropriate today imo.

Edited August 28, 2008 by oafcprozac

[Fergie]

I lived in Chadderton from birth until being 8 years old when my mum and dad split up i was taken to Fleetwood by my mum, I watched my first game at B.P when i was 4 and was taken every home game by my grandad until he died around 10 years ago. I attend as many games as i possibly can but not as many as i would like to, my brother who is also hooked on the Latics has never even lived in the town it is only down to my early years bullying that he loves Oldham now.

Dwindling crowds has to have a lot to do with cost, its not just the ticket its the petrol and the rising prices of household bills, oh well when i win the euromillions lottery jackpot on friday i will pay for everybodys season ticket and petrol costs for all those living outside Oldham.

 

Does that include an Easyjet airfare as well from Belfast

[fleetwood Blue]

Does that include an Easyjet airfare as well from Belfast

 

yes mate, and a pint of guiness in Oldham

[boboafc]

what there are other professional clubs nearby , only i team for me and thats oldham athletic since 1974 ,when i met les chapman and the late alan groves at my cosins house in garden suburbs hollins (i moved there for a while) they told me about latics and got me a free ticket to the york city game away , we drew 1-1 at that game i met colin shaw who became a life long friend of mine until this sad death in 2006 . i have never looked back since watch latics and would never support another team latics are in my blood some of my highlights are when i took 10 coaches to an away game 1980 on boxing day at derby co , pity we lost thou

Edited August 28, 2008 by boboafc

[oorwillie59]

My early football was watching Celtic standing ing the famous jungle watching Jimmy (Jinky) Johnston weave his majic. Moved to London to work 86 then moved to Oldham 89, frst Latics game was at BP agenst West Ham 4-3 1st half in Lookers stand got down into Chaddy for 2nd half and was hooked, and took my son from age of 5.

Move back to Scotland 2001 after my mum died to be near old fella. But don't get down to very many games now mainly due to cost, think falling crowds are'nt down to one specific thing but a combination of things, cost, lack of succes, poor marketing of the club etc.

[boboafc]

Jimmy Johnston was a childhood hero of mine, alas you don't see many player like him anymore cooksey was one true player as well .. rest in peace

[monkeykieran]

Ive never lived in Oldham, and only moved to manchester recently, I've supported Oldham all my life though as my Dad was brought up here.

 

I'd say the crowds have been so poor mainly because we've neither been here or there in recent seasons, never quite exciting enough, and never sustaining any great runs. We always have a poor start to the season (until now) and never have enough depth in the squad towards the end.

 

Personally although I live in Manchester, it's a nightmare to get to and from boundary park, if they had a dedicated fans coach to manchester city centre id probably come up much more often on the weekend and during the week.

 

The population of oldham is massive compared to most english towns so there's no reason why there shouldnt be bigger crowds.

 

I say get a good run going, get a new stadium and a few absolute quality players and we're on the way to building it up again.

 

 

...oh yeah that's already happening

[Crusoe]

I've also never lived in Oldham. My dad's side of the family are all Oldhamers, and both he and my grandad are Latics fans. I was born in Essex, raised in the south, and have lived in Scotland, Australia and for the last few years London. When I was at school and the other lads were starting to get into football it was all Liverpool, Manchester United, the occasional Tottenham or West Ham fan. The nearest clubs geographically to me then were Reading or Southampton; I had no tie to or love for any of them. It was family ties that picked my team for me, and that's how it stuck.

[monkeykieran]

The nearest grounds to me growing up were the Racecourse, Gay Meadow, and Mollineux

 

Didn't stop all my mates supporting Liverpool or Man U for some reason. Yuck