By Jim Booth
The OASF election and AGM is only a couple of weeks away, so I’m taking some time to share how I came to be Chair of the board of OASF Directors and some of the experiences I’ve had.
I’m 39 years old, probably the absolute worst age for a Latics fan to be. I was too young to be there for the good stuff and my earliest vivid memory is actually being dumped out of the PL. Although I was around for the Moore era and know full well how terrible it was, I was a teenager and significantly more interested in getting bladdered than doing anything about the situation.
When the Lemsagams rocked up and wreaked havoc on the club, I decided not to stand by and instead try to do something about it. I started to chronicle the absolute casserole of nonsense they’d created around the club in a handy timeline under the Twitter name “NatkoAtko”.
The OASF board of the time were trying (rightly or wrongly) to remain cordial with the club’s owners in the hope they’d see the light and change their ways. I was sure this wasn’t the correct approach so when election time rolled around, I changed the name on the Twitter account to my own and decided it was time to get involved.
I was elected and made chair shortly after. I’ve been on the board for 3 years now and it has been an (almost) entirely positive experience. Obviously, you’ll have people taking a pop at you on social media and it can be frustrating trying to make things happen when times are good as people just aren’t as interested. But the current board are a great group of people, it’s like meeting up with mates once a month.
Some of the highlights:
Putting season tickets in the hands of fans who couldn’t afford them
Recreating a classic Latics shirt to raise over £1000 for Oldham Foodbank
The Fans vs Legends match attended by over 1000 fans
Best of all are the amazing volunteers, we had over 30 helping us for the Fans vs Legends match and it would have been absolutely impossible without them. Watching everyone band together and put on a memorable day was a fantastic feeling. Special mention has to go to David Swain, who runs the OASF Lottery, delivers all of our merchandise and distributed almost 400 membership packs for us! Big thanks also to Joe Swain, who designed the OASF logo, the Legends shirts, the Blue & Tambourine Collection and pretty much anything else OASF have done. These people are the absolute lifeblood of OASF.
Mostly VERY good stuff, I’d highly recommend getting involved if you’re thinking about it. Yes, some experience would be great, but it is absolutely not necessary. I’ve worked in banks most of my life and now I work in procurement, almost completely untransferable skills. All you really need is some time and the will to see things through.
If you want to become an OASF Director and can’t find someone to nominate you, please contact us at hello@oasf.co.uk and we’ll help. If you want to help, but don’t want to be on the board, please volunteer. We could really use the help!
To stand for election, complete the nomination form below and send it to oasfelection2024@gmail.com by 23:59 on Monday 22 July.
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