Dear Fellow Supporters,

On field activities have seen the Latics now go eight league games without defeat. The hard earned draw last week at Southend has moved the Latics up to bottom place. There's just no justice. They have to start converting those draws to wins. A draw is not a point gained but two lost. There are just two more programmes before we break up for Christmas and things are looking pretty good for the draw (see later). Last week we welcomed Ernie to the fold. For the uneducated Ernie is an acronym for Electronic Random Number Indicating Equipment. Number two is responsible for answering the call and we should all be grateful for his time and effort in producing such an excellent piece of gadgetry. Ernie Mk.ll will soon be available to pick your lotto numbers at the realistic price of 20% of the winnings. Well done Kevin! It was suggested that we make Ernie an honorary member. What do you think?

The Chairman.

Today's cover photo needs no explanation. So, I'll explain. The Rochdale Road stand is at the Rochdale Road end of the ground as opposed to the Chaddy End which is at the Chadderton end. The Chaddy End is, alas, no longer. It was demolished to make way for the new Seton's stand. The Chairman was a regular in the old Chaddy End and shed many a tear when it demised. Many happy hours (and a few unhappy ones too) were spent witnessing the great cavalcade of spectacular footballing feats (or is it feets). To the uninitiated a STAND is where you SIT at a football game. You may notice that the club have used the Chairman's licence plate to decorate the seating in the stand. The cheeks of it!

Nominate your friend to be a Latics Fanatic. What better accolade could you offer your best friend or significant other (mustn't upset anybody). See the Chairman for a nomination form, fill it in, submit with a photo and watch their face light up with all the nice things you said about them. Confidentiality ensured.

The prizes will be drawn at the following times on 20th. December. Donations are still being accepted. The rules for the draw are as follows: Ernie makes the draws and the winner must be present at the time of the draw to win. All prizes will be redrawn until won. Prizes will still be accepted up to and including the 20th. December. Will donors please make sure the prizes are at the Sheraton at the designated time or give them to the Chairman anytime before. Thank you.

3-30 4/5 unit
3-45 One Unit
4-00 One 8oz. can Sockeye salmon
4-07 Dragon stemmed wine glass
4-15 The Chairman Eats
4-30 The usual weekly draw
4-3 7 Porcelain Becks beer mug (1 pt)
4-45 One 8oz. can Sockeye salmon
4-52 A mystery framed picture
5-00 Sunday Brunch for two at the Sheraton ($35 value)
5-15 One Tranmere Rovers unit
5-30 A beer bell
5-45 One 8oz. can Sockeye salmon
6-00 Zoltrix Fax Modem
6-07 A sports jacket (liqueur sponsored)
6-15 One 8oz. can Sockeye salmon
6-22 Pr. Candle holders
6-30 Porcelain Becks beer mug (1 Ltr.)
6-45 One unit
7-00 Bottle of Australian plonk

I am Dazzaratchie, leader of the Rochdale Road end RFO gang. (Ritchie For Oldham). It is my firm belief that after JD sports offering to buy out 60% of Lees' shares and being rejected the board should GO!!!!! We will not be disheartened. Fed up with the same excuses - so are we!!

The Britannia Inn, 63, Henshaw Street was a beerhouse first licenced in 1867. It was owned by Edmund Sutcliffe and had three stables in good repair. It was closed in 1972 as a Wilsons house, but not before I had quaffed several firkins of ale. You see, the Brit. was a watering-hole which was in direct line from my house to the Latics ground. I never told you before but I too, am a supporter of the famous team. I'll do or write anything to keep my little spot in the programme. Bottoms up! Gotta go.

I. Will B. Drunk

Did you know?

The Boundary Park pitch measures 110 yds. by 74 yds.

Oldham's 1000th defeat came in 1978-79 season.

Floodlights were turned on at Boundary Park for the first time on 3rd October 1961, for a friendly game against Burnley. 15,520 (including the Chairman) witnessed the event.

1) Hello, everyone at the Latics S.C. This is my first letter so please forgive me for any spelling mistakes. (Ed's note - I corrected them) Firstly if any fans are from the Sheffield area and want to contact me please do: I've only been away from Oldham 2 weeks and I miss the contact of other afflicted ones. Please feel sorry for me as I share a room with a Utd. fan and have to suffer a Champions picture on the wall and many comments about that goal by the Welshman I can't bring myself to mention.

2) I'm glad there's 40 Canadian Latics fans, the way things are going that's more than there will be in Oldham soon.

3) On to a more interesting note if anyone's still listening. Laties are in a more dire situation than ever in my relatively short time supporting the club. I can't claim to have watched them in the 4th division but I do have the excuse that I wasn't alive. Despite this, I feel 7 years of blind faith qualifies me to say that if we don't so something soon we are doomed. The problems are clear: a board with no ambition or even basic business acumen of speculate to accumulate and a management team with a bizarre sense of tactics and team selection. conclusion: Sack Sharp and Harvey and bring in someone new and possibly send Stott to the Jack Walker school of investing in football. More seriously, what happened to the take-over? Are there any millionaires out there want to take pity on a once promising club? Answers on a postcard to Boundary Park or to the LSC Chairman.

Louise Taft

Louise, Thanks for the vote of confidence. We'll have a whip round and see if we can raise a million. If we do succeed it will only be in dollars and probably not enough anyway.

The Editor

What's happening at Boundary Park is breaking my heart. Like others I yearn for the days of Premiership football and harking back brings a tear to my eye, however it's time to face facts.

We currently have a board dominated by JW Lees and their mouthpiece, Mr Stott. This bunch of individuals share a coherent lack of ambition and a subsequent greediness and no risk attitude. Rumours of other potential backers in the town have been rife, (Bardsley's, Seton's etc), however it seems JW Lees are reluctant to sell. This money situation has to be sorted out.

As for falling attendances, is anybody surprised? The manager has no charisma, loyalty to Athletic (remember the transfer request?) and has a buffoon who destroyed Everton as a Number Two. The football served up and the tactics have been just plain boring, and there is no incentive for anybody to spend the required to get in, bar the die-hard 5,000. Stott should be grateful this many turn up.

A possible solution would be to bring back "stitch", whilst attendances would no doubt increase, so would the quality of football and tactics. The team as it stands isn't deserving of third bottom in Division One, it is important to remember that it was not so long ago, names like Henry, Redmond, Banger, Barlow, Halle and Orlygsson were in the Premiership, and when the injured Sean McCarthy returns he will no doubt still be our top scorer. Buys like Ormondroyd and Gamett encourage nobody. Whether or not a tragic end is due is still unknown, but there's still time, and with the lads playing anywhere near their potential results like those at Bradford and Grimsby must occur more often. Remember, the talent is there. Let's get behind the lads and show them that it isn't them we're angry with.

Regards, Mike Keegan

Cheers Arnie.

(i) Do nothing, and look forward to trips to Hartlepool & Doncaster in the next year or two.
(ii) Replace the manager, give him no money and look forward to Doncaster etc.
(iii) Replace the manager with an experienced guy, give him
money, and with a superhuman effort (and by that I mean show
promotion form for the rest of the season), we might just stay
up.(iv) The Board, manager, in fact the whole lot - get out! We might well go down this season, but with a good manager and a new committed board, we'd be back. I have to say I prefer option iv.

Peter Schofield

The Latics may be forced to rethink their plan to give free tickets to youngsters ahead of unattractive home fixtures in a bid to win over new fans. The first half against Portsmouth was so poor that some of the youngsters were asking to be let out of the ground when the game was just 15 minutes old. They took the stewards by surprise and they estimated that 20+ had left before the 15 minute mark, and more than 200 by the time the gates were opened at their customary time nearer the end of the match. The Latics' safety officer, Frank Carlisle, said it followed the pattern of the previous two home games against Reading and Southend. Droves of youngsters also left those games and it would appear unlikely that they can be turned into paying customers in the future, which was exactly the point of the exercise. For the three fixtures, officials had given away 21,000 tickets which would have cost £105,000 to buy, in the hope that the kids would be so excited by what they saw that they'd pay to come back for more. They might have been better off laying on free coaches and tickets to Grimsby and Bradford ! Of the 21.000 tickets dished out, 5,600 were actually used and 18 youngsters were ejected on Saturday for unruly behaviour, following the 7 ejected during the Reading match and 12 against Southend.

Former police chief Carlisle admitted that the attention span of some of the 'visitors' had proved to be very short. While the attempt to attract new fans has to be applauded, and the attendance figures have looked marginally better as a result, the long-term benefit to the club is likely to be minimal. I wonder if anyone has considered having a winning team as a possibility ?

Influential midfielder Lee Richardson, whose broken finger sustained when he was bitten by his own dog threatened to keep him out of action until after Christmas, was given the all-clear to play for the Reserves against Derby last week..... and they say that animals aren't intelligent!

Today is ERIC CANTONA’s 29th birthday and he will be having a meal with his team-mates tonight. However, they will have to eat with their hands as they have no silverware.

On the subject of the goings-on at Prenton Park, the former Tranmere boss received an electricity bill for over 3,000 pounds. When phoning the club to complain his query was answered: "You were the last one in our trophy room 19 years ago, and you forgot to turn the light out."

What had Alan Ball (former Manchester City manager) and the Titanic got in common?
They both left Southampton and went down shortly after!

Apparently fundamental flaws have already been discovered in the new Manchester United stand. The seats are facing the pitch!

What's the difference between a cocktail stick and Grimsby?
A cocktail stick has 2 points.

What have a three pin plug and Man. U. got in common?
They're both useless in Europe.

Earlier in the season Graeme Sharp was caught speeding on his way to the Latics. "I'll do anything for 3 points", he said.

Francis Lee the Manchester City Chairman is considering signing Steve Davis as his new manager.
Explaining this unusual move, Lee said "we don't just need points now, we need snookers! "

A fan desperate at Manchester United's situation decides to top himself. In his living room, alone, he prepares to hang himself. At the very last moment, he decides upon wearing his full United kit as his last statement. A neighbour, catching sight of the impending incident, informs the police. On arrival, the police quickly remove the kit and dress the man in stockings and suspenders. The man, totally confused, asks why. The policeman simply replies, "It's to avoid embarrassing your family."