Our programme finally arrived although a week late. Those of you who attended the meeting last week know the reasons why. The season is officially over and the Latics are currently sunning themselves in the Caribbean although the serious lack of funds at Boundary Park meant that the players had to row there to the beat of a gong sounded out by the Athletic Chairman, Ian Stott. On the days in-between matches the players will be picking cocoa beans to help subsidise the trip. Relegation was finally avoided and the team finished in thirteenth place in the league. Hardly what we expected at the start of the season and particularly disappointing as I personally got the team off to a good start with my presence at the first few games.

Off the field the Latics have been very active with Neil Warnock and his assistant being replaced by Andy Ritchie (see the articles later). It does give some optimism for next season but we musn’t expect too much from ‘Stitch’ as he is still feeling his way in football management. I am sure the Latics will be playing a more exciting type of football under his wing if his playing abilities have any influence on his style of management.

Our final programme of the season will be issued on the 19th. June, a week before the final meeting of the season. Please give any articles for submission to me at least a week before. In the next programme I will be listed the innovative changes the club will be undertaking next season. Our numbers have inexplicably somewhat diminished this season. Wheather (that’s the worst spell of weather we’ve had for some time) it’s because of the lack of success on the field or just a dropping off of interest I don’t know but I would like your suggestions as to how we could get our weekly numbers back up to the forty-ish mark again. Suggestions please, on a postcard, to the usual address.

I am distributing a petition this week and hope that everyone will sign it. The aim is to send the petition to J. W. Lees’ Brewery with a letter of support of the ‘Stop The Rot’ campaign. OAFC, as a club, has seen a demise recently (which is fully explained later in the programme) and the petition is a show of support at getting the board to invest in the club or make way for someone who will.

Don’t forget to visit the web-page and sign up for the e-mail list to catch all the happenings at Boundary Park throughout the summer. We also have a newsgroup which is also accessible through the web page. See you all next week.

The Chairman

The independent pressure group of Oldham Athletic fans - Stop The Rot - followed up their recent actions with a 'Red Card Protest' at the final home game against Burnley on Tuesday, April 28th. Red cards were distributed amongst supporters before and during the match and when the referee blew the final whistle that evening all the Latics supporters pointed a red card towards the director's box. It was a way of saying to the J W Lees Brewery, where are you? Why are you - as majority shareholders in the club - not even in regular attendance at our fixtures? They need to make the choice to invest in Athletic or sell the club to somebody with the passion and ambition to get it club moving forward once more. It is time for a change.

Many Oldham Athletic fans are desperately concerned at the state in which their club finds itself today. As recently as 1994 we were an established Premier League club and came within seconds of reaching an FA Cup Final. Just four years later we find ourselves somewhat relieved at having staved off relegation to the bottom rung of the Football League. Within the past few weeks Neil Warnock has departed as manager, citing the Club's financial situation and a lack of short-term ambition as his principal reasons for leaving. Mr Warnock states that he was recently prevented from competing for the signatures of players available on free transfers, a stance which represents the final straw for many Athletic fans - effective abdication by the club from the transfer market. After all, players don't come any cheaper than that. Graeme Sharp resigned just fifteen months before this, citing almost identical reasons and saying that he had been "banging my head against a brick wall". Can they both be wrong?

The Touche Ross Survey of Football Club Accounts for the 1993/94 season reveals that that season Oldham Athletic earned £5,764,000. This figure is extracted from the Club's own audited accounts, it takes no account of either incoming or outgoing transfer fees and is, in effect, the revenue earned by the Club from supporters, sponsors and TV companies. Oldham Athletic were earning more money than Coventry City, Ipswich, Sheffield United, Southampton, Swindon, Wimbledon, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Bolton, Bristol City, Charlton Athletic, Derby County, Middlesborough, Sunderland, West Brom, Wolves and Huddersfield Town. All those clubs have since enjoyed far more success than we have. Why?

We know that J W Lees & Co (Brewers) Ltd owns almost 48 per cent of the issued voting shares in the club. Can this really be a healthy situation for the Latics and their supporters to find themselves in? Three directors of the brewery awarded themselves pay totalling £658,377 in respect of the year ended 31 March 1997. The brewery's income during the year ended 31 March 1997 was £32,743,910 on which it made a pre-tax profit of £2,062,460. Hardly the stuff of a small local concern which the brewery likes to portray itself as being.

The brewery acquired its major shareholding in the club in June 1974 from the estate of the previous Chairman, John Lowe. The cost of their investment is stated in their own accounts as £45,419. How much are those shares worth in today's market? The figure undoubtedly would run into millions, especially if the new stadium is built. For £45,419 J W Lees certainly spotted a great investment opportunity for their trusts.

It is also suggested that the brewery bailed the club out in 1982 with stories suggesting that the brewery paid the players' wages for approximately six months, thereby creating a debt of approximately £60-80,000. They did not do this without a substantial reward, however, allegedly taking the Clayton Arms and Sports Hall complex (then the Boundary Club) in lieu of the money they had paid out. In the light of the lucrative performance of said properties since then it seems that J W Lees spotted yet another investment opportunity for their trusts.

JW Lees has starved the club of investment and has presided over a freefall towards football oblivion? What has happened in recent years is simply unacceptable. If the brewery is either unwilling or unable to make this investment then they should, if they have "the best interests of the club at heart"", make way for someone who will or encourage outside investment.

Todays front page cover profiles Andy ‘Stitch’ Ritchie, the new manager of Athletic. Andy, who has a brand of Cola named after him, has finally landed the job he (and most of the Latics fans) has been hoping for since Joe Royle left. His story is documented fully in this programme but read about his first official introduction to The Chairman on our web-page at www.angelfire.com/mo/latics/Trivia.html It does make interesting reading.

Who killed Davey Moore?
Why an' what's the reason for?

“Not I”, says the referee,
“Don't point your finger at me”.

Who killed Davey Moore?
Why an' what's the reason for?

“Not us”, says the angry crowd,
Whose screams filled the arena loud.

Who killed Davey Moore?
Why an' what's the reason for?

“Not me”, says the manager,
Puffing on a big cigar.

Who killed Davey Moore?
Why an' what's the reason for?

Who killed Davey Moore?
Why an' what's the reason for?

Bob Dylan “Freewheefin Bob Dylan”, 1964 (Submitted by our own number 17)

NEIL WARNOCK was recently shown the Boundary Park exit door after less than 15 months as Athletic manager. The board of directors issued a statement saying Warnock was not being offered a new contract. Warnock, whose No.2 Ron Reid will also be leaving, described the departure as being by "mutual consent." It is clear by the the statements issued by Warnock and the board that the club's financial troubles and future direction had a major bearing on the decision. Athletic's board said: "This is not a reflection on his abilities as a manager. The club feels that in the next few seasons our future will lie with the young players. Mr Warnock's strength lies particularly with the more seasoned professionals and his record in that direction speaks itself."

"We have, after discussions with Mr Warnock, agreed we need to look in another direction for somebody who has particular expertise with the younger players." Warnock, who in recent weeks had expressed a desire to remain at Boundary Park, was clearly disappointed. But he did not want to stay without the unanimous backing of the board. Warnock said: "The fact that negotiations have been so protracted - they have been longer than Coronation Street - shows it is obvious I did not have the total backing of every member of the board, and I only want to work with people who totally back me."

"I don't think little over 12 months is long enough to do the job. It has taken me two years at every other club, Plymouth apart, to win promotion. I am ambitious, having won five promotions. Dave Bassett holds the record with seven and that is something I am aiming for." Warnock added that the financial troubles undoubtedly had a bearing on his departure.

Oldham’s favourite son Andy Ritchie has been confirmed as the new boss of Boundary Park. Ritchie got the job at the third time of trying, having been previously beaten to the post by Graeme Sharp in 1994 and Neil Warnock just fifteen months ago. Since then Ritchie has operated as Warnock’s right-hand man, although the appointment of Ron Reid as ‘Assistant Manager’ in May last year did cause considerable confusion amongst supporters as to the respective responsibilities of the management trio.

"I am delighted to have got the job and I am looking forward to next season to see how far we can go." said the delighted Ritchie. "I know it is not going to be easy but Billy and myself will be working hard to make sure the fans have something to look forward to."

Ritchie’s right-hand man will be the experienced youth coach Billy Urmson. Urmson (58) has been at Athletic since 1976 and has overseen the progression of a number of notable youngsters through the Boundary Park ranks. The likes of Nick Henry, Paul Gerard, Mike Milligan, Paul Bernard, Carl Serrant and Richard Graham (worth a small fortune to the club) are all testament to his ability in bringing through the club’s youngsters and he was given a testimonial game (against Burnley) in recognition of his services to the club in 1994. This will be Urmson’s second experience of management after previously taking joint-charge of the Latics for one game in 1997 (A 3-1 defeat at Oxford United) after Graeme Sharp’s resignation. The appointment of a successor to Urmson’s position has yet to be made. One of the frontrunners for this would appear to be Peter Lowe who is currently Director of Youth Development at Athletic.

Chairman Ian Stott welcomed the partnership as the ideal ticket to tackle Athletic’s proclaimed new ‘strategy’ of placing faith in the club’s youngsters. It is more than clear, however, that this policy is not so much a strategic decision but more a reality forced upon the club by the lack of investment by major shareholders J W Lees, who seem content to see Athletic flounder. Whilst most supporters feel that Ritchie has earned the position through his sheer loyalty there is also a widespread recognition that this dual appointment - coming from within the current coaching staff - was by far the cheapest option available to the board. The appointment of a promising outsider, such as Macclesfield’s Sammy McIlroy, would have cost the club thousands in terms of compensation and signing-on fees. Indeed, perhaps McIlroy’s insistence that he would want to bring in his entire backroom team was the thing that made Athletic’s board members’ minds up.

The LSC would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Andy Ritchie in finally attaining his dream job. In Ritchie and Urmson we now possibly have the club’s two most loyal servants of the modern era at the helm. We would also, however, like to point out that whatever Andy’s merits as team manager hopefully turn out to be he still has an arduous task ahead with his hands tied in the transfer market and the club continuing with the policy of selling off its best talent. Let’s hope Ritchie's dream doesn’t quickly become the nightmare it was for Messrs Sharp and Warnock.

The Chairman will be making a collection at the end of the meeting. Donations may be deposited into the silver platter in an envelope to avoid embarassment.

       P   Won       Drawn     Lost      For        Against    Points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Home   23  13 (57%)  7 (30%)   3 (13%)   43 (1.9)   23 (1.0)   46 (2.0)
Away   23  2 (9%)    9 (39%)   12 (52%)  19 (0.8)   31 (1.3)   15 (0.7)

Total  46  15 (33%)  16 (35%)  15 (33%)  62 (1.3)   54 (1.2)   61 (1.3)
Averages per game in (brackets)

League position:            13th
Attendance league position: 11th
Highest league position:    3rd
Lowest league position:     16th

AVERAGE HOME ATTENDANCE: 5,588
HIGHEST HOME ATTENDANCE: 28/04/98 - Burnley (9,781)
LOWEST HOME ATTENDANCE: 04/04/98 - Plymouth Argyle
(4,244)
BEST WIN: 27/01/98 - Wrexham (3-0)
HEAVIEST DEFEAT: 16/08/97 - Wrexham (1-3), 04/10/97 - Fulham
(1-3), 21/02/98 - Bristol Rovers (1-3), 11/04/98 - Carlisle United (1-3)
BEST HOME WIN: 27/01/98 - Wrexham (3-0)
HEAVIEST HOME DEFEAT: 07/02/98 - Blackpool (0-1), 31/03/98 -
Bristol City (1-2), 13/04/98 - Wycombe Wanderers (0-1)
BEST AWAY WIN: 29/11/97 - Plymouth Argyle (2-0), 02/05/98 -
Grimsby Town (2-0)
HEAVIEST AWAY DEFEAT: 16/08/97 - Wrexham (1-3), 04/10/97 -
Fulham (1-3), 21/02/98 - Bristol Rovers (1-3),11/04/98 - Carlisle
United (1-3)

Please help!
A large silver plant pot, with a gold crown on top has gone missing from the potting shed at Old Trafford. Last seen going down the M1 in a BMW with the registration number ARS 1. I want it back as I keep my geraniums in it.

Signed Fergie

I don’t mean to be unsympathetic but....................
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Dan

Overseas Supporters & the LSC
I have posted the message below in response to your e-mail. I was only repeating something I had heard about it being more of a social club - I mean 88 members!! You couldn't get 88 people to admit they supported Latics in Oldham a few years back!!! and it's probably true once more now...

"I hereby apologise unreservedly to all the members of the LSC who I so wrongly accused of the heinous crime of not supporting the worlds greatest soccer, oops, football team OAFC. My rather pitiful excuse is that after supporting the Latics spiritually (?) since I was a nipper & then physically (?) since 1977 I then became disillusioned in the heady days of the "Pinch Me" season by bandwagon-fans (who have now moved onto ManUre and are already buying their Arsenal kits as I write) and celebrity hangers-on like Cannon & Ball, Morgans Every Which Way, "Jenny" from Coronation Street etc. etc.

I hope some day to visit your club and after already sampling the delights of the lovely cities of Vancouver & Victoria, I am sure Sidney will be equally pleasant and more so with the presence of so many "Blues" like me. (Is that enough grovelling, Dave?!?)"

As I said in the text I have been "up north" a few times and thought about tracking your club down but with my wife being a "Red" (aaaagh! in an e-mail from him Carl Marsden he said he "doesn't know how I do it"!!) I decided to leave it... but as my upper class (Clarksfield!!) in-laws often tell me "you can take the boy out of Derker but you can't take the Derker out of the boy" so any chance to share Latics anecdotes over a shandy or two would be a welcome relief from American "soccer" fans and their obsession with equipment rather than the game itself - have you noticed this? They go on and on about boots & the balls etc. etc.....

Anyway, as for your trip to Seattle I am currently playing in a 6-a-side coed (mixed) soccer team so I could probably get a team together to give you a game. We have quite an age range - I am 32 and we have a 40-something and a couple of 50-somethings but the rest are mostly younger than me. If you don't fancy giving us a caning then I would have to ask around. Have you been to the George & Dragon British Pub in Seattle (web site: http://www.georgeanddragonpub.com/main.html ) They have a team but they look pretty handy but they might know a team in your league.

Cheers, Martin

It is a step in the right direction. Since emigrating to Canada in 1990 and travelling back to Wembley two weeks after emigration (read about this in the Vol 2 Number 2 programme soon to be published on the net), I have worked my footballs off to establish a new breed of Latics supporter. It does not do justice to the LSC to suggest that they do not support the world famous team. We have converts from Tranmere, Manchester City and Glasgow Rangers in our ranks and we even have a 'Red (can't print the name due to prejudice)' fan who turns up when a programme is issued as he likes to read the ManUre jokes! We are currently trying to convert a Grimsby fan too but there's something fishy about him so we're working on him 'just for the halibut'. We used to have a regular weekly average turn out of 40 members but since the drop in stature our average now tends to be in the 26 range. The attendance is recorded and published every week in the 'Seniority List'. There are no made up numbers (why would anyone bother - even I don't have an ego that big) so see for yourselves.

Please feel free to drop in on one of our meetings to do a spot check. I'll even get the Chairman to buy your beer if you're a genuine out of town visitor. I know it's an embarrassment that there are more supporters in the LSC than there are in some of the Oldham Supporters Clubs but that's the way it is. So, get behind the team and supporters unite! We're all for the cause. Come on you blues..............................

Dan

Case 1
Name: Fisher Crockett (Member Standing: 6 years)
D.o.B: 5th. December 44

Offence: On 10th. April 1998 Mr. Crockett became the first ‘top six’ member to be issued with a yellow card for failure to procure his beer-mat in the proper protocol. Mr. Fisher further exasperated the situation by suggesting that the yellow card was ‘petty’ as he was in a generous mood and allowed a member junior to his standing to use the said beer-mat.

Action: Mr. Crockett was relegated to the Privvy Division for a period of one week. Upon his return to the club he was seen to have succumed to the error of his ways and was reinstated to his previous stature without penalty. This action was lenient due to this being the first misdemeanour ever for the said offence.

Case 2
Name: Bruce Jupp (Member Standing: 3 years)

Action: The disciplinary committee of the LSC (more commonly known as ‘The Chairman’ and ‘Dan’) would like to publicly apologise to Mr. Jupp regarding the false impression recently given regarding the disciplinary action issued on 27th. March 98. It was stated that Mr. Jupp was born in the year 1943. After investigation, it was discovered that Mr. Jupp was in fact, born in 1939. The LSC wishes to publicly apologise for any embarrassment caused to Mr. Jupp in this matter.