26/04/2005 12:05:18 pm



WEDNESDAY 0-0 Stockport

What a wierd day.

Started well. Atmosphere was superb with balloons all around the ground, as well as the Kop flag out, and the Wednesday fans were really getting behind the lads.

Balloons on the Kop, as well as a lack of support from the visitors..
The Kop in all it's glory
Kop Flag

Soon turned sour though. Turner was returning to Hillsborough for the first time since he was sacked earlier in the season, and he brought his already relegated Stockport side with one intention - to stifle and frustrate us. Stockport were time wasting from minute 1, kicking the ball away, taking ages with throwins and making substitutions at daft times to just to waste the seconds. Whenever they got the ball, they simply hoofed it out of play, and made no attempt at all to play any standard of Football. To compound this, some shockingly inconsistent refereeing hardly helped matters.

However, in a day where only Luton won in the top 7, the point was enough to take us up 2 places back into the play-offs. We should have won, and the 3 points would have gone a huge distance considering results elsewhere. We're still up against it to make the play-offs, but we can still do this.

Come on Wednesday!

17/04/2005 6:54:34 pm



Hartlepool 3-0 WEDNESDAY

I couldn't get a ticket in Hartlepool's pawltry away end for this one. Thank god..

In absaloutley shocking conditions, we were bloody awfull, and steamrollering us seemed an easy task for a resillient 'Pool's team. Adam Boyd set the tone of the game early on with an effort inside 2 minutes, and he doubled his tally not long after. A second half lob completed the hat-trick to send the Owls Travelling Army home very unhappy.

We're also now out of the top 6 for the first time since Boxing Day, and 3 points from a possible 18 is horrible form. We can still do it though. Bournemouth and Hartlepool play each other on the last day, and both have tricky run-ins before that game too. If we win our final 3 games, we're in the play-offs. Simple as that. With one of those 3 being already promoted Hull City away though, it's going to be tough.

COME ON WEDNESDAY!

11/04/2005 1:33:34 pm

Boundary Park

Well, Boundary Park was a typically fun day out. So much fun that i'm going to review the occasion, as i will with every away day.

Ease to get to

Boundary Park is a relativley easy ground to get to by car. If you leave the M62 at Junction 20, take the A627 towards Oldham, and follow the signs for Royton, the A663. Continue untill you get to the top of a slip road, and you will be able to see Boundary Park on your right hand side. Follow the roundabout around untill you head towards the ground, where there is ample parking for both home and away fans. Parking is £2 for cars, £5 for minibuses and £10 for coaches. We took the rather scenic route over the pennines and got lost a couple of time, but we were never far from the set route and found the ground with relative ease.

Local Facilities

In terms of the aforementioned parking, Oldham is probably the best ground i have been to. The huge car park is a welcome part of the experience, while a large retail park less than a 5 minute walk away provides further extra parking spaces. This retail park also provides plenty of food spots, meaning wheather your after a KFC, McDonald's or Pizza Hut, you can find it just a short walk from the ground. For drinking, we found "The Greyhound", a quaint little pub situated just at the back of a rather posh housing estate. Again, the ground is barely 5 minutes walk from the ground. The locals were warm and friendly, and away fans were able to come and go with colors showing as they pleased. Inside, the food and drink is fashionably overpriced and nasty, although i hear the Pukka Pies are nice.

The Ground

Run down and delapedated, Boundary Park is certainly proof of the trying financial times of lower league football, and it's hard to imagine that top flight football in the stadium wasn't that many moons in the past. Holding a total capacity of just above 13,000, Boundary Park could do with some renevating. The Broadway and Pukka Pies stands to the sides of the pitch are the most badly affected by the times, while the suppporting pillars in the SSL International Chaddy End show further proof of the grounds age. I like it though. It's a nice, friendly traditional football stadium, and i'd far sooner come to more grounds like Boundary Park than the bland and stale modern Arenas that keep springing up around the country.

Away fans are situated in the more modern, if strangley named "Slumberland Dunlopillo" Stand. The normal allocation is around 1800, although the entire end can house 4000 for the visit of larger followings. A strange addition to this stand is a large gap that splits the stand apart. Used to segregate home and away fans when nescesary, this gaping whole is certainly one of the more pecuilar things i have ever seen incorporated into a stand design. Wednesday's large away following of around 3600 fans were obviously situated on either side of the gap, with some using it's metal hordings as a makeshift steel drum, banging away to their hearts content. The acoustics in the stand are also excellent. Loud and boystrous followings like the one we took will have a field day creating an atmosphere in the loud surroundings.

One word of warning though, Boundary Park is cold, so wrap up warm. The second highest ground in the football league (behind Vale Park i believe), the weather can be grim and miserable at the best of times, and the swirling wind will batter all sides of the stadium tirelessley.

All in All?

An excellent day at Oldham, thoroughly enjoyable. Relativley easy to get to with plenty of motorway access, ample parking, good facilities around the ground and a decent day once inside, Boundary Park is certainly a decent day out. It's a cold ground that certainly needs a lick of paint, but thankfully away fans are situated in the newer and far nicer of the 4 stands. I'll certainly be returning the next time we play the Latics.

*Picture and video coming soon*

07/04/2005 11:23:36 am

Hull Away

Well, i've just got back from Hillsborough..

Hull City away, sold out within 2 hours of tickets going on sale to season ticket holders.

Did i get a ticket? No.

Bloody furious. Hull have given the divisions biggest away following just 2000 tickets, when the away end is capable of housing 4000. I was one of the unfortunate folks in the que when the nice lady came out and told us they were all sold out. We put our name and number's down though, so if any more tickets come available either by a fresh allocation or through returns, we've got first dibs.

Bollards..

05/04/2005 2:52:43 pm



Got my tickets for Oldham away yesterday morning. Doesn't look too bad a ground for this league. Wednesday taking a typically strong following again, full allocation of 4000 going. Should be fun for my first visit to Boundary Park. Cant wait!

Must win game too. 2 wins and a draw should be enough to seal a play-off place, taking fixtures elswhere into account, and i'm looking at this and Stockport at home as the 2 real must win games. The other games remaining are Hartlepool (A), Hull (A) and Bristol City (H), so got to pick up points at Oldham this Saturday..

05/04/2005 2:46:39 pm

Shameless Plug Alert:

Link to my Championship Manager 5 Review, only on Gamers Europe!

I'm getting rid of the link to my review to make way for my blog link, so gotta stick the review link in here to compensate..

17/06/2004 8:45:15 pm

Hey up lads,

Decided i'm going to start using this little space to air my thoughts, keep things down and just.. well.. spam really. Everyone else seems to update theirs regularly and some are quite funky to read, so hopefully i can use mine for the same purpose..

Of course, this was previously the CMFC page, but that's fallen on deaf ears so.. meh. It's my personnal space now. Mwaahaha. Or Something.

Keep reading!