Douglas Ireland

Tag: Oldham Athletic

  • In the Automatic Promotion Zone

    Soundtrack to this post.

    Two nil.

    Even at half time it was nothing, and it had been a fair old scrap, both sides having a go and tempers going up a notch before the break. Then Calum Kavanagh scored on the hour, running onto a Norburn free-kick taken before anybody in a Vale shirt had finished arranging themselves, and again on 75, when Fondop got an overhead kick on the end of an Appiah-Forson cross and put the ball exactly where Kavanagh happened to be standing. Mat Hudson kept a clean sheet, which is how he spent most of last season. Five of the summer signings made their debuts. It was, by any measure available to me at half twelve on a Saturday in August, perfect.

    Third. Above the line. In the automatic promotion zone.

    I am aware of what I am doing here. Eight teams are on three points. We are third because we scored two and let none in, and by teatime next Saturday the table will have rearranged itself into something with less to say. There are forty five games left. September is derbies almost the whole way through.

    But look at it. It is right there.

    Here is the thing I keep turning over. England went to the World Cup this summer and finished third in the world, which is the best they have managed in sixty years, and it landed on the country like a dropped plate. Lost the semi-final to Argentina having been in front. Then beat France six four in the third place match, four up at half time, pegged back to within one by Mbappe and Dembele, a Saka hat-trick, Bellingham finishing it off in the ninety eighth minute. Ten goals. The most anyone has scored in a bronze final, ever. And I would guess a fair few people reading this had forgotten the game was even played.

    Meanwhile Oldham beat Port Vale in the middle of August and I have taken a screenshot of a league table.

    The feeling has almost nothing to do with the size of the achievement. It is all about what you were expecting. England were supposed to win it, so third felt like something being taken away. Oldham are supposed to be somewhere in the middle of the fourth tier, quietly, so one Saturday afternoon can put us in the promotion places and I get to sit with that for a whole week. Neither of those reactions is wrong. They are just two different arrangements of the same hope, and mine happens to be the one that pays out more often, in smaller amounts.

    Four years ago we were out of the Football League altogether. I will take a Saturday like this and I will not be doing any of the sensible arithmetic about it until at least Friday.

    Come on you Latics.

  • Here We Go Again

    Soundtrack to this post.

    The fixture list came out in June and I have had this date in my head ever since. Saturday 15 August, half twelve, Boundary Park. Oldham v Port Vale, one of the two games chosen to start the whole EFL season off, which means it is on Sky Sports+, which means it is on in my living room in Paisley.

    A television screen showing the Sky Sports pre-match graphic for Oldham v Port Vale, with both club badges either side of the Sky Bet League Two logo.
    The season starts here.

    Second season back in the Football League. It is still worth saying that out loud, because for three years it was not true. Tenth place last time out, which reads like a shrug on paper and absolutely was not one. Ten games unbeaten through February and March with two goals conceded in the lot of them, the table doing something lovely, and then April arrived and took four games off us in a row. The play-offs went from a live prospect to a thing we talked about. Micky Mellon signed on until 2028 anyway, and that felt like the more important result of the spring.

    Port Vale come up the road as one of the sides everybody expects to go straight back to League One, which Mellon has more or less said himself: we will find out quickly where we are. September is derbies almost all the way through, Rochdale included. So the answer is coming whether I want it or not.

    But none of that has happened yet. Nothing has been conceded in the 89th minute. Nobody has been sent off for something daft. Right now, at half twelve on the fifteenth of August, we are level with everyone and it is all still in front of us.

    Time for the emotional rollercoaster to start again.

    Come on you Latics.

  • Back in the League

    Soundtrack to this post.

    We did it.

    Oldham Athletic are back in the Football League.

    Sunday’s final at Wembley was ridiculous, brilliant, stressful, and completely unforgettable. We came from behind twice. Took it to extra time. And somehow, we came out the other side with the win. I was shouting at the telly, pacing the room, laughing and swearing. You know, the usual.

    It still doesn’t quite feel real.

    After all those years of decline, all the false dawns, all the mismanagement and the near-misses. After dropping out of the league for the first time in our history. After the protests, the boycotts, the bargain-bin squads. Somehow, here we are again. EFL club. It’s got a nice ring to it.

    I’m proud of the players. I’m proud of the fans. And I’m proud of the club for finding a bit of its old spirit.

    Next season will be tough. No illusions there. League Two’s no joke, and we’ll need to strengthen in key areas. But we’re in a much better place now than we’ve been in years. And for the first time in a long time, there’s proper hope.

    I’ll still be watching from afar up here in Scotland. But I’ll be watching.

    Once again, there’s a spring in the step at Boundary Park.

  • Premier League Dreams, Non-League Streams

    Soundtrack to this post.

    My team, Oldham Athletic, have reached the National League play-offs. The match on Wednesday is an eliminator. A one-off play-off game at home to Halifax. Win that, and we’re into the semi-final away at Solihull. Win that, and it’s Wembley on Sunday 1 June, with a place in the Football League on the line.

    I’m feeling quietly confident about the match. We’ve got the home advantage, and we beat Halifax 2–0 at Boundary Park back in March.

    I won’t be attending the game. It’s a bit far for me to get to. I’m living in Scotland these days, but I’ve found a streaming service so I’ll be able to watch it on TV. Wednesday evening is sorted.

    I started following Oldham when I lived in the town as a 10-year-old boy. The early 90s were the pinch-me years. We had amazing success. In 1990–91 they won the Second Division and got promoted to the top flight for the first time in nearly 70 years. A year later, they were part of the very first Premier League season.

    Since then we’ve received the dubious distinction of being the first team to be relegated from the Premier League all the way down to the non-league.

    Getting this far might not seem like much to some, but if you’ve followed Oldham over the years, you’ll know it means something.