Relegation

[League one forever]

1 minute ago, Bobledgersheart said:

Yet they only managed 1400 home supporters on Saturday !

Is that better than 12? 
 

Have their crowds increased along with winning- yes. 
 

We are so starved of success we are forgetting the basic fundamentals, the more you win, the more people watch. 
 

It was ever thus. 

[Bobledgersheart]

1 minute ago, League one forever said:

Is that better than 12? 
 

Have their crowds increased along with winning- yes. 
 

We are so starved of success we are forgetting the basic fundamentals, the more you win, the more people watch. 
 

It was ever thus. 

Agreed, but if you start at 12 it's not going to take a promotion or cup run to increase the numbers substantially, just winning now and again.

People like winning football but it'll take a hell of a lot of winning to get back to a 5/6000 average home gate from our current position.

Quoting Salford as an example is a bit misleading due to the high profile of the investors and the amount of cash they've spent.

[nzlatic]

My concern is we are fast approaching the end of the links to the "pinch me years". Most people who witnessed it will now be late 30s or older, and their children will have picked or be picking their teams.  Once we go past that generation, parents of new fans will only have seen dross and disappointment so the likelihood is that numbers of new fans coming in will dwindle with each passing year.

 

A new owner coming in soon, working with fans groups and trading off those memories to create a massively positive feeling might have a shot of getting crowds up to around 5000 to start off with, but then it would need success on the pitch to sustain that past the first few months.  Dropping another league down would be absolutely devastating to all that happening.

[Careca9]

On 8/29/2021 at 3:31 PM, oafc1955 said:

We simply have to kick on from that result yesterday, if we can win our next two home games, Hartlepool & Barrow, it would put us comfortably mid table and everyone could calm down a little. However, lose them both and we could have a real battle on our hands.

 

If we dropped into the National League, under the same ownership, I think mere survival would be a mammoth task!

 

On the other hand if we were rid of the ’s and under new ownership, what level of attendance would we command and do we think we could bounce back quickly? 

 

Looking at the teams currently in there it would not be a given.

 

The following are attendances in the National League for their last home games, without factoring in Wrexham who have yet to play a home fixture!

 

Grimsby        5034

Chesterfield 5356

Notts Co       6934

Woking         3078

Stockport     5265

 

 

 

 

 

 

first of all I think we will be fine over course of the season as the team is better this year (once we find our shooting boots). 
 

but I’m a realist and when I see people slating the current team And the owners for the quality on show I find it hard to see what new owners would bring budget wise when our attendances are as low as they are (not that I’m backing ALMO in any way before people jump on this). Just pointing out we’d likely have a very similar outcome as we do now. Like the stats u show, our poor home attendances put us in the bottom half of the league and if we went down, it would be a total disaster new ownership or not. 

[Magic Mikey]

36 minutes ago, Careca9 said:

first of all I think we will be fine over course of the season as the team is better this year (once we find our shooting boots). 
 

but I’m a realist and when I see people slating the current team And the owners for the quality on show I find it hard to see what new owners would bring budget wise when our attendances are as low as they are (not that I’m backing ALMO in any way before people jump on this). Just pointing out we’d likely have a very similar outcome as we do now. Like the stats u show, our poor home attendances put us in the bottom half of the league and if we went down, it would be a total disaster new ownership or not. 

New owners = bigger attendances. 

[League one forever]

1 minute ago, Magic Mikey said:

New owners = bigger attendances. 

And winning football. 
 

Without that, the novelty will very quickly die off. 

[oafc1955]

Regardless of the calibre of any potential new owners, IMO, simply getting these ’s out of our club would make a huge difference to our appeal.

 

Of course, winning the lions share of games would be necessary to grow the fanbase substantially but we’ve been starved of any sort of progress for such a long time now that any improvement on and off the field would definitely improve our chances of moving forward.

 

I speak to plenty of Utd & City fans these days who are starting to get bored with the money obsessed Premier League and there’s definitely a niche in the market that a successful lower league club could exploit…..why not us?

[GKing521]

23 minutes ago, oafc1955 said:

 

 

 

I speak to plenty of Utd & City fans these days who are starting to get bored with the money obsessed Premier League and there’s definitely a niche in the market that a successful lower league club could exploit…..why not us?

Similar with my friends too. A couple keep a regular eye on Latics now after getting sucked in with just how batshit mental the club is. Always keen to do away days.

[Lee Sinnott2]

11 hours ago, oafc1955 said:

Regardless of the calibre of any potential new owners, IMO, simply getting these ’s out of our club would make a huge difference to our appeal.

 

 

Reckon we would double the gate for the first game when these lot are gone...

[PeteG]

28 minutes ago, Lee Sinnott2 said:

Reckon we would double the gate for the first game when these lot are gone...

People said the same about when Corney was here. That didn't happen although I will admit a few came back for the first 6 months.

[maximus1267]

37 minutes ago, PeteG said:

People said the same about when Corney was here. That didn't happen although I will admit a few came back for the first 6 months.

I think the feeling is a little different now, I blame Corney & Co for the start of the slow demise but AL and his of a bro have totally alienated the club from within and down to the fans. They are really adding more nails to the coffin month by month.

Or pehaps slowly slowly means slow death over 5 years.

First home game after those two go would see easily 5/6000 home fans in BP or even more.

 

[No Pyro No Party]

Them leaving would help bring back those who were put off by the current ownership but that I think that's where the line would be drawn. Like PeteG said, it was short-lived once Corney went. 

 

To really see an increase - a long term one too, not just a "they're gone now so I'll go again" - we'd need new ownership, some solid marketing and the best season we've had since our Prem days, i.e. promotion with sustained success thereafter.

 

Sadly we've become synonymous with being naff. Easy with us all being Oldham fans to forget but outside of the loop we're a write-off. Like someone said, if you want fans - especially fringe fans which the town is full of - you need to start winning games. Doesn't matter if the loyal are boycotting or not, attendances would increase even now but we'd need to become consistent. 

 

But the club is poorly marketed. Try ignoring the scores, forums, etc. for a bit and see how non-existent the club is about the town. Wouldn't even know we were there. As for social media, if you're not following Latics then it's a similar situation. Purely organic traffic won't do much in this day and age. Investment is needed badly. What makes it worse is frustrating the media team do an absolutely spot on job; sparkly graphics falling on deaf ears.

 

To add to the social media point, this is the digital age and we have such poor online interaction. Look at what other clubs are doing: engaging with fans, generating interest via interactive posts, paid online ads, behind the scenes videos with players etc. Can't just keep uploading "It's Barrow this weekend" once a week. That club persona and relatability will strike a chord with everyone; Royle mastered that back in the early '90s. Just look at that video of Bahamboula with fans and how his own interaction - besides the magical football - has already given him legendary status...

[al_bro]

20 hours ago, Careca9 said:

first of all I think we will be fine over course of the season as the team is better this year (once we find our shooting boots). 
 

but I’m a realist and when I see people slating the current team And the owners for the quality on show I find it hard to see what new owners would bring budget wise when our attendances are as low as they are (not that I’m backing ALMO in any way before people jump on this). Just pointing out we’d likely have a very similar outcome as we do now. Like the stats u show, our poor home attendances put us in the bottom half of the league and if we went down, it would be a total disaster new ownership or not. 

That would depend on the new owner/s. If they bought the stadium, then the JR stand alone would generate significant income if it was run to it's potential. A new owner may be a real fan, who could pump his own money into the club. Fanciful I know, but it could happen.

[Chaddyexile84]

46 minutes ago, al_bro said:

That would depend on the new owner/s. If they bought the stadium, then the JR stand alone would generate significant income if it was run to it's potential. A new owner may be a real fan, who could pump his own money into the club. Fanciful I know, but it could happen.

At the risk of igniting fury - Simon Brooke runs the OEC and from seeing people who use the fans bar it’s not a bad enterprise 

 

Get the stand under the club maybe he could build on that and if that top floor got built…

[mcfluff1985]

On 8/31/2021 at 11:52 AM, nzlatic said:

Most people who witnessed it will now be late 30s or older, and their children will have picked or be picking their teams.

 

Sorry, but who is letting their kids pick teams? That's as bad as letting your kid pick its gender

[Andy b]

On 8/31/2021 at 10:04 PM, oafc1955 said:

Regardless of the calibre of any potential new owners, IMO, simply getting these ’s out of our club would make a huge difference to our appeal.

 

Of course, winning the lions share of games would be necessary to grow the fanbase substantially but we’ve been starved of any sort of progress for such a long time now that any improvement on and off the field would definitely improve our chances of moving forward.

 

I speak to plenty of Utd & City fans these days who are starting to get bored with the money obsessed Premier League and there’s definitely a niche in the market that a successful lower league club could exploit…..why not us?

Lots of reasons. The main one being that if you want a tonic to the premier league you don’t go to league 1 or 2 to get it. You go lower where there is a sense of community, where you pay a fiver to get in and where you can drink on the terraces. That is what I see happening. There is nothing which league 1 and 2 can offer which tiers 7 and below cannot for the fan frustrated with the prem. there is lots they can’t 
 

 

 

[oafc1955]

I don’t agree with that at all…..I’m fairly confident that If we can get new owners and a decent team out on the pitch a winning run would almost certainly drag a fair few new and lapsed fans through the turnstiles.

 

[GlossopLatic]

2 hours ago, Andy b said:

Lots of reasons. The main one being that if you want a tonic to the premier league you don’t go to league 1 or 2 to get it. You go lower where there is a sense of community, where you pay a fiver to get in and where you can drink on the terraces. That is what I see happening. There is nothing which league 1 and 2 can offer which tiers 7 and below cannot for the fan frustrated with the prem. there is lots they can’t 
 

 

 

 

See I disagree here.

 

I went watching Glossop North End yesterday take on Workington it was a good watch Glossop scored a worldie in the first half then Workington came back to win 3-1 in the 2nd half scoring 3 in 10 minutes.

 

For a league 1 or 2 club will probably offer me better facilities and better football the only thing I won't be able to do is stand watching the game with a pint in my hand during the game. The facilities are there to have a drink before and after the game and at Half time anyway.

 

The reason I wasn't at Boundary Park yesterday because the people that run the club don't care about any of us. But at L1 and L2 level if clubs do things properly engage with their fans/public they will have a future. We complain about having United and City on our doorstep neither of those clubs games took place at 3pm this Saturday and its highly unlikely they will have both teams playing at 3 pm Saturday most of the season. Now I highly doubt you are going to get scores of united and City fans ever coming watching Oldham but more for more floating fans it is now possible to watch City, United and Oldham in the same weekend. I've done it often enough myself.

[League one forever]

3 hours ago, Andy b said:

Lots of reasons. The main one being that if you want a tonic to the premier league you don’t go to league 1 or 2 to get it. You go lower where there is a sense of community, where you pay a fiver to get in and where you can drink on the terraces. That is what I see happening. There is nothing which league 1 and 2 can offer which tiers 7 and below cannot for the fan frustrated with the prem. there is lots they can’t 
 

 

 

Andy- you ‘should’ be able to go to league two and get the ‘real’ football feel IF that club is a proper community club. The reason you’re going lower in the pyramid is through your filter (and most of ours) of how unbelievably shit we are at looking anything like a community club. 

 

 

[Dave_Og]

6 hours ago, League one forever said:

Andy- you ‘should’ be able to go to league two and get the ‘real’ football feel IF that club is a proper community club. The reason you’re going lower in the pyramid is through your filter (and most of ours) of how unbelievably shit we are at looking anything like a community club. 

 

 

Yep. I bet they get a good warm feeling at Harrogate, Sutton, Forest Green et Al. All clubs that some continue to think we have a right to be better than. 

[Andy b]

9 hours ago, GlossopLatic said:

 

See I disagree here.

 

I went watching Glossop North End yesterday take on Workington it was a good watch Glossop scored a worldie in the first half then Workington came back to win 3-1 in the 2nd half scoring 3 in 10 minutes.

 

For a league 1 or 2 club will probably offer me better facilities and better football the only thing I won't be able to do is stand watching the game with a pint in my hand during the game. The facilities are there to have a drink before and after the game and at Half time anyway.

 

The reason I wasn't at Boundary Park yesterday because the people that run the club don't care about any of us. But at L1 and L2 level if clubs do things properly engage with their fans/public they will have a future. We complain about having United and City on our doorstep neither of those clubs games took place at 3pm this Saturday and its highly unlikely they will have both teams playing at 3 pm Saturday most of the season. Now I highly doubt you are going to get scores of united and City fans ever coming watching Oldham but more for more floating fans it is now possible to watch City, United and Oldham in the same weekend. I've done it often enough myself.

But you have a vested interest in OAFC so if the experience was decent you would go.
 

We are taking about pulling in casuals who have no connection to the club here. Not saying league 1 and 2 might be a pull for some such punters but many will look beyond that for their tonic. And I can see why. 

[BP1960]

10 hours ago, GlossopLatic said:

 

See I disagree here.

 

I went watching Glossop North End yesterday take on Workington it was a good watch Glossop scored a worldie in the first half then Workington came back to win 3-1 in the 2nd half scoring 3 in 10 minutes.

 

For a league 1 or 2 club will probably offer me better facilities and better football the only thing I won't be able to do is stand watching the game with a pint in my hand during the game. The facilities are there to have a drink before and after the game and at Half time anyway.

 

The reason I wasn't at Boundary Park yesterday because the people that run the club don't care about any of us. But at L1 and L2 level if clubs do things properly engage with their fans/public they will have a future. We complain about having United and City on our doorstep neither of those clubs games took place at 3pm this Saturday and its highly unlikely they will have both teams playing at 3 pm Saturday most of the season. Now I highly doubt you are going to get scores of united and City fans ever coming watching Oldham but more for more floating fans it is now possible to watch City, United and Oldham in the same weekend. I've done it often enough myself.

 

You must have seen a striker better than we've got?

[Dave_Og]

2 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

You must have seen a striker better than we've got?

If he has done then there is zero chance of him coming to us under the embargo terms. 

[BP1960]

1 hour ago, Dave_Og said:

If he has done then there is zero chance of him coming to us under the embargo terms. 

 

Not long till January and the massive clear out.

[Dave_Og]

7 minutes ago, BP1960 said:

 

Not long till January and the massive clear out. the

We are at the point where it is completely pointless to speculate about possible signings.  We all know we need a (more than a, really) forward but we also know that anyone of any promise ain't coming here under the current circumstances.