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Oldham home preview

Postby Sweden Stag » Wed Apr 28, 2021 6:43 pm

Two rounds now remain in this season’s League Two, where the Stags and their Saturday opponents Oldham will finish in lower mid-table. But some issues were decided last Tuesday night with other sides in action. Cheltenham promoted automatically to League One for the first time ever (their two previous promotions were achieved via the playoffs in 2002 and 2006) and their 2006 final opponents (and the side which followed Cheltenham back into the EFL in 2016, Grimsby Town, were relegated into the Conf National for the second time. And the Barrow victory at Forest Green ensured safety for the Bluebirds and once more meant that no promoted side into the EFL have never gone straight down, as Harrogate Town already had secured their EFL safety certificate.

For the Stags and Oldham Athletic, the season has been topsy-turvy. EFL status secured one week ago following a 3-0 rout of Scunthorpe United at One Call, while Oldham are the side which have scored most goals in League Two, but also conceded the most, and incredibly enough have been involved in four goal-less draws. Fourteen home defeats, more than any other side in the EFL with 39 goals conceded is relegation form while the Latics’ away form is at least playoff form. On their travels, Oldham have hit the net on 40 occasions. Apart from the four goal-less draws, goals have been flying in left right and centre at both ends in many Oldham games this season. The proof: five goals or more have been scored in no fewer than thirteen Oldham League Two fixtures this season.

Yet if previous games between the Stags and Oldham are something to go by, there should be a few goals at One Call on Saturday.

Last season, the Stags lost 3-1 at Oldham after a very poor display but won the home game to an emphatic 6-1 scoreline in a game which saw two first-half quickfire Oldham red cards. And earlier this year, the Stags won at Oldham to a 3-2 scoreline, more clearcut than the scoreline suggested, after a rampant first half, also being the fourth of five consecutive Stags victories around the New Year.

In the 2018-19 season, the Stags could with luck have had three more points against Oldham than they eventually did gain. At home, it was the first-ever goal-less league draw between the sides in League history in a game which the Stags should have won, and at Oldham, a perfectly good equalizer deep into injury-time was wrongfully ruled out. But that equalizer could have gained the Stags a lucky point at Boundary Park.

In the League, the Stags and Oldham have only faced each other in five seasons during the last half-century after having played against each other very frequently from the second post-war season up to the Stags’ FA Cup quarterfinals campaign in which Oldham were relegated to basement for the first time, albeit the Latics did not qualify for the new third a decade earlier.

Following relegation in 1968-69, it took Oldham two seasons to climb out of the basement. In the 1970-71 season, Oldham scored left right and centre a total of 88 League goals, and their final basement game to be for 47 years was a 1-1 home draw against Stockport County.

That was at a time when the Stags faced Oldham quite frequently in League fixtures, as the sides were promoted together in the Stags’ first-ever promotion season in 1962-63, the Stags in fourth position and the Latics in second as both sides were in the promotion reckoning all that campaign with the sides winning one home game each. The game at Oldham in October 1962 was watched by nearly 24000 who saw Oldham win 3-2 at Boundary Park. The game at Mansfield on March 9, 1963, was the Stags’ first FL game at all for over three months due to the severe winter conditions then. The Stags went on to win 4-2 thanks to three goals from Wagstaff and one strike from Hall.

Oldham later went on to play seventeen straight seasons at second level and therefore faced the Stags in their one season there in 1977-78. Then, the sides won the away games, Oldham 2-0 at Mansfield and the Stags by the only goal at Oldham late that season.

Oldham, who were one of the 24 founder members of the fourth tier, were also to be one of the 20 PL founder members but were ever-present at third level from the 1997-98 up to the final twenty minutes of the 2017-18 season and played the Stags in the 2002-03 season. The Stags’ trip to Boundary Park on September 14, 2002, was one to be quickly forgotten. A 6-1 rout after one of the Stags' worst performances that season. The home game at Field Mill on March 1, 2003, was one of poor refereeing. Just read through the Stagsnet report of that fixture to understand why. Three red cards (one of those on Keith Curle late on), referee rating 0 and a late converted Oldham penalty were things that very well summed up the Stags' most recent season above the basement division.

The 6-1 rout with a Maynard hat-trick was the Stags’ first home victory against Oldham in League fixtures since February 5, 1972 in the third tier, when the Stags won to a 2-1 scoreline with Wignall and Fairbrother as Stags scorers.

In the EFL, the Stags and Oldham have before this campaign been playing together during 26 seasons, starting in 1935 with a 1-0 Stags home win on August 31, 1935. The sides were promoted together from the basement division way back in 1962-63, Oldham in 2nd position and the Stags in 4th, and also clashed in the Stags' so far solitary season at second level in 1977-78 with the sides winning their away games then. Oldham did play 21 consecutive seasons at League One level, a record for consecutive campaigns at that level. During that time, the Latics did change bosses almost every season. And none have lasted three full years since the reign of Joe Royle between 1982 and 1994. His predecessor, Jimmy Frizzell, also lasted twelve years, from 1970 to 1982 and was Latics boss when the Stags beat Oldham in February 1972. The 2018-19 season was also one of Oldham management instability, despite beating Fulham at their place to a 2-1 scoreline in the FA Cup third round. Their manager then, Pete Wild, left one month later to be replaced by Paul Scholes, once recent Manchester United great. But Scholes lasted only one month at Boundary Park, and Pete Wild returned into the Oldham hot seat, which have seen over twenty different names since September 2002. It was quite different when the sides played at second level in 1977-78. The Oldham boss then, Jimmy Frizzell, lasted twelve years from 1970 to 1982 as did his successor, Joe Royle, who also managed the Latics for a short time a decade ago. The last Oldham manager to see out a full EFL campaign was Lee Johnson in 2013-14. Since then, Oldham have had a dozen bosses in the Boundary Park hot seat. Harry Kewell, appointed last August, did not survive this season as he axed in early March and was succeeded by Keith Curle, who then just had been axed by Northampton To . Not exactly the recipe for success…

At Oldham, just one game has finished without goals, and that was early on in the 1966-67 Division Three campaign. And after the 1-1 draw at Field Mill on September 2, 1967, Oldham played 29 consecutive league fixtures without a single draw.

In the 1960's, Oldham dumped the Stags out of the FA Cup twice in three seasons. Oldham player at that time: Billy Dearden, later to boss the Stags and was manager when the sides clashed in the League Cup a decade ago. John Thompson, later to play for the Stags, starred for Oldham then and played in that game which ended in a 4-1 defeat for the Stags.

Played for both sides: Oladapo Afolayan, Eric Betts, John Bingham, Paul Black, Alfred Brown, Joel Byrom, Giles Coke, Craig Davies, Zander Diamond, Emmanuel Dieseruvwe, John Dungworth, Ben Futcher, Alex Iacovitti, Jake Kean, Ged Keegan, Brian Kilcline, Bob Ledger, Adrian Littlejohn, Scott McNiven, Jacob Mellis, Neil Moore, Kenneth Murray, Christopher Ogden, Keigan Parker, Martin Pemberton, John Ryan, Arthur Sharp, Chris Staniforth, Steve Taylor, Stuart Thom, John Thompson, Matthew Tipton, Paul Warne, Steve Whitehall, Jonathan Worthington.

Managed both sides: Keith Curle.

Stats on league games:

Home stats: P 26, W 13, D 5, L 8, GF 51, GA 37.
Away stats: P 27, W3, D 9, L 15, GF 29, GA 54.

Season Home Date Away Date

1935-36 1-0 1935-08-31 1-4 1935-12-28 Div 3 (N)
1936-37 1-2 1936-11-14 1-1 1937-03-20 Div 3 (N)
1947-48 1-1 1948-01-03 1-1 1947-08-30 Div 3 (N)
1948-49 3-2 1948-09-18 0-4 1949-02-05 Div 3 (N)
1949-50 3-1 1949-12-26 0-1 1949-12-27 Div 3 (N)
1950-51 3-1 1950-12-26 0-2 1950-12-25 Div 3 (N)
1951-52 2-1 1952-02-23 3-5 1952-05-03 Div 3 (N)
1952-53 0-2 1952-12-27 0-1 1952-12-26 Div 3 (N)
1954-55 1-3 1955-01-29 1-1 1955-01-08 Div 3 (N)
1955-56 2-0 1955-09-05 1-1 1955-09-12 Div 3 (N)
1956-57 2-4 1956-09-22 1-1 1957-02-02 Div 3 (N)
1957-58 4-4 1957-11-02 1-1 1958-03-15 Div 3 (N)
1960-61 1-2 1961-04-03 1-3 1961-03-31 Div 4 (old)
1961-62 2-0 1962-03-26 3-2 1961-11-15 Div 4 (old)
1962-63 4-2 1963-03-09 2-3 1962-10-20 Div 4 (old)
1963-64 1-1 1963-11-23 0-1 1964-04-04 Div 3 (old)
1964-65 4-1 1964-08-29 1-2 1964-12-19 Div 3 (old)
1965-66 1-0 1966-02-21 1-1 1966-03-05 Div 3 (old)
1966-67 2-4 1966-09-04 0-0 1966-09-27 Div 3 (old)
1967-68 1-1 1967-09-02 0-1 1967-11-14 Div 3 (old)
1968-69 4-0 1968-09-07 2-2 1969-03-28 Div 3 (old)
1971-72 2-1 1972-02-05 1-2 1972-04-08 Div 3 (old)
1977-78 0-2 1977-11-26 1-0 1978-04-08 Div 2 (old)
2002-03 0-1 2003-03-01 1-6 2002-09-14 Div 2 (Current League One)
2018-19 0-0 2018-10-02 2-3 2019-04-22 League Two
2019-20 6-1 2019-10-12 1-3 2020-01-28 League Two
2020-21 (at Boundary Park) 3-2 2021-01-13 League Two

Cup games:

FA Cup:

1947-48 1-0 1947-12-13 2nd round at Boundary Park
1963-64 2-3 1963-11-20 1st round at Boundary Park
1965-66 1-3 1965-11-13 1st round at Field Mill
1997-98 1-1 1997-11-15 1st round at Boundary Park
1997-98 0-1 1997-11-25 1st round replay at Field Mill
2013-14 1-1 2013-12-07 2nd round at Boundary Park
2013-14 1-4 2013-12-17 2nd round replay at One Call Stadium
2015-16 0-0 2015-11-07 1st round at One Call Stadium
2015-16 0-2 2015-11-17 1st round replay at Boundary Park

League Cup:

2007-08 1-4 2007-08-14 1st round at Boundary Park

EFLTrophy:

2016-17 2-0 2017-01-10 EFL Trophy 3rd round at One Call Stadium

Come on Mansfield!
Stockholm, July 4, 2008, 15.00 GMT. Good news came, K.H. gone. March 1, 2012. Ground purchased.
Sweden Stag
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