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Boundary Park
(Oldham Athletic)
Address: Furtherwood Road,
Oldham,
Greater Manchester,
England,
OL1 2PA
Capacity: 13,513 (All-Seater)
A proud part of Oldham’s landscape for over a century. It’s the loyal fanbase who gather here each and every game that can make Boundary Park such a unique and special place.
Boundary Park was originally known as the Athletic Ground when it was opened in 1896, and was then home to Oldham County Football Club, the first professional football team in Oldham. County folded in 1899 and Pine Villa took over, later changing their name to Oldham Athletic Football Club.
They have been here ever since.
Oldham Rugby League Football Club moved from their traditional home Watersheddings to here in 1997, briefly spending time elsewhere at Ashton United’s Hurst Cross.
That joint-tenancy remained until 2009, when Oldham Athletic decided that they no longer wanted the Rugby League Club to play at Boundary Park. Oldham RLFC currently play at Bower Fold in Stalybridge.
Location and Getting There
Boundary Park is based off Furtherwood Road, around 1.5 miles northwest of Oldham Town Centre. The towns of Royton and Chadderton are to the north and the west of the stadium respectively, with the Elk Mill Shopping Park to the northwest.
Free parking is easy to find close to the stadium.
I personally have found luck on the road round the back of the Premier Inn off Westhulme Way, but you should certainly be able to park up slightly further south of Chadderton Way (A627), or over to the east on one of the many streets coming off Oldham Road (A671).
Coming by rail can prove more of a challenge.
Mills Hill is the closest railway station to the ground, more than more miles to the west.
Fans instead should make use of the Manchester Metro system.
Westwood is the closest stop, running on the Metro Pink Line, but walking from there can still take upwards of 20 minutes.
If you can get to Boundary Park by car, I would suggest doing so.
Outside the Ground
The South Stand at Boundary Park is the Main Stand.
Its exterior is mostly brickwork and fits in well on Furtherwood Road with the houses on the opposite side.
The Players' and Press Entrance is in the centre of the stand and to the right of here is the Main Reception Entrance with the Community Trust building and Main Ticket Office also close by.
Turnstiles leading inside are based in the centre of the stand and over towards both the southeast and southwest corners.
Continuing round in a clockwise direction brings you to the West Stand. It is known as the Chadderton Road End after the area of Greater Manchester out beyond it, and Oldham fans often refer to it as the Chaddy End.
The stand’s exterior shows its age in places, made up mostly of blue corrugated iron and the white iron roof is used as a massive sponsorship board that is best seen from up in the air. Trees now run along the back of the stand and there is a newer modern housing estate out beyond here that makes the Chadderton Road End look even older.
Turnstiles into this stand are based in the southwest corner along Furtherwood Road, and also in the northwest corner. To get from one corner to the other when outside the ground, you can walk along Boundary Road which is a little away from the stadium in the middle of that new housing estate.
The North Stand is named after Joe Royle, who oversaw what is arguably Oldham’s most successful period in the club’s history.
Born in Liverpool on 8th April 1949, Royle took the Latics to the old First Division (now the Premier League) in 1991, reached the 1990 League Cup Final and twice reached the Semi-Final stage of the FA Cup in 1990 and 1994.
The stand is easily the most modern-looking part of Boundary Park and has a nice exterior, made up of large blue and grey panels with a grey brickwork base.
The entrance to the Oldham Event Centre is towards the middle of the stand, with Oldham’s Club Shop and Fan Bar over towards the northwest corner.
Turnstiles into the modern-looking Joe Royle Stand are based on either end.
Most of Boundary Park’s car parking spaces are out beyond this stand as well.
The East Stand, sometimes referred to as the Rochdale Road End, is named after Jimmy Frizzell.
Born in Greenock on 16th February 1937, Frizzell played over 300 times for Oldham Athletic and later became Latics manager, winning promotion from the Fourth Division (now League Two) and also winning the Third Division (now League One) during a 12 year spell in charge.
The stand’s sloped roof hangs over most of the space behind the detached turnstiles, and underneath here is the concourse with food stalls and toilets.
A few rows of car parking spaces are out beyond the Jimmy Frizzell Stand.
Inside the Ground
The Main Stand is divided into two tiers, with the upper tier larger than the one underneath.
Every seat in the bottom tier is coloured blue, whilst only the central block in the upper tier is blue. The blocks to the left of here are grey and the ones to the right are white. Oldham’s executive seats are in the centre of the blue block, and the press box is up at the very back.
The club’s changing rooms are based in this stand with the dugouts and tunnel up at the back of the lower tier. Players sit in these dug-outs with fans in the blocks in front of them, whilst staff can stay on the small benches pitchside at the very front of the stand.
Your view from anywhere in the lower tier is almost perfectly clear, with the exception of large pillars at the very back of the lower tier which can get in the way of seats at either end. These pillars guarantee a restricted view in all of the upper tier seats, though in general it is not too bad.
Windshields cover almost all of the upper tier seats but none of the bottom tier rows.
Over by the southeast corner is the stadium control box and in front of this are a few rows of terracing, but these are no longer in use.
The Roger Palmer Supporters Bar is in an elevated building in the southwest corner.
The Chadderton Road End is also divided into two tiers, but you can freely get from one level to the other. Almost all of the seats in this stand are blue, except for the letters OAAFC which are spelt out in white across the lower tier blocks.
Supporting pillars come down on the staircases between the lower tier blocks and will restrict the view of most seats in the Chadderton Road End, though if you are down towards the very front rows then your view should be clear. The slanted roof can also restrict your view slightly if you up towards the back of the upper tier.
Large windshields are in place which cover every row at either end of the stand.
The pitchside advertising board which is closest to the southwest corner acts as one of the stadium’s match clocks, showing the score and how much of the game has been played. It can be seen by all fans except for those in the Chadderton Road End.
The Joe Royle Stand has a single tier of blue seating, and the area behind here is taken up by executive boxes and a gym further up above that. The back rows of the two central blocks are in a deeper shade of blue than the rest of the stand and these are dedicated executive seats for those in the boxes.
Your view from anywhere in here is perfectly clear as there are no pillars coming down from the curved roof, and windshields protect all but the very front row seats at either end.
The Jimmy Frizzell Stand is made up of a single tier of blue seating with the letters LATICS spelt out in white across the blocks. Between the block with the letter I and the block with the letter C is a set of metal fences. These are in place because the stand used to be split between home and away supporters, but this is no longer the case.
There are no supporting pillars coming down from the roof and so your view of the pitch is perfectly clear from any seat.
Large windshields are also in place at either end which protects every row inside from the wind and the rain.
There used to be an electronic scoreboard attached to the Jimmy Frizzell Stand’s roof, but this has since been removed and an advertising board has been put there instead.
Away Fans
Away fans are housed behind the goal in the Chadderton Road End.
Smaller crowds are kept in just the upper tier, usually congregating in the central blocks, and only on occasions when very large away crowds are expected is the lower tier open for use as well.
Being put up at the back does mean that fans are left with a more restricted view, but this is done to easily keep crowds of varying sizes segregated from other parts of the stadium.
Matchday Pubs
Pubs available to supporters on a matchday include:
-The Clayton Green Hotel (Oldham Central, Westwood Leisure Park, Westwood Way, OL1 2NA) (Typically Home and Away Supporters) (Located near to Boundary Park itself)
-The Greyhound Inn (1 Elly Clough, Holden Fold Lane, OL2 5ES) (Away Supporters Welcome) (Located north of Boundary Park)
-The Rifle Range Inn (Burnley Lane, OL9 0BP) (Home and Away Supporters)
-The Spring Vale Inn (14 Burnley Street, OL9 0JH) (Typically Home and Away Supporters)
-The White Hart (233 Oldham Road, OL2 6BB) (Typically Home and Away Supporters)
Overview
Boundary Park is a ground that certainly shows its age in places, but it is in no way a terrible stadium.
The Jimmy Frizzell Stand is the place to go if you want a great view from your seat, but the Main Stand and Chadderton Road End are perfectly adequate as well.
The Joe Royle Stand on the north side of the ground is the pick of the bunch though and a stand that would look great in any modern football stadium.
Helped further by Oldham Athletic’s excellent, loyal fanbase that support this club through thick and thin, Boundary Park is a ground you simply have to come and see a match at.
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