Tims 92

Oldham Athletic

Boundary Park

Ground No. 112

Visited - Saturday 23rd December 2006
Result - Oldham Athletic 3-0 Northampton Town
Competition - Coca-Cola League 1
Attendance - 10,207

Originally, I had planned to leave Boundary Park until the last ground to visit, but when Oldham announced ticket prices for their pre-xmas games were being reduced to just £2, then it was too good an offer to miss!

Despite leaving it until last (or more to the point, because of), I was looking forward to visiting, so I set out on the morning of the game in a good mood, catching the train northwards to Manchester, where there was a quick change between Piccadilly and Victoria stations, before arriving into Oldham just after 11am.

As usual, I decided to go straight to the ground to see if I could take a few pictures, which proved not to be a problem. Coming in through the Main Stand, to the left was the Chadderton Road End, which was a former terrace with seats bolted on, almost tucked away under a large pitched roof that had a number of pillars running across the front of the stand. The corners either side were filled in, not with seats, but press (or executive?) boxes raised above the ground, where on top of one stood an owl statue. Opposite was the Broadway Stand which had an uncovered lower tier running the length of the pitch, with a smaller, covered tier above that that had the clubs name printed on the back wall in a classic style. To the right was the Rochdale Road End, which was the most modern stand at the ground, with a single tier of seating covered by a cantilever roof that sloped down at the front, giving it a more interesting look than stands of similar capacity and age, Completing the picture at Boundary Park was the Main Stand itself, which didn’t quite run the length of the pitch, sitting on the halfway line and ending just before each penalty box. This had two tiers with the upper section being slightly cranked towards the Chadderton Road End. The outside of this stand had a classic look to it, with a brick façade that fitted right in with the terraced houses opposite, evoking thoughts of years gone by. Finally, towering over the ground were four traditional floodlights that helped add to the charm of the venue.

Having taken enough pictures, and visited the club shop, I went back to town to take up the next few hours, finding a nice pub called The Three Crowns, before coming back to the ground, ready to go in at about 2:45pm.

I’d chosen to sit in the Rochdale Road End, which was unreserved seating, so after finding a good seat, the game got started. Oldham had been in good form before this, and from the off they went right at Northampton, forcing several chances early on, before in the 22nd minute they took the lead through Gary McDonald, who headed home a cross from the left. It didn’t take them long to find a second, although not before Northampton had forced a good save from Les Pogliacomi in the home goal, but it was from that that the hosts broke away, finding Chris Porter in space, who was able to run at the Northampton goal, only to have his first shot saved by the visitors ‘keeper, but he managed to score the rebound, making it 2-0 at the break.

The second half was more even than the first, but Oldham were able to put the game beyond the visitors in the 61st minute when Andy Liddel managed to poke home from close range, and after that there was only ever going to be one winner, with Northampton going home pointless after sacking their manager in the days leading up to the game.

With a bumper crowd in, most went home happy at the end, with the reduced price ticket offer having done its job, so after leaving myself, I went back to the station, getting home in good time.

Overall, it had been a fairly good day out, I was glad to visit the ground as it’s probably one of the more interesting ones left in the league, which sadly looks like it won’t last much longer, with redevelopment plans in the offing, so with that in mind, a visit is recommended before in the name of progress the bulldozers destroy all the charm that the ground has left.