Behind the Goal Line 2025:A Ball Boy’s Mum’s View of Life with Oldham Athletic

Pre-Match Panic: When Sandwiches Become Security Risks Early kick-off at 12:30 meant getting Odie there for 12, and I’d sensibly packed a cheese and ham baguette for lunch. What I hadn’t counted on was the turnstiles treating my sandwich like some kind of security threat! “You can’t come in with that,” they said. Cue me scoffing my baguette as fast as humanly possible in the car park, trying not to choke while watching other fans stroll past with their perfectly acceptable pies. Sometimes football throws you curveballs before you even get through the gate! Bouncing Boundary Park and Early Drama Strong team sheet and a bouncing crowd - over 7,000 at Boundary Park! The atmosphere was electric, and we were all hoping we’d get going from the kick-off. Well, we got going alright - 60 seconds in and Robson picks up a yellow card for a scrappy tackle. You know it’s going to be one of those games when the cards are flying before you’ve even settled into your seat. Five minutes in and disaster ...

The Great Saturday Dash (And Essential Travel Snacks) 300-mile round trip to Cheltenham today, but not before a mad dash from Odie’s under-12s game in Bury! Nothing like a bit of Saturday football chaos to get the adrenaline pumping before the main event. Worth every minute of rushing about though, especially for those precious cuddles with Max the assistance dog (with permission from his owner John, of course!). Sometimes the pre-match highlights are just as important as the 90 minutes that follow. Essential Travel Snacks Check: • ✅ Bag of Haribo Tangfastics (kids and grown-ups love them so!) • ✅ Cadbury Dairy Milk bar • ✅ Orange Boost No service stations needed on the way down - we came prepared! Though we did earn ourselves a well-deserved stop at Hilton Park on the way back for a proper brew. More on why that was so desperately needed later… Hudson’s Milestone and Early Dominance Another milestone day for our Matthew Hudson - 33 clean sheets in 102 games! The man’s beco...

History in the Making Back at Boundary Park following our breakthrough win away last week, and today felt special before we even kicked off. If we beat Bromley, we’ll have beaten every team in the EFL - all 91 teams over our history! Could today be the day? It felt like it was written in the stars. Pre-match ceremonies honoring Matthew Hudson, Mike Fondop, and Mickey Mellon for reaching 100 games each. Three milestones, one afternoon, and the big question - could this be the game to finally get Fondop on the scoresheet? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves - Bromley came to Boundary Park unbeaten this season. This was never going to be easy. Four Seasons in 90 Minutes We started bright from the first whistle - up for it, playing great football, and looking like a team that remembered how to win. End-to-end stuff in the first half, though neither team really tested the keepers properly. The biggest threat came from above - those dark clouds looming over Boundary Park, threatening to ste...

International Break? Not in League Two! While the big boys are off playing for their countries during the international break, we're still grinding away in League Two - and thank goodness for that! Away at Cambridge United today, and once again we're watching from the sofa while 740 magnificent Oldham fans make the journey south. You could hear them loud and proud through the TV! 👏🏻  What a following - nearly three-quarters of a thousand people giving up their Saturday for the Latics. That's what proper support looks like. Hudson's Century & Family Debuts Big day for Matthew Hudson - his 100th game for Oldham Athletic! What better way to celebrate than with a clean sheet? The lad's been consistently brilliant for us, so here's hoping milestone matches bring milestone performances. But the real story today was the Mellon family. With Quigley serving a 2-match ban for something that happened on our last away trip (apparently something offensive to the fans -...