Oldham, UK, 2014-16Huddled in the cold January pissing rain trying to protect my camera gear, an Oldham shot sores through the Fleetwood defence to find its way in the goal. Pandemonium in the away end as Latics fans soak up a Oldham two-nil away victory after going without a win for a couple months. As the Oldham players ran to the rickety away end of Fleetwood's Highbury stadium, I sprinted behind the goal to get involved with the celebrations and by doing so nearly missed my photo.
I had been working on the project, which has now been published in the book - 'Oh When The Blues' for a few months and this day out in Fleetwood cemented the reason why I continued the project long term. Here where 1285 Oldham fans, travelling further north to Blackpool to watch their team play despite the lengthy time without a win, home or away. They sang and bounced throughout the game and the abysmal weather and for me, represented what football fandom is about.
I had decided to photograph this project, originally thinking it would be much smaller, after attending a home game against Scunthorpe. Oldham won, however this was not what I found myself watching. Lads running around with their shirts off, a loud ultras support group and old men grumbling at the directors box which is essentially in with fans had me thinking that there were good photos to be had here. A fortnight later I was stood with my camera next to Oldham's Athleticos Ultras group inside Boundary Park.
Not being an Oldham fan, but Charlton instead, I was at first slightly nervous that people wouldn't be up for my plans of photographing them rather than the football but after the first few visits I felt completely at ease. People seemed to get the project and liked the pictures. Keith Head, who has become one of the main protagonists in all my projects in Oldham, came to have a chat with me on my first visit. A few days later I was in his living room sipping tea and talking about his experiences as an Oldham fan. All of the Latics community were open with me in this way.
Oldhamers are a proud bunch. Despite a continuation of struggles on and off the pitch they stick by their team and have an exceptionally strong away support. Oldham's hey-day was the much talked about 'glory years' in the early 90s, where they reached the semi-finals of the FA cup twice and was one of the founding teams of the Premier League. Outside of football, people from Oldham are knowledgable about the place. A post-industrial town that is full of old mills and was once considered the cotton spinning capital of the world. Everyone has stories of their areas. Whether it be relatives who worked in the mills, or an old mining pit or the being part of the construction of Lancaster Bombers in Oldham during WW2 - Oldham has a rich and colourful history. However, much the same as the club Oldham declined after the fall of industry in the town. Many people lost their jobs and there is still a poor local economy. In many areas of Oldham people live below the poverty line and it was named in 2016 as Britain's most deprived town. However there is still strong identity and culture in Oldham and people are proud of where they are from, the history behind it and it is a very close community. The spirit of its population certainly finds it way into the stands of Boundary Park, or vice versa.