Oldham 3 Arsenal 1

[GlossopLatic]

Its 20 years ago to the day that Andy Ritchie took on the might of Arsenals legendary back four and beat them.

 

Now I'm not old enough to remember this game well I would be but my Latics supporting birth came 3 months later in and F.A cup win over Brighton Hove Albion. I do have the DVD and having watched it recently and you have to remember what a great player stitch was going up against the English champions at full strength he is the best player on the pitch.

 

So for those of us not fortunate or old enough at the time to have seen this can those that do regail us with their stories of this game which must be one of our greatest individual results of all time.

[OAFCMIKE]

Its 20 years ago to the day that Andy Ritchie took on the might of Arsenals legendary back four and beat them.

 

Now I'm not old enough to remember this game well I would be but my Latics supporting birth came 3 months later in and F.A cup win over Brighton Hove Albion. I do have the DVD and having watched it recently and you have to remember what a great player stitch was going up against the English champions at full strength he is the best player on the pitch.

 

So for those of us not fortunate or old enough at the time to have seen this can those that do regail us with their stories of this game which must be one of our greatest individual results of all time.

 

My first year with a season ticket. Was in the Lookers (RIP) right behind Stitch when he hit that volley. Can see it now. Even as an 11-year-old I can remember it hitting the back of the net and thinking: "S4it, we're a good team."

[futchers briefs]

Back of the chaddy end in the middle of the golden glow of the lights on the chaddyend roof, in the midst of the cigarette smoke and smell of warm bovril from peoples flasks' - great night!

[ghostofcecere]

I used to stand with the 'singers' right at the back of the Chaddy in those days...... as you would expect for a game like this there were a few non-regulars in for the game. I was concious of an elderly gentleman with a walking stick who had positioned himself right next to me and my mates, and I was a bit worried about his safety should the unthinkable happen and Latics actually score and the famous Chaddy surge happen.

 

Anyway when the first went in I managed to get myself between the bouncing mass and the old bloke and sheild him from the chaos (ahhhh those were the days). With the second goal I got lost in the crowd and when I came to my senses, I saw the guy with his glasses all cockeyed and looking a bit shaken up but unharmed from the experience.

 

Then my abiding memory of the night...... when the third goal went in I looked around to make sure the old guy was ok, only to see him grabbing hold of one of my mates, jumping up and down waving his walking stick in the air and screaming like a mad man.

 

As I type this is still makes me laugh even to this day

[Hometownclub]

Remember the night really well, on the plastic against the mighty Arsenal, plenty of people thought we'd get a good tanking, how wrong they were.

 

I used to stand in the Chaddy end back then.

 

I remember what a great atmosphere it was and as the goals went in, it just took the roof off the place.

 

I particularly remember walking back to the car and then the drive home, I was just absolutely buzzing and not for the only time that season either.

 

Stitch was just different class that night and had a great game.

 

Unfortunatly those great days are very unlikely to ever return.

[LaticsPete]

Absolutely brilliant night. I can even rember one of the records played at HT. "Runaround Sue" by Dion.

[oafcprozac]

Absolutely brilliant night. I can even rember one of the records played at HT. "Runaround Sue" by Dion.

 

Remember staying up late to watch midweek Sports Special, didn't get to many games as I only saw my dad every fortnight and struggled with midweek games until the following season when I started going regulalrly on my own, but it was beyond our wildest dreams to destroy the Champions like we did. We'd been close to upsetting Everton twice in 87-88 and 88-89, where we'd played them off the park at Goodison in November '87 only to lose to a late goal from Neil Adams, then the year after we'd battered them at BP in a Littlewoods Cup replay only to be undone twice in the last 6 minutes by Tony Cottee. That night in '89 we talked the talk but walked the walk! I was on cloud nine for weeks and almost wore the video out watching the highlights again and again!

 

oh and 22nd November hold fond memories for me as 22nd November 1986 - Oldham Athletic 1 Crystal Palace 0, was my first ever game! 23 years to the day - suddenly feel rather old!

[LaticsPete]

oh and 22nd November hold fond memories for me as 22nd November 1986 - Oldham Athletic 1 Crystal Palace 0, was my first ever game! 23 years to the day - suddenly feel rather old!

 

 

You're nowt but a nipper! Plenty more scars for you to get.

 

And, I believe, plenty more good times too.

[Diego_Sideburns]

I was behind the goal in the Chaddy End that night. When Nial Quinn scored the late consolation goal for Arsenal, Andy Rhodes went mad and kicked the post in disgust at not keeping a clean sheet against the reigning League Champions and current League Leaders. Andy and Big Joe both said the other night that the victory over Arsenal was the moment of realisation that Latics could do great things. Happy Days!

[johnny punkster]

i was living in jersey, CI then and i flew home for the game.

cost a small fortune to fly home (non of this budget airline luxury then!) before the game i went to the bookies and put £5 on latics winning 3-0 it was something like 40/1.

i went absolutely f*ckin ape:censored: when they scored their goal...never forgiven rhodes!

..and i told him that a few years later when i dunfirmline when he was playing there..he told me to keep my hand in my pocket for the rest of the night-it was on him...bugger me, i was absolutely bladdered!

flew back to jersey next morning to start work at dinnertime,wandering around manchester airport picking up peoples discarded morning newspapers and ripping out the reports.still got em somewhere.

 

happy days..crazy unreal days, but jeez, its been a awful trip back down to where we are today at times.

[Diego_Sideburns]

... discarded morning newspapers and ripping out the reports.still got em somewhere.

 

I have saved the newspaper reports and Chron special editions from the Cup runs and the promotion to the top flight. I also have a piece of blue and white striped 'Police cordon' tape from the stand at Portman Road on the day we got promoted.

[RichmondLatic]

Best night supporting Latics. When Quinn scored I still thought we would somehow mess it up!

Edited November 22, 2009 by RichmondLatic

[Huangjoe]

It still brings a lump to my throat, fantastic night. I wrote an article about the pinch me season for a student rag a while ago, here's how I described the night against Arsenal. The "George" in the story is George Kershaw the old green grocer in Uppermill who used to take me to matches, fantastic character and much missed.

 

We'd Have Beaten Brazil...

Oldham drew League Champions Arsenal in the next round of the Littlewoods cup. For me, this match was when the “pinch me” season really began. Beating Leeds was nice, and the Frankie Bunn goal fest against Scarborough was a night to remember, but Arsenal were the real deal. This was the test of how good Oldham were. They were the first top flight side to face Oldham that season, and they were the biggest and best. A side filled with household names and international players. If this Oldham side were going to justify Tommy Docherty’s hype on Piccadilly, if they could compete with the best, then this was when they needed to show it. It would be a huge shock if Oldham knocked out Arsenal. At the time English clubs were still banned from European competitions and the League Cup was taken seriously by the big clubs, there was none of the playing the youth team that goes on now.

In the end the fact that Oldham won wasn’t the most shocking thing that night. Even more shocking was the manner in which Oldham won. Oldham totally dominated the game from start to finish. Every Oldham player won his individual battle. Milligan and Henry were too good for a midfield that was supposedly the best in the land. Rick Holden and Andy Ritchie were phenomenal. Oldham were well on top throughout the first half but the famous Arsenal back line held firm. It got to the stroke of half time still at 0-0 when Holden delivered a long cross from the left. Ritchie had lost his man at the back post. I was sat directly behind him. The game seemed to go into slow motion as Ritchie chested it down, waited for the ball to drop, then struck it past John Lukic into the far corner of the Arsenal goal. Boundary Park went ballistic. The ground rose up to cheer the players off at half time. Nobody believed it could continue. Oldham were annihilating the League Champions. This team really was that good. But it did continue. Arsenal were like rabbits in the headlights. Oldham’s passing was just too fast for them. Nick Henry struck a beautiful long range goal which flew past Lukic. Not long after a long flowing move down the right flank ended with Ritchie heading in a third goal. Oldham were making the League Champions look like schoolboys. Arsenal did score a late consolation goal through Niall Quinn, but nothing could hide the fact that they had been totally outclassed in every department. This Oldham side could compete with the big boys, it was time to stop dreaming and start believing. I’ve never known an atmosphere like it as we left the ground. Everyone was thinking the same thing. How far can this team go?

As I left the ground with George we walked round the Rochdale Road end of the ground. This was still the days when football fans were largely treated as cattle by the police and as we turned the corner we realised that we had inadvertently walked into a holding area for the Arsenal fans emerging from the away end. At first I was a bit scared, if they did decide to cause trouble we would have no chance. I needn’t have been. It’s popular wisdom now that all football fans were thugs in the 1980s. True, some were, but most were just ordinary blokes who followed the game. The Arsenal fans were all chatting away with George, he could chat with anyone, and telling us how well they thought Oldham had played. A few did mention the plastic pitch and thought that gave us an unfair advantage, but they probably had a point. Even so they accepted they’d been well beaten and that Oldham deserved to go through. I remember George saying at one point to an Arsenal fan who was criticising his own team’s performance, “Aye, don’t worry, we’d have beaten Brazil tonight”. The thing is, I genuinely believed it. George genuinely believed it. Anyone who was in the ground that night had to believe it. Joe Royle had built a team that was poised to take the club to heights it hadn’t been in living memory. Nobody was to be feared. We were that good. Bring them on, the bigger the better.

 

[laticsmad]

Its 20 years ago to the day that Andy Ritchie took on the might of Arsenals legendary back four and beat them.

 

Now I'm not old enough to remember this game well I would be but my Latics supporting birth came 3 months later in and F.A cup win over Brighton Hove Albion. I do have the DVD and having watched it recently and you have to remember what a great player stitch was going up against the English champions at full strength he is the best player on the pitch.

 

So for those of us not fortunate or old enough at the time to have seen this can those that do regail us with their stories of this game which must be one of our greatest individual results of all time.

 

20 years wow i'm getting old. As a 12 year old this was a night that has stuck firmly in the memory. For me, this was a fab night as we tore apart the english champions! I firmly believe for 3 months in this season, although in the 2nd tier of football, we were the best team in the country on form alone! Nobody could touch us!

 

Something to add. I think it was Paul merson who went on a mazey run before hiting the post for arsenal!? Am I correct?

 

[laticsmad]

i was living in jersey, CI then and i flew home for the game.

cost a small fortune to fly home (non of this budget airline luxury then!) before the game i went to the bookies and put £5 on latics winning 3-0 it was something like 40/1.

i went absolutely f*ckin ape:censored: when they scored their goal...never forgiven rhodes!

..and i told him that a few years later when i dunfirmline when he was playing there..he told me to keep my hand in my pocket for the rest of the night-it was on him...bugger me, i was absolutely bladdered!

flew back to jersey next morning to start work at dinnertime,wandering around manchester airport picking up peoples discarded morning newspapers and ripping out the reports.still got em somewhere.

 

happy days..crazy unreal days, but jeez, its been a awful trip back down to where we are today at times.

 

 

Love the story mate and the night in question. Makes it all the more painful to see our club in such a sorry state. Dont get me wrong I don't expect us to get to that level again but just some real foundation on the playing front would suffice!!!

[Diego_Sideburns]

It still brings a lump to my throat, fantastic night. I wrote an article about the pinch me season for a student rag a while ago, here's how I described the night against Arsenal. The "George" in the story is George Kershaw the old green grocer in Uppermill who used to take me to matches, fantastic character and much missed.

 

We'd Have Beaten Brazil...

Oldham drew League Champions Arsenal in the next round of the Littlewoods cup. For me, this match was when the “pinch me” season really began. Beating Leeds was nice, and the Frankie Bunn goal fest against Scarborough was a night to remember, but Arsenal were the real deal. This was the test of how good Oldham were. They were the first top flight side to face Oldham that season, and they were the biggest and best. A side filled with household names and international players. If this Oldham side were going to justify Tommy Docherty’s hype on Piccadilly, if they could compete with the best, then this was when they needed to show it. It would be a huge shock if Oldham knocked out Arsenal. At the time English clubs were still banned from European competitions and the League Cup was taken seriously by the big clubs, there was none of the playing the youth team that goes on now.

In the end the fact that Oldham won wasn’t the most shocking thing that night. Even more shocking was the manner in which Oldham won. Oldham totally dominated the game from start to finish. Every Oldham player won his individual battle. Milligan and Henry were too good for a midfield that was supposedly the best in the land. Rick Holden and Andy Ritchie were phenomenal. Oldham were well on top throughout the first half but the famous Arsenal back line held firm. It got to the stroke of half time still at 0-0 when Holden delivered a long cross from the left. Ritchie had lost his man at the back post. I was sat directly behind him. The game seemed to go into slow motion as Ritchie chested it down, waited for the ball to drop, then struck it past John Lukic into the far corner of the Arsenal goal. Boundary Park went ballistic. The ground rose up to cheer the players off at half time. Nobody believed it could continue. Oldham were annihilating the League Champions. This team really was that good. But it did continue. Arsenal were like rabbits in the headlights. Oldham’s passing was just too fast for them. Nick Henry struck a beautiful long range goal which flew past Lukic. Not long after a long flowing move down the right flank ended with Ritchie heading in a third goal. Oldham were making the League Champions look like schoolboys. Arsenal did score a late consolation goal through Niall Quinn, but nothing could hide the fact that they had been totally outclassed in every department. This Oldham side could compete with the big boys, it was time to stop dreaming and start believing. I’ve never known an atmosphere like it as we left the ground. Everyone was thinking the same thing. How far can this team go?

As I left the ground with George we walked round the Rochdale Road end of the ground. This was still the days when football fans were largely treated as cattle by the police and as we turned the corner we realised that we had inadvertently walked into a holding area for the Arsenal fans emerging from the away end. At first I was a bit scared, if they did decide to cause trouble we would have no chance. I needn’t have been. It’s popular wisdom now that all football fans were thugs in the 1980s. True, some were, but most were just ordinary blokes who followed the game. The Arsenal fans were all chatting away with George, he could chat with anyone, and telling us how well they thought Oldham had played. A few did mention the plastic pitch and thought that gave us an unfair advantage, but they probably had a point. Even so they accepted they’d been well beaten and that Oldham deserved to go through. I remember George saying at one point to an Arsenal fan who was criticising his own team’s performance, “Aye, don’t worry, we’d have beaten Brazil tonight”. The thing is, I genuinely believed it. George genuinely believed it. Anyone who was in the ground that night had to believe it. Joe Royle had built a team that was poised to take the club to heights it hadn’t been in living memory. Nobody was to be feared. We were that good. Bring them on, the bigger the better.

 

Brilliant! It gave me a shiver down the back of my neck reading that.

[palmer1]

It still brings a lump to my throat, fantastic night. I wrote an article about the pinch me season for a student rag a while ago, here's how I described the night against Arsenal. The "George" in the story is George Kershaw the old green grocer in Uppermill who used to take me to matches, fantastic character and much missed.

 

We'd Have Beaten Brazil...

Oldham drew League Champions Arsenal in the next round of the Littlewoods cup. For me, this match was when the “pinch me” season really began. Beating Leeds was nice, and the Frankie Bunn goal fest against Scarborough was a night to remember, but Arsenal were the real deal. This was the test of how good Oldham were. They were the first top flight side to face Oldham that season, and they were the biggest and best. A side filled with household names and international players. If this Oldham side were going to justify Tommy Docherty’s hype on Piccadilly, if they could compete with the best, then this was when they needed to show it. It would be a huge shock if Oldham knocked out Arsenal. At the time English clubs were still banned from European competitions and the League Cup was taken seriously by the big clubs, there was none of the playing the youth team that goes on now.

In the end the fact that Oldham won wasn’t the most shocking thing that night. Even more shocking was the manner in which Oldham won. Oldham totally dominated the game from start to finish. Every Oldham player won his individual battle. Milligan and Henry were too good for a midfield that was supposedly the best in the land. Rick Holden and Andy Ritchie were phenomenal. Oldham were well on top throughout the first half but the famous Arsenal back line held firm. It got to the stroke of half time still at 0-0 when Holden delivered a long cross from the left. Ritchie had lost his man at the back post. I was sat directly behind him. The game seemed to go into slow motion as Ritchie chested it down, waited for the ball to drop, then struck it past John Lukic into the far corner of the Arsenal goal. Boundary Park went ballistic. The ground rose up to cheer the players off at half time. Nobody believed it could continue. Oldham were annihilating the League Champions. This team really was that good. But it did continue. Arsenal were like rabbits in the headlights. Oldham’s passing was just too fast for them. Nick Henry struck a beautiful long range goal which flew past Lukic. Not long after a long flowing move down the right flank ended with Ritchie heading in a third goal. Oldham were making the League Champions look like schoolboys. Arsenal did score a late consolation goal through Niall Quinn, but nothing could hide the fact that they had been totally outclassed in every department. This Oldham side could compete with the big boys, it was time to stop dreaming and start believing. I’ve never known an atmosphere like it as we left the ground. Everyone was thinking the same thing. How far can this team go?

As I left the ground with George we walked round the Rochdale Road end of the ground. This was still the days when football fans were largely treated as cattle by the police and as we turned the corner we realised that we had inadvertently walked into a holding area for the Arsenal fans emerging from the away end. At first I was a bit scared, if they did decide to cause trouble we would have no chance. I needn’t have been. It’s popular wisdom now that all football fans were thugs in the 1980s. True, some were, but most were just ordinary blokes who followed the game. The Arsenal fans were all chatting away with George, he could chat with anyone, and telling us how well they thought Oldham had played. A few did mention the plastic pitch and thought that gave us an unfair advantage, but they probably had a point. Even so they accepted they’d been well beaten and that Oldham deserved to go through. I remember George saying at one point to an Arsenal fan who was criticising his own team’s performance, “Aye, don’t worry, we’d have beaten Brazil tonight”. The thing is, I genuinely believed it. George genuinely believed it. Anyone who was in the ground that night had to believe it. Joe Royle had built a team that was poised to take the club to heights it hadn’t been in living memory. Nobody was to be feared. We were that good. Bring them on, the bigger the better.

 

barlow crossed for ritchie for the first didnt he?

[lane5612]

Its 20 years ago to the day that Andy Ritchie took on the might of Arsenals legendary back four and beat them.

 

Now I'm not old enough to remember this game well I would be but my Latics supporting birth came 3 months later in and F.A cup win over Brighton Hove Albion. I do have the DVD and having watched it recently and you have to remember what a great player stitch was going up against the English champions at full strength he is the best player on the pitch.

 

So for those of us not fortunate or old enough at the time to have seen this can those that do regail us with their stories of this game which must be one of our greatest individual results of all time.

 

Took me a while but I found this, brings back good memories

 

[GlossopLatic]

Took me a while but I found this, brings back good memories

 

 

Really do like the comentary on this particularly when the 3rd goes in "AND THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONS ARE BEATEN!". Putting this performance into context just imagine an Oldham player running rings around Terry and Carvalho a midfield overpowering Essien Ballack and Lampard and an Oldham defence having Drogba and Anelka in their back pockets.

[peanuts]

Gawd that brings back memorys knew george well went to school with his lad had many a chat bout tics with him ! Struggled to get a ticket for the game bought one off some kid on the c.B. Radio ! Was stood with the masses in the chaddy and the atmosphere in there was unbelievable was right behind nick henrys screamer got carried 30yards towards the main stand by the surge ! Got back to the hair n hounds in uppermill and people just wouldnt believe us ! That we had beat the arsenal ! Work the next day was even better was training with a load of scousers and cockneys who wouldnt believe me when i had said at the start of the course to watch out for us this year they all believed me then ! Brilliant brilliant brilliant memorys of a fantastic season made the previous 15 seasons all worth while thank you joe and the boys

[steveoafc]

IMO this was the finest performance from an oldham side that i have witnessed in all my years following latics...we were awesome that night!

You couldn't wait for the next match to come along in those days and would have mugged your own granny for the cash to attend....Aaah memories!!

[Huangjoe]

barlow crossed for ritchie for the first didnt he?

Yes, you're right, good spot.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Took me a while but I found this, brings back good memories

 

 

Too right.

 

That game simply epitomised how well we played on that suface. Of course it was an advantage, but still you need good players to play on plastic like that and we had them. Good players with good control and an eye for a good pass. We had them, lots of them.

 

Andy Ritchie though, was made for plastic. Instant control of the ball, always releasing it with his second touch before a defender could get close. And did he know where the net were? Oh without question. Although we never relied on him, for me he was the major reason we had so much success then; he made and scored a lot of goals.

 

I was 13, and had moved to my Dad's in Oldham from my mums in Burnley. I could make night games now, in fact this was my first season with a season ticket (much to my Dad's pleasure, as he got to get hold of tickets quicker the further we got towards Wembley). You could really tell we were hitting a purple patch too. After a pretty poor start to the season, we put away a few teams with ease in the league (Barnsley, WBA, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Barnsley..) and looked a fairly decent outfit away too, with wins at Leeds, Stoke and Oxford. In fact, at home we just started to look unstoppable but you still felt Arsenal would put an end to that. Pushing over a very poor Scarborugh side, even though it was brilliant (and they'd just beaten Chelsea) wasn't going to make people notice. Getting one over the Champions would do.

 

Like someone already said, we didn't just compete, we murdered them. Men against boys stuff. I was sat on the front barrier of the Main Stand Paddock, along with a few old school pals, and the excitement was electrifying. Amazing it was 20 years ago. Bloody hell! Anyway, it was the way we attacked, pouring forward in waves, forever the threat. In fact, I think that's why we won so many games on the plastic; teams already felt beaten when they were stepping on the pitch. It's the complete role reversal these days.

 

I remember the following weekend as clear as day too. Still on a complete high from the Tuesday night, Latics were at Ipswich and came away with a 1-1 draw. I went playing at a schoolmates in Chadderton, playing football behind Chaddy Town Hall, and going back to his and seeing the score come through on Grandstand. I don't remember many weekends with such clarity, but I do this one purely because it was the weekend after we beat the mighty Arsenal.

 

The rest of the season after that was a fairytale. Win after win after win on the plastic. In fact, the only team to beat us at BP; Dave Bassett's ugly, direct, physical, illuminous yellow-clad Sheffield United, the antidote to our click, cavalier football - you could practically hear a strange quietness as the balloon was temporarily burst. Went on to lose the next two matches as well, but it was a mere blip as the 3-3 cracker with Man United at Maine Road followed after that. Amazing, amazing times, and anyone too young who's reading this I just feel for you as you never got to see such glories. Trust me, we were amazing back then.

Edited November 22, 2009 by Frankly Mr Shankly

[andy_b_100]

It was a fabulous night. The glow around ISZ was liek it had eaten its ready break and three shredded wheat. Andy Ritchie eas amazing that night as was Irwin and Milligan... However good they were nothing and I mean nothing has ever come close to the smile on Nick Henry's face after that strike ... the thumbs up to JR ... Nothing got past him that night. For those old enough to remember Nick's playing career, the old cows arese with a banjo was written with him in mind... even from 6 yards. He went from strength to strength from that match. One of the true really golden moments of being a Latics fan. As for Nick well he would have ruled the FA cup too that season... the ball was clearly over the line ref .... we saw it from the opposite corner Just like Chelsea on the first home match in Div 1 ... we would have beaten ANYONE that night.

[Diego_Sideburns]

Just like Chelsea on the first home match in Div 1 ... we would have beaten ANYONE that night.

 

3-0 and "We can play on grass as well!"