Dear Fellow Supporters,

Congratulation to you all! We finally broke the attendance record of 48 which has stood for over two years. See the Cover Photo article for details. It is also gratifying to notice the crop of young players recently emerging from the local elementary schools to subsidise our farm team. We are going from strength to strength and the future is looking very promising indeed.

The Christmas draw is starting to build up and prizes are beginning to mount. Let me know if you can get any sponsorships or alternatively donate a small prize yourself. My aim is to acquire enough prizes so that everyone will get one. The draw will be frequent (x minutes) and will depend on the number of gifts collected. You must be present to receive your gift. Does anyone know of a simple way to replace the bits of tatty paper with numbered counters (1 -88)? They are getting a bit soggy and need to be replaced. The Christmas draw would be a good place to introduce new counters.

On the team front things are finally starting to turn around. Two excellent 0-3 away wins at Grimsby and Bradford have lifted the Latics off the bottom spot to third from bottom and just a few wins away from a respectable mid-table position. A special mention must also go out to our Number 4 who was the only member to notice that Canada had not mathematically qualified for the next stages of the World Cup. Although, of course, we all knew they would. Occasionally, I test you to see if you are paying attention so well done Roger. Collect your free unit. There were no winners to the competition in the last programme so another unit must be consumed by the Chairman - the things I do for you!

The Chairman.

The collection of gifts for the Christmas Draw is starting to improve. At the moment the prize list is as follows:

1) A beer bell
2) Two units
3) Two $1 coins

Please donate or encourage a sponsor to donate a gift for the draw which will take place at the last meeting before Christmas. The more gifts we receive the better the draw will be. Keep cracking!

This weeks featured pub is the Brown Cow, 108, Glodwick Road, an eighteenth century inn which was probably rebuilt in the 1850's. The pub was first licensed in 1851 and in 1866 was owned by Jowett, Waterhouse & Co. When it closed, in December 1970, it was a Wilson’s house. Many was the time I used to run up the ginnel which can be clearly seen at the side of the pub, chased by a marauding gang of bonfire-wood nickers. I used to retaliate by chucking my penny bangers at them. When I was a child I used to dream of being old enough (about 12 in England) to legally sup my first pint and as I used to live near the Brown Cow I used to just stare in Willy Wonka type wonderment at the possible pleasures awaiting a growing youth.

A peculiar trait of the landlady, a Mrs. I. Bannem, was the fact that she always used to answer the phone with the same greeting, "Hello, this is the Brown Cow speaking." My dreams were eventually shattered though as the pub was demolished in 1972. There were, however, several more pubs in Oldham to go at, as you will find in my sequels to this story.

I. Will B. Drunk

Number 12 is having a housewarming party next Monday. All Latics fans are invited. The address is #704 - 47. Agnes Street, New Westminster and the festivities begin at 3-00pm. By Skytrain, get off at Columbia and walk up 4th. St. to Agnes St. and turn right. Walk down Agnes St. past 1st. St. and the large concrete building on the left is #47.

Bring YOB (not Yobs), food, swimsuit, kids & toys, tapes & C.D.s. Don't bring housewarming gifts. See Brian for a map.

In a friendly practise match in Mexico during the seventies, a goalie was hassling the referee about something or offer. The player left the field and returned with a gun, then shot the ref. at point blank range killing him instantly.

Did you know?

Oldham's 1000th. win came in 1980 at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Oldham's biggest F.A. Cup victory came in 1925 with a 10-1 first round win against Lytham.

Tom Davis scored 33 goals in the 1936-37 season in the Division Three (N). A record still to be beaten.

Paul Ince has told Inter Milan boss Massimo Morratti that he will leave if the racial abuse at the club continues. He said "I am not going to move from Manchester to Italy to take racist abuse". At this time it is unclear just where Ince wants to go to get his abuse.

Rumour has it that the above mentioned team can't be mentioned. As The Latic Fanatic does not want to appear prejudiced in any way we have decided to publish the last four results of Manchester United. Here they are:

Played 4 Won 0 Drew 0 Lost 4 Goals for 4 Goals against 14

There, it's done now! Let's hope their recent form of bad luck was not just a flash in the pan.

Dear Dave,

Just thought I'd share my overflowing joy with a kindred spirit. Hoorah! I am getting terrible feeling of vertigo this high up the table. We're gonna have to start learning to win by less than 3 goals though, not everyone is going to be as obliging as Port Vale, Grimsby and Bradford. A great weekend, not only Latics victory and another defeat for the red s**m! but also a big night out in Patras in a group of 6 English, 3 of whom hail from Oldham. So much reminiscing and tales of derring-do (and not a few alcoholic beverages)! A great week in store, I can tell. Take Care.

Si. (Greece)

Fifty-one supporters! Last weeks attendance merits special mention. The previous record of forty-eight was set over two years ago at our previous venue. The total did not include the two guests who were visiting. Well done.

Back issues of the LSC programme and Dufflecoat Dan's adventures are available for the small fee of one unit, which will be donated to the Christmas Draw. Every Latics supporter should have the full set. Volume One ran to nine editions. A few tee-shirts are still available at the bargain price of $15. All monies raised will go into the Chairman's pocket as he paid for them.

The striker takes aim. An apprehensive goalkeeper prepares to leap out of the way of the impending thunderbolt. As the player begins his backswing he's already wrestling with the thorny problem of which enchanting Busby Berkeley routine he's going to shake his botty to once the ball hits the back of the net. He lets fly. The crowd gasps. The ball ricochets off the pie hut and sails majestically towards the Cotswolds. But if shooting was easy and the ball rippled the rigging with monotonous regularity, then we'd be discussing basketball, and then..... zzzzzzzzzz. Where were we? Yes, the reason a scoring shot in football generates such wild excitement is precisely because of all the woefully misdirected duds that have preceded it, and will doubtless follow it. Here's an effort at explaining ‘The Art of Shooting’.

A player should never be afraid to miss. Unfortunately most footballers appear damn near fearless in this department. There are no hard and fast rules about where to shoot from, or when. Some players only pull the trigger when they can see the whites of the goalkeeper's dentures, others prefer to wait until their colleagues have sprinted sixty yards expecting a pass before scattering the photographers with a hopeful tonk. A common problem in football, however, seems to be one of premature ejaculation. This is nothing to be ashamed of; it can happen to any player. You try to hang on until the best possible moment but then you get all excited and - bang, it's all over. You're left with an embarrassing mess, feeling self-conscious, crestfallen and unfulfilled It's best just to forget about it and have another crack a little later on.