JA11K Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 What does it mean to you to be a Latics fan? What makes you keep on coming back? Personally, it's anticipation, wondering what the hell will happen next that will make me sit up in my seat. For others it may be different. I love watching our players do something magnificent, a la Simpson at Anfield, and it's belief (or maybe hope) that something equally special may happen this week. Also, if anyone's interested, I wrote an article on this subject. Let me know if you want the link, I'd post it here but I don't want people to think I'm advertising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorrro Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Post away, nowt wrong with people posting links to their work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JA11K Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Alright, well here it is: www.tiny.cc/lowerleague Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yarddogs Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 It's not for high quality football in an out of this world stadium that's for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BP1960 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 What does it mean to you to be a Latics fan? What makes you keep on coming back? Personally, it's anticipation, wondering what the hell will happen next that will make me sit up in my seat. For others it may be different. I love watching our players do something magnificent, a la Simpson at Anfield, and it's belief (or maybe hope) that something equally special may happen this week. Also, if anyone's interested, I wrote an article on this subject. Let me know if you want the link, I'd post it here but I don't want people to think I'm advertising. Even after of 50 years I keep hoping for the next Bobby Johnstone, and once in a blue moon someone special does arrive like Alan Groves or Andy Ritchie, I'm hoping Jose Baxter is the next to get the fans excited about the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafcmetty Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 http://www.tiny.cc/lowerleague Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilStarbucksSilkySkills Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 They're my team and I'm stuck with them. Like a naughty child. They can be occasionally amusing, and can sometimes make you wonder if they will turn into something good. But they are essentially badly disciplined, a little slow, windy, break their promises and get picked on by the other kids for being unfashionable. But what are you going to do? Swap them for another one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beag_teeets Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I sit here drinking a brew at work out of a latics mug, a full day of hell ahead of me, wondering whether I will be able to escape by 6:45 to freeze my toes off in a cold and wet BP to watch a ramshackle side play Scunthorpe whilst those with any sense will be wrapped up nice and warm in their lounges or locals watching Real Madrid play Man City. And I wouldn't swap. We're 5th from bottom and Scunny are 4th from bottom, not even out of September and this is psychologically big game, if we win we pull away a bit from the bottom 4, if we lose, we are leapfrogged and plunged into the relegation spots. It has draw written all over it. Yet on Saturday there were signs that if we click we will make a decent side, Crofty putting in a full shift with flicks and tricks, Montano on the left full of running, solidity in central midfield and two short term strikers who look a class apart from anything I've seen in this league. From the depths of despair and the bottom 4 to looking up at the safety of mid table and above. The cold hard facts of being a Latic, only a gnats chuff away from desperation yet retaining that slim glimmer of satisfaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfatjoe1 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 it's a life experience, or a life sentance. it's about appreciating football and not just about winning. it's looking beyond the superficial to appreciate that football is about socialising and community. it's personal history, identity and belonging. it's very irritating and depressing. it's addictive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hands on Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I’d like a divorce or at least a trial separation but no the bond can not be broken. A loss tonight will seem catastrophic, a draw a disaster but to win, oh to win! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wozzer Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I’d like a divorce or at least a trial separation but no the bond can not be broken. A loss tonight will seem catastrophic, a draw a disaster but to win, oh to win! My dad started taking me when I was 3, I'll be 50 in 18 months, there's really no choice. The majority of that time we've been bog average but I've seen us, this little club from windswept Lancashire, beat Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and many more in competitive fixtures. Those are the days when the defeats to Workington, Scarborough and the like are irrelevant because occasionally, just occasionally I have seen the glory and I'd damn rather see it occasionally than take it for granted watching MOTD on a Saturday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh Heck C-Beck Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I go because of a number of reasons I think. Of course there is habit and the fact it is the team I support. However, I enjoy the football at this level, it is competitive and the standard is not as bad as some people think, the influx of foreigners at the top is pushing the English players further down the league. Croft would probably still be a City reserve player if you went back a couple of decades for example. There is probably not many leagues so uncertain, we could go on an amazing run and get promoted or get relegated, or plod along in mid-table. There are things I don't like though - the turnover of staff and players means I don't really care so much for the team any more. The atmosphere is bad and it is a very expensive past time. Also I can't afford long away trips at the moment which are one of my favourite ways to spend a weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafcprozac Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 What does it mean to be a Latics fan? Disappointment, elation, despair, unbridled joy, desperation, hope, doom and gloom, hopeless optimism, anger, happiness, acceptance, aspirations, fickleness, commitment, dismissive, commitment, roller-coaster, stability, gutted, relief…. And that was just Saturday…. It's what I do, I moan like hell and my moods go from the sublime to the ridiculous, but it's my club, i'm there every week and that's my right... Actually looking forward to tonight…. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluehobbit Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 (edited) I go because of a number of reasons I think. Of course there is habit and the fact it is the team I support - same here However, I enjoy the football at this level - mentalist!! it is competitive and the standard is not as bad as some people think - on its day its worse latics baring 3 games have been awful this season and im sure a few others can say the same, the influx of foreigners at the top is pushing the English players further down the league. Croft would probably still be a City reserve player if you went back a couple of decades for example hmmm not sure There is probably not many leagues so uncertain, we could go on an amazing run and get promoted or get relegated, or plod along in mid-table - ill take mid table nowcan we call it quits There are things I don't like though - the turnover of staff and players means I don't really care so much for the team any more. This was commented on a lot at the weekend by people around me The atmosphere is bad - THIS i really wish the ground had a more posative atmosphere we need some wins and some good news about the ground and it is a very expensive past time. Also I can't afford long away trips at the moment which are one of my favourite ways to spend a weekend! Edited September 18, 2012 by bluehobbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KurtAndrew Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Watching football that is so unpredictable, in the prem (and in some cases the champ) the football is predictable but in league one and below you don't know what's gonna happen next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlossopLatic Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I've been supporting us now for 22 years and its what I would imagine a 22 year marriage would be like, plenty of ups and down, highs and lows, great memories, even times when I thought about throwing in the towel but you love it for what it is. What keeps me going is the Hope and no matter how perilous things get their is always hope that things can get better which why the motto keep the faith might seem cliched and has occasionally been seen as negative but rings just as much truth now as it does when we brought out that flag on that infamous day in 1994, as one day that faith will be rewarded with something special to celebrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slystallone Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 What does it mean? Sitting & standing through an awful lot of dross - and I mean an awful lot; which then makes the unbelievable highes when they have arrived all the more sweet. That & actually chosing to get soaked on a Tuesday night, watching what will most likely be a pretty turgid affair if we're being honest, in the hope that - maybe, just maybe, it'll click and we'll have a cracking victory to warm our frozen & soaked bodies. Oh - and I kind of like the reaction people give you when they ask you where you're from; you say Manchester for ease, and they go - City or United? You answer Latics and can then enjoy the reaction. I like that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 You answer Latics and can then enjoy the reaction. I like that too. I confused the hell out of a market trader in Stavanger earlier this year! Even mentioning Gunnar Halle didn't improve the situation ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpTheLatics Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 It's a brilliant question. It's been a part of me since I was young. There's hope and belief. I don't think anyone truly goes through habit. It's a faith, very much religious-like. It's my one routine. It essentially is a significant part of my life and for that reason I don't ever see myself giving up on it. I'm sure we've all been fed up to a point where we've all said "I'm never going again". But then we're in the car driving on a ridiculously long trip to watch a football match. It's madness, but it's just another thing that distinguishes the human race. A lot of silly, almost pointless traditions. It's my one addiction, and one that I've never once truly wanted to beat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristolatic Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Simple really. I was brought up on it. In a previous thread some time ago, I recalled that my Dad took me to my first game a month before my 6th birthday in August 1950. I'm 68 this week and I get the same thrill, yes thrill, every time I go to watch Latics. I've seen everything from wondering if we'd actually stay in the Football League when applying for re-election in the 50s, promotions we never thought possible, competing in the top flight for 3 years, administration and back to the humdrum 3rd tier. And, of course, there's the memories of certain days. A 6-0 battering of Huddersfield to get promoted. The 1-0 win at West Ham with a Carlo Corazzin goal and we all went ballistic. Wembley in 1990. Relegation to drop two divisions. Many, many more that come back through the mists of time. It's been quite a ride, but one thing never changes. It's my home town club and, although I left Oldham many years ago (over 40 to be precise), the allegiance to Latics has never wavered for a minute. Why? Because one day maybe, just maybe, we'll have that season that sends us dizzy with excitement and we'll find ourselves in the Championship (or whatever it's going to be called in the future) and one step away from the big time again. Will it ever happen? Probably not, but that's the dream you have when you support a lower league team. If you support a Premier League team outside of the top half dozen or so, you just hope to stay up. Support a club like like Latics and you hope you will GO up. Big difference. I'm like a big daft kid when I go to watch Latics, because this is the day when we just might give someone a right good hiding and kick start the escape from League 1. Frequently, on the train home, my good old mate and I are usually dissecting what went wrong rather than how well we'd done, but we can't wait for the next one. Because THAT could be the one that does it. If not, there's always more in the future. Maybe my mate's attitude sums it up. He was born in London, but has lived in Bath for donkey's years, so his only connection to Oldham is me. I took him to his first Latics match about 11 seasons ago. An FA Cup match at Cheltenham. We lost, but he loved everything about watching League 1 football. The humour in the crowd, the honest endeavour (most of the time) of players who will never make the top grade, the crappy refs, the whole thing. He's almost as fanatical about Latics as me now and it is HIS team and I hardly ever go to a game without him. Our wives think we're mad, but understand what it means. Now, if it does that for an adopted fan, how many times is that multiplied for someone born and bred in the town? I'm already buzzing because I'll be at Brentford on Saturday and then we will be at BP for the Preston game. I'm excited about "coming home" again and only wish I could do it more often. As the bus from Manchester gets nearer BP, I actually get a lump in my throat. I said I was like a big, daft kid. I think my sig says it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonesyOAFC Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 In an age where football clubs are drifting further and further away from their supporters, supporting a club like Oldham still feels like a little community, possibly even more so now there's very few of us left. There's nothing quite like the feeling of travelling to Chesterfield, or Brentford on a cold Tuesday night with 300 other mentalists, and seeing the same faces wherever you go. This is a feeling that fans of the 'big' clubs like United with their millions of supporters worldwide can never experience. Plus, watching us through all the dross makes the great moments, the Everton win or beating Citeh in the FA cup that little bit sweeter. The season I started going to games regularly we were relegated to the 3rd tier, and we've remained here ever since. Yet, I wouldn't change it for anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opinions4u Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Despair. Hope. Broken belief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorrro Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Despair. Broken belief. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bossrocks Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I think there's an irrational element to being a Latics fan - certainly for me at least. I consider myself quite a rational person but can't really defend the logic of going week in, week out to see some, let's be honest, dreadful stuff. During the DP debacle, I came very close to throwing in the towel and the end of last season was nearly as bad. But then there's moments like Sheff U away, the Everton and City cup wins, the 2 away victories at Leeds, the battering of Forest. Those moments make it all worthwhile. As terrible as last season was overall, the Sheff U victory was one of the greatest moments of my life as a football fan (and for all his failings, I'll always love Kuqi for tucking that penalty away). As others have said, you just keep hoping for another moment like that. They just seem to be much less frequent than in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy_Fent Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 (edited) this particular blog I did sums it up http://dontshootfrom...meras-have.html Edited September 18, 2012 by Tommy_Fent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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