For the long term ST holders

[UpTheLatics]

1-5 years, No, but because of University.

 

I do come back on Saturdays and have been to the majority this year but whether or not I will be saving money I don't know.

 

I'd be interested to see another voting thread: The costs of the season tickets/match day tickets. Those who won't be renewing/don't turn up - would they if they the prices were much cheaper?

 

We we talking about it on Saturday. Slashing prices by around 40% would it get the average attendance currenty in once over - so we're talking over 7,000. Any more is a profit.

[Oh Heck C-Beck]

I wonder what effect slashing season ticket prices by say 50% would be and then hiking up the on the day prices may have on season ticket sales?

[Scapegoat]

....financially it doesn't make sense, on an entertainment level - well, I would rather stick pins in my eyes, the ground is a complete sh1thole - soulless, with an atmosphere thinner than the moon and the facilities are akin to those of a workhouse.

 

I think that the owners are taking us for a ride and on the lookout for the first train out of Dodge, the majority of the players are inept beyond words.

 

As the club had gone to the dogs over the last few years, any remaining enthusiasm I had for it has gone. I keep an eye out for the results and come on here to see what is going on, but other than that, I don't even bother listening anymore, whereas a few months ago I would do.....

 

 

 

.......Like many of the players, I am past caring. If (or should that be when?) we get relegated I can finish off the 92 watching Latics, then I suspect that will be me done.

 

I have put the miles in, cried myself to sleep when we were going down the pan and did everything and more that I could financially and time wise to help them in their time of need.

 

I am lucky though, at least I saw the good times, I don't want to be around when the inevitable worst becomes inevitably true. The club is already dead in my eyes and our saviours have killed it. It just needs putting out of its misery to complete the whole sorry saga.

 

Derek.

 

10 years ago I used to live in Beverley and would go and watch Hull City at Boothferry with a mate when Latics were away from home. That was exactly the kind of thoughts Hull fans were thinking then.

 

There are other clubs that have spent years in the footballing wilderness, facing little of no hope for the future (Wolves were in the old 4th division for a while as another work colleague used to tell me the season they first got to the play-offs).

 

However its possible for clubs to turn round, find a spark, and start to emerge as a force again. If you have sat and watched years of pitiful performances, that success is all the more sweeter when it arrives.

 

I was lucky to be watching Oldham when we had a period of success (18+ years ago) but for me at the time I hadn't watched long enough to appreciate it as much as others who had seen us apply for re-election to the league on a number of occassions. The days against City and Everton in recent years are small rewards for the pain we put up with.

 

 

Being a supporter of a specific team isn't easy. You spend the vast majority of your time depressed and unhappy.

 

 

[garcon]

I wonder what effect slashing season ticket prices by say 50% would be and then hiking up the on the day prices may have on season ticket sales?

I would expect very little uplift in season ticket sales and a catastophic reduction in overall gates.

[daznathe]

I hadn't watched long enough to appreciate it as much as others

 

 

this is part of the problem for me, as ronnie moore pointed out.

 

 

[seasidelatic]

I'm 21 and I've been going to Latics since I was 11, and got a season ticket aged 14.

 

I'll still be here next season, regardless of who is in charge or which league we're in.

 

I might just not be as keen to wear my Latics shirt around campus

[losesome]

50 years supporting , 40 as S/T holder.

Will NOT renew under Penny,

 

Absolutely boring style football and more entertaining games can be watched at the local park free.

[losesome]

50 years supporting , 40 as S/T holder.

Will NOT renew under Penny,

 

Absolutely boring style football and more entertaining games can be watched at the local park free.

[Scapegoat]

50 years supporting , 40 as S/T holder.

Will NOT renew under Penny,

 

Absolutely boring style football and more entertaining games can be watched at the local park free.

 

Everyone is entitled to make their own decision re having a ST or not.

 

However I find it hard to believe that 3/4 of a season under Dave Penney is so unpalatable compared to half a century of supporting Latics, to drive you away.

 

I have not enjoyed this season. However for me its not significantly different to dire seasons under Warnock, Ritchie, Moore, Talbot, Wadsworth, Sharpe etc.

[Witty]

50 years supporting , 40 as S/T holder.

Will NOT renew under Penny,

 

Absolutely boring style football and more entertaining games can be watched at the local park free.

 

Although I will be renewing it has to be said that this post hits the nail on the head, especially from the pont of view of getting bums on seats.

When Latics are away or not playing I've been to Bury, Accy Stanley and Morecambe and it has to be said the entertainment value is a lot higher at these games than at BP.

[Witty]

With this poll I would have liked to see an age section. I think it may be interesting to see if the age of the supporter/number of years supporting Latics reflects expectations.

[RoytonBlueLad]

Everyone is entitled to make their own decision re having a ST or not.

 

However I find it hard to believe that 3/4 of a season under Dave Penney is so unpalatable compared to half a century of supporting Latics, to drive you away.

 

I have not enjoyed this season. However for me its not significantly different to dire seasons under Warnock, Ritchie, Moore, Talbot, Wadsworth, Sharpe etc.

 

My Dad is similar to Losesome in his views. 43 years a fan, a season ticket holder and Saturday he didn't go. I got to Saturday's game expecting to see him and he wasn't there. Sent a text and he replied it was boring and he didn't fancy going. He previously had not missed a home as long as I have been going to games with him, that's around 20 years now.

 

They've already got his money for the ticket so they've lost out on nothing.

Edited March 24, 2010 by RoytonBlueLad

[UpTheLatics]

My Dad is similar to Losesome in his views. 43 years a fan, a season ticket holder and Saturday he didn't go. I got to Saturday's game expecting to see him and he wasn't there. Sent a text and he replied it was boring and he didn't fancy going. He previously had not missed a home as long as I have been going to games with him, that's around 20 years now.

 

They've already got his money for the ticket so they've lost out on nothing.

 

Yeah the football's not always great to watch, but surely he has seen us under some other manager who had us playing poorly/not to his standard of entertainment? 43 years is a bloody long time. How many managers have we had in that perioid?

 

There's definitely summat else deep-lying. All this about boring football isn't the only cause for so many people to be walking away. Everything seems to have hit us all at once; the football, our position, disgruntled fans with TTA, Boundary Park's state, all this about a new stadium, a recessions...

[RoytonBlueLad]

Yeah the football's not always great to watch, but surely he has seen us under some other manager who had us playing poorly/not to his standard of entertainment? 43 years is a bloody long time. How many managers have we had in that perioid?

 

There's definitely summat else deep-lying. All this about boring football isn't the only cause for so many people to be walking away. Everything seems to have hit us all at once; the football, our position, disgruntled fans with TTA, Boundary Park's state, all this about a new stadium, a recessions...

 

I guess it's been deep lying for 20 years then

 

He stated it was boring. My response of "we went to every game under Sharp" barely got a response. Maybe it's a lot of things as you say all together for people but if the product was even close to being entertaining they might forget some other issues.

[danoafc]

I guess it's been deep lying for 20 years then

 

He stated it was boring. My response of "we went to every game under Sharp" barely got a response. Maybe it's a lot of things as you say all together for people but if the product was even close to being entertaining they might forget some other issues.

 

And that, young man, is the nail hit squarely on the head.

[garcon]

Indeed. For long term supporters I really have difficulty believing that they will stop going simply because of one manager who's been at the club less than a season. I think the real issues are much more fundamental - and agree all that's happened now is the veneer of entertainment has been removed.

 

I simply do not see relegation and/or objection to the current manager on their own as being valid reasons for a fan to stop going.

[RoytonBlueLad]

And that, young man, is the nail hit squarely on the head.

 

Though it'd only be masking them, I'm sure it'd help.

[Lookers_Carl]

Indeed. For long term supporters I really have difficulty believing that they will stop going simply because of one manager who's been at the club less than a season. I think the real issues are much more fundamental - and agree all that's happened now is the veneer of entertainment has been removed.

 

I simply do not see relegation and/or objection to the current manager on their own as being valid reasons for a fan to stop going.

 

First and foremost, warning, this post will be a long one

 

Although I think the 'football' (and I use this term very loosely) under Penney is bordering on the worse I have seen in some considerable time, this and the prospect of relegation should not be seen as the sole reason as to why the club is down to the hardcore bare bones regarding support, rather two of many contributing factors. This is how I see it

 

Football

 

Our record since getting relegated from the prem

 

Championship/Old Division 1

 

1994/1995: Mid table finish

1995/1996: Finished just outside the dropzone although at times we did look like going down

1996/1997: Relegation never in doubt, finished in 14th

 

League 1/Old Division 2

 

1997/1998: Looked good contenders for the playoffs under Warnock but very poor away form let us down

1998/1999: Ritchie's first season in charge, finished 20th, 1 point above the drop zone, stayed up on the last day at the expense of york city.

1999/2000: Finished 14th, never troubled playoff pack but always looking over our shoulders

2000/2001: Same as season before but finished 15th.

2001/2002: Moore era begins, spent alot of £££ but still not good enough to trouble the playoff pack

2002/2003: Probably the only season in which I can honestly say the club had a proper winning mentality. This team in League 1 today would have pissed over any of the top teams. Just a shame Crewe, Wigan and QPR were that little bit better.

2003/2004: Finished 15th I believe but could have been alot worse. Looking over our shoulders but ahead of the drop zone.

2004/2005: Last day victory over Bradford city with us finishing in 20th says it all

2005/2006: Finished 10th, never in danger of going down but nowhere near the top 6 at the time.

2006/2007: Good season, made the playoffs but went into them on a very bad run of form and when drawn against the form team Blackpool, the result was never in doubt (and that was before the game started)

2007/2008: Finished 8th after a slow start but again, never looked like making the playoffs.

2008/2009: First season in a 3 sided boundary park. Strong start but I personally think it was here where the current rot well and truly kicked in. Indiscipline off field and s alide that even Big Joe couldn't halt. Off field incidents occured that dragged the clubs name through the mud.

2009/2010: So far nothing short of a disaster, and the approximate 15 percent drop in gates from last season which in my opinion, is caused by an accumilation of the recession, a largely southern based league, discontent in the fanbase (caused by the off field antics and white flag attitude BEFORE the arrival of Penney). At the beginning of the season the attendances were down but we would still get over 4k for a sat league match. This as dwindled as the season has gone on to the point where we are lucky if we get 4k on a saturday, and lucky if we get 3k on a weeknight. It is here where I think the poor football we are seeing at the moment has largely contributed.

 

So in a nutshell, 16 years of failure on the field, 16 years of downward spiral.

 

Boundary Park

 

As an 11 year old, despite its shortcomings, I used to LOVE Boundary Park, as did many others. From dancing to "I feel good" when we banged in a goal, to flashes of come on oldham on the scoreboard. But the little things then kicked in (im going just off memory here so some of these may be in the wrong order)

 

Just after relegation I believe (or it may have been the season before), because of the crowds, the RRE was closed to latics fans and allcoated to away fans only. Hence when your playing a team who brings 300 or so supporters, its as good as a three sided stadium.

 

Then we lost the scoreboard, which wasn't replaced.

 

Then somewhere down the line we lost the music when a goal was scored.

 

Then the stadium was made non smoking, whilst people who detest smoking such as myself were happy with this, I know for a fact a fair few supporters liked now better than a pie and a fag at half time. So a good proportion of your smokers aren't happy.

 

Then the Lookers and the Clayton were demolished in 2008. At the time no one thought anything of it as we thought we would be getting a nice shiny new stand.....until the recession kicked in which meant the BP redevelopment was no longer viable.

 

And last season going into this season you have what some fans have dubbed 'piegate', running out of food, in some cases, before the game kicks off. Maybe a very small thin but it is not professional, and should not be happening.

 

All little things, but they all add up and all contribute to why Boundary Park is no longer an enjoyable place to be, and whyfans now turn up at the ground at 2:55 and can't get out of the ground quick enough come 3:50.

 

Off Field Management

 

Pre Moore Era: We were skint, on our arses, losing money left right and centre and I think had Chris Moore not come in when he did we would almost certainly have been in the basement league.

 

Moore Era: This was probably the most enjoyable era I have had at Boundary Park but at the end of the day it was unsustainable, and it nearly cost us dearly. The collapse of ITV Digital and Chris Moore's own personal wealth diminishing, and he pulls the plug with his funding, but sells off most of our star players for pittance!!!!!

 

TTA Era: Credit where its due for TTA, they saved the club from oblivion, and managed to reduce the losses from something like 50k a week to somewhere in the region of 500k a year (although I would imagine this year may be a bit more). The club is now run on a much sounder financial footing, and whilst yes, some clubs have overtaken us, others have also fallen below us or to the same level as us such as swindon, bradford, port vale, grimsby, bury and stockport.

 

Many fans can run off the mistakes made by TTA but I would ask this, how many of these mistakes did you think were mistakes at the time the decision was made?

 

Eg: Appointment of Ronnie Moore: At the time of his appointment he was seen as something as a coup for us.

Dave Penney: Came to us with a very good CV.

Demolishing the lookers: At the time it was knocked down to make way for a brand new stand and would save us x amount a year. .

 

One mistake I thought TTA made from the off is I think they were a bit naive in placing their trust into the backwards thinking nimby loving could not organise a piss up in a brewery bunch of luddites with less 'vision' than Stevie Wonder, otherwise referred to as Oldham Council.

 

And as for the move to failsworth, am probably in my mind still more in favour although after attending the two forums and seeing the plans (and reading about Man City's new plans) I have some serious reservations.

[RoytonBlueLad]

All little things but they all contribute to why fans now turn up at the ground at 2:55 and can't get out of the ground quick enough come 3:50.

 

I've been pissed off this season but am yet to leave a game at 3.50pm

 

[oafc0000]

All little things but they all contribute to why fans now turn up at the ground at 2:55 and can't get out of the ground quick enough come 3:50.

 

Or won't come at all...

 

Spot on...

 

How do we get out of this mess though ?

[garcon]

a long one

Yep. And that just covers the two most pertinent factors to the match day experience, i.e. what's on the pitch and what's around it.

 

When you also factor in what has happened off the pitch, from false dawns to near oblivion, and the prospects for what is to come (i.e. Failsworth, or not), you just about begin to see the whole, sorry picture.

Edited March 24, 2010 by garcon

[oafc0000]

Yep. And that just covers the two most pertinent factors to the match day experience, i.e. what's on the pitch and what's around it.

 

When you also factor in what has happened off the pitch, from false dawns to near oblivion, and the prospects for what is to come (i.e. Failsworth, or not), you just about begin to see the whole, sorry picture.

 

But all is not lost, after all, we still have the trust Barry to the rescue ?

[Lookers_Carl]

Yep. And that just covers the two most pertinent factors to the match day experience, i.e. what's on the pitch and what's around it.

 

When you also factor in what has happened off the pitch, from false dawns to near oblivion, and the prospects for what is to come (i.e. Failsworth, or not), you just about begin to see the whole, sorry picture.

 

Just edited to add the Pre Moore Era, Moore Era and TTA Era

[Lookers_Carl]

I should have added too, the clubs approach to dealing with this has quite often been to bury its head in the sand and either pretend the problems arent there and play the 'ikkle oldham' or 'were only a small club' sympathy card, instead of confronting the problem head on and actively look for a solution.

[Lookers_Carl]

Or won't come at all...

 

Spot on...

 

How do we get out of this mess though ?

 

I personally think a good start will be

 

1) Identify the problems and their roots

2) Confront the problem head on and actively look for a solution, rather than burying ones head in the sand or hands in ears and repeating to ones self "all is well, all is well"

3) Be more proactive and positive instead of crying wolf and playing the sympathy card all the time.

 

Would anyone regain any respect for the club if they said "you know what, we have dropped a bollock, we acknowledge it, and we are more than willing to do whatever it takes to work with our fans to repair the damage"