A Memory; 15th April 1989

15th April 1989

I'm not always the best at remembering times, dates and places.  When people talk about 'JFK' moments I sometimes wonder how they possibly remember such detail.  But I do remember the circumstances 23 years ago.  I was at a football match.

10 years old, and 8 months into my first season with a proper season ticket I was with my dad at the game.  Oldham v Sunderland, a game that finished.  It finished 2-2, and I now know carried very little significance for either side, but for the 10 year old me every game was a huge event.

I sat in my seat in the Martins Stand, a stand that no longer exists at Boundary Park, the stand I spent so many hours of my formative football supporting years.  Gazing down on the hallowed plastic turf, it was the sounds and smells of those years that I still hold to this day.  The heady mix of pastry, mixed with 5,000 musty coats, bovril and a cloud of cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke.

Pushing through the tight corridor that ran below the stand, Waggon Wheel (which was huge in those days) and spearmint tab chewing gum in hand I'd turn to my left and head up towards the light at the top of the concrete staircase.  That small staircase seemed to be soundproofed, the buzz of noise hitting me as emerged from the gloom.

I was always aware of the mass of blue metal that surrounded the terraces.  Indeed, I doubt I'm alone in having many fond memories of the cages and barriers at games, especially for those of a similar age.  Many a time the back overhang of the perimeter fence made a fantastic climbing frame in my early days stood on the Chaddy End.  To me, the mass of metal at a football ground was a playground, not a potential death trap.

Even in the relatively small crowds at Oldham I'd stood on the same terrace in previous seasons and felt the surge of the crowd as one of our hero's on the pitch fired a shot fizzing into the net.  Allied to the joy of a goal, the surge of the crowd was an exhilarating experience.

Still I stood that day in the relative comfort of the upper tier of the Martins Stand, looking down on the home terrace, the Chaddy End and on the fans massing together.  I made my way up to my solid, squeaking seat.  Shortly after, the game with Sunderland started.

Less than 10 mins into the game I noticed for the first time my dad speaking with the gents around us.  I heard something, "Liverpool and Forest", I knew it was the FA Cup semi-final that day...had someone scored dad?  An incident on our pitch took my attention.  What was going on?  The click and buzz of transistor radios seemed to be louder than I'd ever heard during a game before.  Normally that was a sound saved for half-time. 

Back to the game, a chance, a tackle I was in the moment.  More strange conversations, phrases like "has a wall collapsed?", "on the pitch", "fans injured" caught my attention again.  What's happened dad?  Nobody really knew, a mass of half conversations becoming rumour and crackly transistor signals couldn't convey a clear story.  My dad wasn't sure what to tell me, too many differing stories.

Something had gone wrong, we both knew that much for sure.

At some point an announcement came over the PA system with some news from the FA Cup Semi-Final match.  There'd been a crowd incident, people were dead and injured.  I could hear the tone of the conversations change around me.

None of us truly knew what had happened, but we immediately knew that 30 miles away, at a football match just like ours, some people wouldn't be walking away from Hillsborough stadium.

96 didn't.

Chapter 1. 1986, Mexico, Pear Drops and Thighs

Pear Drops. 

Their yellow and red halves and distinctive perfumed smell brings back one memory for me, good work stamps delivered by Mr Broadhurst. 

Mr Broadhurst was a wonderful headteacher at my primary school in Chadderton a small historic town in Oldham, Lancashire.  An archetypal head, his presence in a classroom commanded respect and however itchy the carpet tiles were you sat in silence whilst he delivered whatever news he needed to.  I never knew how old he was.  To an 8 year old boy I had two real guides to the age of adults my Dad and my grandparents.  To me Mr Broadhurst was an age somewhere in between which by deduction now would put him older than 34 and younger than 66.  Not exactly narrow, but you know what I mean.  He always wore a suit, though I do remember the odd occasion when he was jacket-less with sleeves rolled up, mainly school sports day when the slightly musky smelling hessian sacks were taken out of the PE cupboard (a store room with a beige crinkly ‘concertina’ door) and taken to the playing field for the sack race.  Mr Broadhurst had a Theo Paphitis style hairline and a friendly, but stern face. 

I only remember one occasion when I ended up at the Headmasters office, but for the life of me I can’t remember why.  I’d like to think it was on account of something brilliant I’d done, but I know it wasn’t.  After all when you’d done something good there was a system hard wired into the school processes.  It was quickly learnt by every pupil from the day you walked through the green-painted iron gates and involved Pear Drops!

Having run my own Sweet Shop I can confirm to all of you that these were what are known as ‘Northern’ Pear Drops.   Obviously being northern and eight years old I knew them only as Pear Drops, and coming from a family where sweets really were a treat I had very little other contact with them.  You’ll know the sweets I mean, a fantastically perfumed smell, kind of sweet and so distinctive.  They had one red side and one yellow side magically stuck together in the shape of a conference pear.  For those of you still interested, ‘Southern’ Pear Drops are slightly smaller and instead of having a red half and a yellow half, they tend to come in a mix of red sweets and yellow sweets.  To me these aren’t Pear Drops.  I’ve seen the biggest Pear Drop in the world at Oswaldtwistle Mills in Accrington and it has a red half and a yellow half, now that is a Pear Drop!

Each time I get a whiff of that lovely sweet smell it is linked to happiness, success and red ink. 

The reason for this was purely down to Mr Broadhurst and the ‘Good Work’ stamp.  Distant memory prevents me from being sure as to how often Mr Broadhurst would leave his office and venture into the 8 classrooms, 3 kg jar of Pear Drops under his arm but I’m sure it was once a week, a Friday in fact.  Working away in our exercise books each week, adding, learning our times-tables, spelling, story writing we’d hand the books over to our teacher after every exercise and hope with each delivery we’d see a tick (in red ink).  If we’d managed to impress by some unknown force that had elevated our scribes to Einstein-like levels there’d be an even more glorious sight...two ticks!  Two ticks, our pass to rewards beyond our wildest dreams.  It was our very own Golden Ticket, granting us an audience with our very own Willy Wonka with none of the songs and a lot less hair than Gene Wilder (still the best Wonka).  Two ticks meant the classroom visit by Mr Broadhurst that Friday was going to involve you. 

You had performed so well that you, and hopefully a couple of others, (you don’t want to look like a swot) had the pleasure of lining up to present your exercise book to receive both a Pear Drop and a ‘Good Work’ stamp in your book.  You’d cracked it, a friendly ‘well done’ from Mr Broadhurst unregistered as the senses were overtaken by the hard boiled, sugar coated reward that you popped straight into your mouth so as not to risk dropping on the triumphant walk back to your desk; admired by all around you (ok so maybe just ignored because they didn’t get a sweet). 

I’m pretty sure it was my parents and their emphasis on academic achievement that meant I generally performed well at school, but I’m not ruling out that it may just have been that addictive combination of sugar and glory that drove me on for the next 10 years.  Like a dog belonging to Pavlov I still feel the need to write my times tables accurately in an exercise book whenever I scent a Pear Drop.

It was against this background of academic achievement and sugar rushes that I discovered the one love in my life that has remained constant since those heady days in 1986.  It was August 1986, just before term started at Christ Church, Chadderton that my dad made a decision that I’ve come to love him and loathe him for in equal measure ever since.  He won’t take offence at that, after all he’s a football fan, he knows where I’m coming from.

1986 will hold significance for most football fans, after all it is a World Cup year.  One of those summers that every football fan in the country avoids organising any social event for June on the basis that this may just be the year England finally get their act together.  People in the bubble that is top football these days miss this significance.  They miss the fact that many of us fans will have gone through several arguments, much heartache and having to make excuses to cousin Stacey as to why you will have to duck out of the wedding 3 hours early in order to watch another 0-0 draw against the might of a pumped up Tunisia.  Travelling 3000 miles to Qatar or wherever pales into insignificance against the hours of stress we’ve undertaken just to tune in to see 11 prima-donas feeling a  bit bothered because they’ve not been allowed to spend 36 consecutive hours playing the latest console game.

The days of 1986 were slightly different though, especially when you were 8. 

Fans of a certain age and older will remember the days when wall to wall coverage of the beautiful game were merely a spark in an Australian media-magnates eye.  Football knowledge was something to be proud of. 

Certain key (if ultimately useless) facts were passed down from football encyclopaedia to Shoot or Match magazine.  Manchester United used to be Newton Heath, Arsenal’s Highbury ground had the Marble Hall, the FA Cup winners from 1977 to 1986 were... . 

I’d learnt what the offside trap was from my dad and watching him play on a Saturday morning on the muddy playing fields around Oldham, and the glorious annuals, magazines and Skills, Tricks and Tactics books with distinctive illustrations.  There weren’t countless ex-footballer lining up with every clichéd sound-bite about zonal marking, tactical naivety or pressing game.  We learnt what we did through the occasional sneaky Match of the Day viewing, books and word of mouth. 

As for branding and marketing, these were things that Coca-Cola and Amstrad did.  Football teams sold advertising boards at the ground and sponsorship on shirts – that was it.

There weren’t endless column inches and TV stories on the World Cup football design and how it was tested.  It was just the ball and you kicked it.

Generally as a boy under the age of 11 the only footballs we got to play with were Mitre size 4 pimples (not their real name).  These were the footballs that are the stuff of nightmares still for many 30 somethings.  Anyone reading this who had the pleasure of playing a game with these balls will know exactly what I mean.  Especially those that ever had the pleasure of playing on a cold, wet day and being approximately 2 yards away from the lad with the hardest shot on the opposition.  The feel of ball hitting sub-zero temperature exposed thigh was bad enough, but the distinctive red ball-shaped slap mark it left in said area came with free pimple imprints and if you got it right, the Mitre logo tattooed in broken skin was lasting.

By the summer of 1986 I’d reached 8 years old and my interest in football had begun.  I’d played it for hours for many years before then, I’d read about it, but I this was far more interesting than anything viewing of it.  I still maintain that 8 years old (possibly 7) is the healthy age for any young child to begin their football journey.  For one thing you can remember stuff after the age of 7.  Before that age I have flashes of memories, but these are always fleeting.  By the age of 7 I had timelines and a curiosity to discover more about this most enthralling of games. By the summer of 1986 I also had another essential tool in the armoury of any aspiring football follower, a Panini sticker album.  But more on that later.

I’d watched the 1986 FA Cup final between Liverpool and Everton and for some reason felt disappointed Everton had lost.  That was the final when an Ian Rush shot knocked down the camera as it hit the back of the net.  I don’t know why I felt anything about this game, my family have no connection with either club, but I think it must have been an instinctive feel for the team in blue.  Well that and my mum’s love of Gary Lineker’s thighs which she continues to mention to this day.  I think I wanted Gary to be on the winning team just for my mum’s benefit.

The mind of a football fan is one that is puzzling for many non-followers.  Whatever team we support we generally share some key memories, things that qualify the real football fans from those ‘fashionable followers’.  These are:

• The First FA Cup final you watched (all day coverage!)
• The First World Cup you watched (and supported a team at)
• The First game you went to (and were old enough to remember it)

All three of those happened to me in 1986.  My first FA Cup (I remember watching the whole day of coverage just like it used to be) was Liverpool v Everton.  My first World Cup was Mexico 1986 with Lineker, Bobby Robson and Maradonna.  Last but certainly not least was my first Oldham Athletic game on Saturday 30^th August at Boundary Park against the might of Hull City.

What the PFA Chairman had to say on Social Media

Those of you who read my article on how football clubs can benefit from Social Media saw just how important it is for clubs and players to embrace social media.  As a communication tool, Social Media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook offer clubs of all sizes the opportunity to stretch increasingly tight marketing budgets whilst increasing the interaction with fans and more importantly securing the fans of the future.

There is no doubt that football isn’t alone in its slowness to embrace Social Media, however that is changing.  Certainly the players themselves are already seeing the potential of the tools and the additional rewards it can bring financially, personal brand-wise and that human connection.  They are, perhaps most importantly, alive to the potential of such an area. 

PFA Chairman and current Preston North End defender, Clarke Carlisle certainly took an interest in my article.  Speaking to me, Clarke was definite about just how important Social Media is for football in general.  In response to my article Clarke said...

“Interesting view on the social media from a fan's perspective, I can see how they feel under-appreciated by the approach of many clubs.

We are continuing to impress on players and clubs the importance of knowledge about social media, and responsible usage, but also, like the blog alluded to, the unbelievable potential of this technological age.

The most salient point though, by a country mile, is the relevance of it all to the player/fan of tomorrow. My daughter is 13 and is on her 3^rd smartphone already! This is the media of now, of today and of the future generations and we, as an entire industry, need to get to grips with that, quick sticks!”  Clarke Carlisle, Twitter Jan 2012

Social Media can be an essential tool for everyone involved in football.  Clubs such as Manchester City are already demonstrating just how effectively social media can enhance marketing operations at clubs.  Endless supplies of marketing budget I hear you cry!  Not at all, social media, used correctly can effectively double any clubs marketing budget/resource without costly outlays.

What is certainly lacking in football at the moment is that knowledgebase about Social Media.  As Clarke Carlisle alluded to responsible usage is the ‘worry’ at the moment, whereas what everyone involved in the game should be focusing on is the potential of Social Media. 

My previous article layed out some simple steps any Football Club should be following to begin to benefit from Social Media.  It will be a long process to get everyone on board.

Ps.  Thank you to Clarke Carlisle for his comments.

Teaching the Big Boys a Lesson

It isn’t often that Oldham Athletic could be considered able to teach the goliaths of Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC a lesson.  As many a teary-eyed watcher of the (now perennial) League One club will testify, they’ve done it on the pitch once or twice over the years.  Though many of those watchers will undoubtedly have more grey hair than most, indeed some will have even less hair than a pre-transplant Wayne Rooney it is that long ago. Certainly off the pitch the Latics have nothing to teach the giants of the English game, until now that is.

Sitting in a full Anfield on Friday night, the long suffering Oldham fans gave a performance that even outshone their hard-working heroes on the pitch.  Full of verve, songs and no little humour, the kind of humour football crowds at their best produce on a weekly basis.  The highlight being the singing of ‘What a waste of money’ to big money signing Andy Carroll who proceeded almost immediately to score for the 1^st time at Anfield this season with a fine finish.  Not to be put off, the fans immediately switched in a breath to ‘You’re still a waste of money’, to grins and giggles from around Anfield, even on the pitch.

At the other end of the ground it was a different story, with the Kop uncharacteristically quiet throughout the game.  Save of course for at least one individual who, minutes before Carroll’s scoring appearance, reduced Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi to tears with an alleged racist outburst.  It was a sad end to what had been up until the incident a good old-fashioned FA Cup tie. 

In the stands around the ground it was unclear what the holdup was for, but something had clearly happened between the young midfielder and a section of the crowd.

Coming so close to the Suarez affair, the man himself was in the posh seats on Friday night, it was clear the incident would grab the headlines.  Sure enough within minutes of the end of the game reports of statements being made and arrests were across the full spectrum of media.

It is not a position Oldham and their non-existent team of PR people find themselves in often, ever in fact.  Yet from those first post-match minutes to four days later the sleepy League One side has shown more sense, decency and maturity than either the reds of Liverpool or Manchester. 

Oldham as a club were quick to condem the action, there was no speculating, no mention of anything other than the fact that an incident had occurred and reported.  By ensuring the relevant parties were made aware of the incident, including Tom’s parent club Norwich, they gave Tom their public support.  In private, the club staff, his team mates and fans all rallied to Tom’s aid, showing him equally tremendous support.  By these actions alone, Tom knows he has the full backing of the club.

Liverpool’s PR machine also quickly leapt into action, rightly condemning any such action and delivering the reassurance that every effort and support would be made to investigate.  They followed this up with a more significant statement 3 days later to apologise to Adeyemi for the hurt he was caused, whatever the subsequent outcome of police action. 

Oldham, with a quiet dignity have since thanked Liverpool for their actions, and made it clear they hold the ‘fan’ and only them responsible.  Of course it is always easier to maintain such dignity when you are the ‘wronged’ party, but the way Oldham have handled the incident has been classy.

Contrast this with the debacle that followed the Suarez/Evra incident where certainly Liverpool and to an extent Manchester United have played on tribal divides and the historic rivalry between the clubs to exacerbate what was a sad incident.  Much has been spoken about the PR disaster that was the Suarez shirts at the Wigan game and subsequent comments.  In fact sadly some commentators have suggested the Adeyemi incident may have been sparked by the arrival of a team many Liverpool fans see as being from Manchester.  There were unsubstantiated rumours at one stage that the perpetrators against Adeyemi were wearing the same Suarez shirts.

Whatever the outcome of the Adeyemi incident, it is clear is that the Premiership giants could do a lot worse than take a leaf out of the PR playbook of a tiny League One team.  After all, getting these incidents sorted out and ultimately removed from the game should be the aim.  Quiet dignity after the event, but not during the event should be the mantra.  Adeyemi didn’t remain quiet during the event and for that he above anyone comes out of this with dignity. So maybe it’s time for to look beyond clubs and just do what needs to be done.

From 3-3 to 3-3, 3 things for Paul Dickov to learn from

Like two perfectly formed book ends there was certain symmetry about Oldham’s 3-3 draw with Carlisle United at the weekend.  Not just in the final score, but with another 3-3 draw 46 league games ago.  Both finished 3-3, both saw late, late equalisers from the opposition and perhaps most tellingly both had seen Oldham race into 3-0 leads playing some of their best football of the season.

One thing Oldham manager, ex-Manchester City striker, Paul Dickov will be hoping is that the two results book-end a poor conventional season of results.  In the 46 games between the 3-3 draw with Exeter City at Boundary Park last November, and the 3-3 draw with Carlisle, Dickov oversaw a period of relatively poor results and football littered with defensive errors and goal-less attackers.  This contrasts hugely with what had gone before when Dickovs’ side started last season in such a fashion they were quickly nicknamed Galadickovs, including previously shot-shy midfielder, Dean Furman scoring the Football League goal of the season, also nominated one of the European goals of the season.

In between these two games, Oldham have gone from Galadickovs at the top of League One  earning over 1.7 points per game, scoring 1.4 goals per game to just avoiding relegation at the end of last season and starting this one as the model of mid-table mediocrity (win 2, lose 2, draw 2).  The overall record for the 46 games in between would have Oldham on 51 points from 46 games, possibly (just) enough to stay up in a conventional League One season (though 51 points hasn’t been enough in the past).

So what can we learn from Dickov’s tenure so far...here’s my own 3-3 draw, 3 positives v 3 improvements.

3 For

Scouting and Signing
Dickov and his scouts have proved they can pick a player.  He’s also shown he has a very useful list of contacts currently in some big clubs.  Some good loan signings last season Oumare Tounkare, Aidy White, Jason Lowe, Cedric Evina (turned to permanent) all unknowns who performed very well last season until the lack of quality replacements took there toll on the youngsters .  He’s continued to show the touch this season with the signings of Smith, Diamond, Simpson, Clarke and Kuqi.  All better known, but all have fitted in well to Dickovs system showing he’s certainly done his homework.  His signing failures have been few and far between. 

Football

Some of the football Oldham has played has been the best since Joe Royle’s legends graced Boundary Park.  High tempo, high pressure games built very much in the image of Dickov, but allied to some beautiful passing is the hallmark of Dickovs side at its best.  He admitted early in his tenure that he had been advised from some very experienced heads that 4-4-2 was the best way to get out of League One, and he has stuck fairly rigidly to this.  However, with players such as Chris Taylor, Fillipe Morais and even youngster David Mellor he has the ability to flex the formation during the game.  He’s also not averse to sending the big centre half up front when chasing a goal.

PR

Dickov has brought the polish of a man brought up in the goldfish bowl that the Premier League has become.  He exudes natural enthusiasm, is clear and concise in his interviews and, despite understandably relying on a few clichés and regular phrases, his honesty whilst still backing his players is clear.  So too his willingness to help promote the club, and get the players involved in promotion and PR, all crucial at League One level where a ‘big name’ like Dickov in a town like Oldham can make a real difference.  PR may sound like an insignificant point to raise, but with fans as sceptical as Oldham’s can be, it makes a refreshing change from what has gone before.

3 Against

Half Time / Full Time

Dickov’s playing style was, let’s say, combative.  Ok, scrub that, it was an all-out assault every time he took to the field.  Non-stop from the 1^st minute until the last, which makes one of his sides biggest failings all the more surprising. 

Since he took the reins, Oldham have developed the disturbing habit of regularly conceding goals in the 5 minutes either side of half time and in the last few crucial minutes of games.  Games the side have been in total control of have swung entirely on a goal just before/after half time.  Even more worrying is the sheer number of goals conceded in the second half of games, with around 60% of goals conceded throughout Dickov’s tenure happening in the second period.  For a side that on the surface seems extremely fit, this trend is difficult to explain.  It does point to a certain lack of concentration, but is it something more?  Just what happens in the Oldham dressing room at half time?

Experience

Dickov’s backroom staff should be complemented on the way they have helped create a team that plays the way it does at it’s best.  Former Leicester City and Bolton centre back Gerry Taggart as Dickov’s assistant brings the defensive experience to complement the striking experience of the manager, and they obviously get on extremely well.  However, what does strike many Oldham fans is the lack of management experience in the coaching team.  Certainly Dickov has admitted himself on more than one occasion that he has got substitutions and tactical changes wrong.

Perhaps some experience around the coaching team, maybe even a Joe Royle type figure would aid Dickovs development.  I’m not advocating a change to the coaching staff, merely the addition of some experience, even just in the form of an advisor which could enhance the team.  Almost in the same vain that the likes of Brian Horton, Lennie Lawrence and Gerry Francis have aided the managers they’ve worked with.  A strong man like Paul Dickov will do things his way, and quite rightly, but adding that experienced voice may just make that crucial difference at key times. 

Set Pieces

Set pieces play such a key part in any game both offensively and defensively that there isn’t a single manager worth his salt that doesn’t put the training hours into perfecting them.  Dickov is no exception.  However, Oldham have suffered almost the perfect ‘negative’ storm over the Dickovs tenure, regularly conceding from set pieces and never scoring from them themselves.

It isn’t an area that Dickov and his team aren’t aware of, and is regularly mentioned by Gerry Taggart in his musings, but still the problem persists.  Certainly this specific problem was a consideration in some of the pre-season signings this summer with height and experience brought in.  However, set pieces are all about concentration and ‘switching on’ quicker than the opposition (see the earlier section on Half Time/Full Time).  It is getting this right that can make a massive difference for Paul Dickov’s side.

3-3

I’ve been hugely impressed with the way Paul Dickov has gone about the job over the past season.  His command of the role and the way he has the side playing has been a joy to watch at times, particularly after many years of stagnation in League One.  As an Oldham fan I’m hoping Paul can stick around for a few more years yet and finally give this old club a reason to smile once again.

A Blueprint For the Future; Oldham Athletic and Business

A couple of years ago I approached the directors at Oldham Athletic, my club, to offer my marketing and sales skills particularly in the form of putting a strategic approach to improving the marketing of the club together.
Fair play to them they listened, had a meeting, and I heard no more - though as you may spot a few activities may just have been acted on.  In any case I thought I'd share with you the outline I gave them that day...

A Blueprint for the Future of Oldham Athletic; Marketing the Club


Undoubtedly, on-field performance has the biggest impact on every aspect of the club. However, the development of a clear, strong and imaginative marketing strategy is vital in lessening the reliance on such an uncontrollable element and reinvigorating the marketing of the club.

Vital to moving the strategy forward would be the internal audience being completely on board. If not, this will ensure that the project is doomed to fail.

Challenges – Where we are?

In many ways the club has reached a key point in all areas from the management and squad to the stadium. There is a curious contrasting feeling within a proportion of the supporter base between cautious excitement at the progress that has been made particularly over the past 3 years and a growing apathy at a perceived lack of success and ‘settling’ for what exists.

Taking the general points from recent debates within the fan base, there is a feeling that marketing initiatives have rather ground to a halt, and the club could be doing more to promote the club in the town. There is also a lack of regular contact with the core supporters. Yet, there is also an understanding that many previous initiatives have been extremely generous and the lack of their success is probably contributing to the current situation.

It is against this backdrop that the key challenges appear to be:

• To increase and maintain the average attendances

• To raise the profile of the club within the wider community/town/area and associated business community

• To create a buzz within the supporter base about the club

• To increase the communication with key ‘customers’.

The club already has a number of elements in its favour:

• A loyal core support

• Good routes of communication

• A product that has a generally widespread appeal

• Wide potential base for idea generation

• Teamcard and Ticketmaster systems demonstrate an willingness to embrace new technology

What is clear from a small amount of research is that there is a clear need to ‘do something’. However, a balance must be struck between the pressure from fans for short-term rewards and the business need to create long-term, sustainable results.

What is possible?

Over the past decade, a number of football league clubs have recognised the changing nature of football fans. The fans are increasingly becoming more fickle and they expect more from their clubs and rightly so. Clubs such as Norwich City, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic have all created long-term strategies aimed at creating sustainable off-field activities, all with good results. They have all underpinned these strategies with a CRM system which places data at the heart of decision making. This has to be the way forward for a club such as Oldham that needs to make cost-effective and targeted decisions/offers.

The key for any marketing initiatives in a service/entertainment industry is to generate immediate results, within a clearly defined longer term aim. For example, a £2 entry game can be underpinned by a data collection exercise which would then provide additional targets for later marketing activity including season ticket offers.

This is an example where an innovative and extremely generous initiative could have been enhanced with a more controlled long-term approach. Any initiative must be designed along the following steps:

1. Clear start and end

2. Value offering

3. Common purpose

4. Targeted

5. Measured and tested

6. Clear Steps

By setting out a clear strategy in how the club will move forward with its sales and marketing approach it will become easier to develop and assess new ideas/outlets as they inevitably occur.

Every business benefits most from marketing initiatives that are developed from a clear understanding of both their customers and non/potential customers.

Taking a Strategic Approach

What is a strategic approach:

1. Attract leads

2. Convert leads to first sale

3. Know our customers

4. Increase the value per sale

5. Create flow-on effect

6. Increase margins

7. Reputation / Brand

The key to any strategy is results.



Recommendations – What would a blank canvas approach look like?

A Strategic Approach – Overall Steps

1. Research exercise, including set up of key focus groups

2. Development of key strategy points

3. Feedback from focus groups on the strategic points

4. Develop the marketing strategy

5. Implement

It is clear that the club should work to a strategic plan for its off-field promotional activity. I would suggest that this is developed over a 3-5 year plan, with points included within this for review. The plan would be a long-term approach with various initiatives that place the key/loyal supporters at its centre. The best method to underpin such a strategy would be through a well developed database marketing approach. The club should give very strong thought to developing an efficient database system.

Research Exercise

The basis for the strategy should be a comprehensive consultation exercise with the existing fan base and wider town to both understand the needs and opinions of the existing/potential customers and open up a clear and structured line of communication. The research will have the benefit of:

• Providing input on supporter satisfaction with club facilities

• Understanding the fans’ views about the club and their relationship with it.

• Investigating season-ticket holding and ways of packaging membership to add value and increase uptake.

The research exercise should include the following groups:

• Season-ticket holders

• Fans groups

• Official fans forum

• Local businesses

• Non-Season ticket holders

• Non fans in the local area

• Non attending fans in the local area

A sample questionnaire is included at the end of this report.

Latics have excellent communication lines with fans through the website, OWTB forum and fans groups (Trust Oldham, OASA etc). However, the consultation must go further to encompass season ticket holders, regular and irregular attendees and former and non attendees. Targeted consultations can also be held with key groups such as businesses, community groups and public organisations.

Input would include all aspects of the club from pricing and communication to match day experiences and merchandising.

The questionnaire could be distributed via a number of different media including via the forums, on match days, the club shop/ticket office and even the Oldham Chronicle (perhaps by looking for sponsorship for the feature). By utilising a low-cost, online option such as Survey Monkey it would make it easier to gain the feedback. Some thoughts should be given to incentivising the return of questionnaires.

Key focus groups

To complement the questionnaire, it would be advisable to create a couple of focus groups to further discuss the issues under review. The groups should be split along the lines of season-ticket holders and potential season ticket holders.

Also, it will help to create a focus group of around 12-16 fans that is consulted on all the issues covered on an ongoing basis, for example every quarter. These should be a mix of season ticket holders and non-ticket holders/potential fans.

The research will identify a number of key points with regards to how best the club can develop initiatives that are both welcomed by fans and profitable, along with better informing general strategic approach of the club.

Such a research exercise can be combined with a review of existing customer data to begin the steps in building a database marketing system. The intention of this being to build a long-term picture of each individual that has an interaction with the club. This will allow the development of targeted offers aimed at increasing turnover from within the existing base and encouraging new ticket holders.


Key Targets and Possible Initiative Ideas


Season-Ticket Holders/Regulars/Best Spenders

As this group can be defined in many ways as the ‘most loyal’ supporters, it is a key group to involve in regular communication. As your best brand advocates, they provide a fantastic base with which to feed offers through.

Specific offers could be developed through collection of data, which would otherwise be loss leaders for other groups of fans eg:

• Regular communication both written, and quarterly fans meetings

• Birthday present of a free ticket to bring a friend/pint/pie

• Anniversary of their first season ticket, possibly a reduced price

• Thank you from the squad at the end of the season – email/card/letter

• Preview invitations to see the new kit before it goes on general sale (esp for those who are identified as regular spenders)

• Meet the new signings – again for most loyal especially relevant around pre-season before others get the chance to see them in action

• Golden Ticket – auto entry draw when you purchase a season ticket – get the full cost refunded if you win

• ‘Experience days’ for the loyalist fans, eg joining in training/footballer for the day/vip treatment

• Vouchers to encourage buying behaviour, eg for those who attend every game but don’t buy a pie/programme/spend in shop

• Vouchers as per Burnley FC promotion – especially relevant this season with the December schedule

• Joint offers with local businesses, eg we’re loyal to local business too

• Keep the other half happy, eg money off a bunch of flowers/bottle of wine/restaurant offer


Young Fans/Colleges/Schools

As the supporter of the future, they are a key target group for any long-term strategy. Latics have a great track record of servicing the younger fan base, in which Chaddy the Owl has become a major part. More could be done to build the special feel of belonging to the various Boundary Blues and Chaddy’s Gang groups. Data collection would also help to move the youngster through from junior tickets through to adult tickets, helping to pave the way for an intermediate ticket. By tracking the ages, intermediate tickets become easier to justify and service without the club suffering from potential ‘abuse’ of the system.

• Boundary Blues/Chaddy’s Gang own website, with forums, games and possibly a 2 games for £5 style offer

• Intermediate tickets covering university and college ages

• Direct promotion activity within colleges and university

• Creating mini-franchises in schools as part of their business training. They sell tickets/merchandise in schools to pupils taking a cut of the profits...running a proper business and promoting games in schools. This would work fantastically well as part of the community scheme.

Local Press/Media

Another key target should be to enhance the links with local media especially the Oldham Chronicle and they key effect that coverage across the sports pages and elsewhere in the title can have in winning over the community. It has felt at times that there is a lack of support from the Chronicle. Certainly it is a growing niggles with some fans that the two Manchester clubs appear to be getting more and more column inches. It is the club that are in a position to be able to make a difference on this.

• A dedicate section within the paper for community news/offers/promote upcoming game – perhaps with a co-sponsor to ensure paper is gaining some advertising revenue

• General shows/comments of support on various local issues/charitable causes


Local Council

The moves to ‘rebrand’ the town and the associated campaigns and investment, offer a huge opportunity for the club to place itself as a key player in helping the process/rebirth of the towns image. The new stadium planning situation could be turned into a positive in terms of a number of ‘open’ communication channels which now exist.

• Suggesting that the rebrand could involve the club – eg

ur Club l ur Town

I am Oldham (various media campaign featuring well know Oldhamers, along with residents eg. Chris Taylor)


Business Community

As business owners it is often difficult to see tangible benefits from general sponsorship activity of sports clubs. By having a good database marketing approach major/match sponsors could be given opportunities to communicate directly with the fan base. For example, an email newsletter sent either before or after the game to the fan base could have a mini-feature on the match sponsor. This immediately gives some more tangible incentive for sponsors.

• Have a presence at existing network events around the town

• Create the clubs own network events. These could differ from the norm by having a different member each week setting out what their business could do for Oldham Athletic. This makes their business more memorable by giving a practical example, creating a better core group. Sponsorship can be gained especially from local banks/solicitors who are very keen on these type of events

• Hold special meetings prior to games with a small drinks meeting prior to attending the game. This would work particularly well prior to evening games when it could be used as an excuse to leave the office early

• Develop a Presidents club/Platinum club (particularly with the new developments in mind). Allow an annual membership and limit numbers

• Targeted promotions to the fan base allow the offering of more cost-effective/higher value sponsorship deals

• A greater involvement with the local chambers/businesslink/enterprise centres –eg. East Lancashire has based their entire enterprise funding around the football clubs of Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington offering cheap office space and various start-up funding for businesses (LEGI funding)

• The new stadium developments could be placed at the centre of much of the activity eg. get in now and it will be cheaper when it is finished

• Use the data collected to identify those fans that are in decision making roles with their employers. Target these with specific hospitality offers and be proactive in meeting with them for their input

• Golf days / experience days

• Presentation evening pre-season for the presentation of squad shirts for shirt/major sponsors (paid event)

• Management in action eg. inviting managers from various businesses on non-match days for workshop/meet with our manager/director on running the club


Other General Suggestions

• Reinvigorate the stadium development excitement. Perhaps create a new website/micro-site showing the plans, updates on the progress, advertising for contractors

• Creating a car-share scheme – especially for those not able to attend/struggle to attend games or away games

• Town Centre shuttle bus prior and post match days – could be combined with...

• Match day promotion crew – in the town centre selling tickets with incentives to attend

• “Relive the Pinch Me Year’s” promotion – bring old memorabilia along to get it signed by old players. Make an event of it with games playing on screens

• Combined tickets/offers/events with other entertainment providers in town – eg his ‘n’ hers tickets for a day at the football and a night at the theatre, local restaurants.

• Football goes to the theatre – a full classic game replayed on a big screen at a local venue


The ideas outlined have been developed to fit within a long-term, sustained marketing approach. Conducting the survey would allow these ideas (and perhaps better ones) to be discussed and evaluated.

The majority of the ideas will require an intelligent database marketing system to gain the best benefit from them. The Teamcard system which the club has recently introduced has been combined with such a system to good effect by clubs such as Norwich and Ipswich.

Approaching your marketing from this long-term view, and gaining a very clear understanding of your supporters will benefit all aspects of the club. It may also go some way to contributing to the feel that the club really is progressing into a club for the 21st Century.


...so there you go. How was it?  I designed a whole questionnaire to be distributed, but that was another thing not acted on.  Football at the lower levels needs to be clever in marketing terms.  Battling against so many powerful and huge marketing machines in not only the Premier League clubs, but the Premier League itself and Sky and the FA who all benefit from massive interest in the Premier League clubs.  However, with some thought and a long-term plan stuck to whatever is happening on the pitch, it is possible to box clever.

Finding a Way

I applied for a job.

It isn't a recoil in horror moment, I promise.  Working on my businesses is still the best decision I've ever made and I'm still doing that, but this is different.

It was for a senior marketing role with my 2nd love Oldham Athletic.  A job I make no qualms about admiting was my 'dream' job 5 years ago.  I even went so far then as applying my cheekyness to arranging a meeting with the then Director of Marketing, Sean Jarvis to discover more from him about how he had made such a position, and how I could get into football marketing.  In a way I wasn't interested in general football marketing, I just had a burning ambition to be involved in my club.

Similarly, I don't mind admiting that my ambitions have changed on that front.  Certainly one of my dream goals is not just to have a marketing job with my club, but own it!  Ok, I'll rephrase that (I'm not that stupid), have a piece of it.  It may seem a silly goal, but for me it frames lots of smaller goals into a very exciting an tangible conclusion.

So why go for this job?  Well one thing I've realised over the past few years is that there are certain key things any business needs whether it is serving customers, providing a service, selling a box or playing football.  These are:

• A clear vision filled with positivity
• Clear effective communication with customers and staff (placing their needs at the heart of decision making)
• Innovative thinking
• Persistence

All seemingly simple things and so often missing or muddled.  And that it is a lack of those that I've noticed at Oldham since the owners known as TTA (The Three Amigos) came face to face with the stark reality of life at Oldham Athletic.  Over the last few years there has been a steady decline from within the club and that doesn't just apply on the pitch.  I should at this point point out that I have a great deal of admiration for TTA and indeed some of the staff within the club for what they have done and there has been plenty especially in terms of financial support.  They deserved more for the efforts they put in. But there is no doubting that so much concentration has been on 'old' methods of selling the club.

And that is where I can see so many possibilities.  As you all know I'm definately in the 'glass half full camp' and although you can't suddenly fill a stadium with clever marketing ideas (we are a cynical bunch us football fans when it comes to our own club), you can put the structure in place so that when the day comes when the on-field product flourishes, you are ready to maximise the off-field opportunities.  After all the success or failure on the pitch is fundamentally they key to any off-field successes.

Oh how I'd love to get into the club and just seeing what could be achieved.  After all for anyone out there willing to give it some investment the picture in many ways is quite an interesting one.  Certainly in terms of divisions the club could go lower.  But in terms of crowds in my opinion we're now pretty close to the bottom.  As the economy still struggles to recover, outside of the Premier Greed there is an increasing supply of out of work footballers, which will make lower wages a reality in the lower divisions eventually.  This again brings costs down.  Financially the club is fairly stable and certainly in no danger having cut its cloth accordingly over the past few years. In Paul Dickov, Oldham Athletic have a young, ambitious manager keen to mould a squad of young, hungry and talented individuals into a winning team.  A new stadium could be on the way, and there is an owner who wants to sell.  All these add up to a tasty looking investment for someone with deeper pockets than me.

So I applied to get in through that class door, it wasn't to go back to working life, it was to try and inject a little of the entrepreneurial spirit into a business that means so much to me.  A business that I want to see thriving even if that doesn't always translate to trophys and promotions.  A business that I want others to feel the way I do now 100 years in the future.

I didn't get it!  But that's ok, because the way I see it, it could be me making that decision in a few years time.

What a lucky shot: football and business opportunities

It's nearly football season time again. The time when every football fan in the country experiences a massive high of expectations in that last 10mins before kickoff.  A feeling only a relative handful will continue to feel for the remaining 9 months of the season.

For those of you who are not followers of our national sport you will be quite justified in dismissing the upcoming months as yet another year of pointless running around with a pigs bladder.  But there is no getting away from the fact that football as a sport, way of life and increasingly a business, is a key strand of our local and national pysche.

Take Burnley, many non-football fans in the town (of which there are very few) will point to the glorious industrial past, ringing singing tree and the beautiful pennines as major selling points.  But few will be able to argue that the town has been put back on the map of England in a major way by the promotion and season in the Premiership that filled the past year.  Even those businesses that didn't benefit directly from the increase in the football club's spending in the local economy will have seen the benefit that having a team in the Premier League with the eyes of the world focused upon it brings.

It is certainly a benefit that Blackpool will feel this coming season as they emulate Burnley by taking their turn in the 'big league'.  Without doubt it is an opportunity that must be taken, as an Oldham fan I can vouch for that.  Our town saw our Premier League opportunity come too early (before the big money really arrived) and despite 3 seasons in the top division our team now prepares to embark on it's 13th consecutive season in League One (or division 3 in old money).  As a club and a town Oldham didn't take the opportunity to maximise the chance they had, and that is really where a business lesson lies...maximising opportunities however big or small they may be.

Luck plays a part with all opportunities, and rather than declaring that luck has nothing to do with business I like to look on it another way.  Luck or LUCK really is all about maximising opportunities and how do you do that?  Well through LUCK:
L - Location, getting yourself out there and speaking to as many people as possible, mentioning your aims, your goals and your challenges and where you're looking for help.  Be on the field.
U - Understanding, know your chosen field as well as you can, who are the players, where are the opportunities
C - Contacts, speak to people, network (both in real-life and on social networking sites), draw up a list of the people you would really like to speak to and mention them to everyone you know...you've played the Kevin Bacon game right??
K - Knowledge, know your subject, be an expert, you don't need to be working in an industry for years to know about it, do your research.

Or to bring it back to football, Rooney worked hard on his skills and that enabled him to score 36 goals in total last season.  But he also used a big slice of LUCK...he knew where he would score most goals and got himself there. He worked in training on where the opportunities best arrived for him. He had some excellent teammates, and he knew exactly how he needed to strike the ball each and everytime in order to take advantage of the opportunities that came his way.  (World Cup aside of course!!!).

So increase your chances of scoring by using your own slice of luck, and take a leaf from Burnley and maximise the opportunities when they arrive.  And any time you get that feeling of complete optimisim in the 10 mins before kick off hold on to it...it will get you through those cold winter Tuesday nights at home to Gillingham.