West Stand just the ticket

By Neil Harvey

LUCKY OMEN? Oldham fans will be in the West Stand at Wembley

OLDHAM Athletic will be hoping the Wembley gods will be smiling on them under the arch this afternoon.

Latics fans will be situated on the West Stand of the Home of Football – and that’s proved to be a lucky omen for finalists on the hallowed turf this season.

All three EFL divisional play-off winners; Sunderland, Charlton Athletic and AFC Wimbledon celebrated victory with their fans sat at that end of the iconic stadium, as did Aldershot Town when they won the Isuzu FA Trophy in their first ever Wembley appearance in front of over 20,000 travelling supporters.

And it doesn’t end there either; Newcastle United fans were also sat in the West Stand as they joyfully watched their side win a first major domestic trophy in 70 years when lifting the Carabao Cup in March, as were supporters of

Crystal Palace when they beat Manchester City to lift the FA Cup for the first time in their history a fortnight ago.

Indeed, if the planets are aligned for Oldham to beat Southend and book their place back in the EFL, then it would also complete a pretty unique Year of the Bird. The Latics’ official mascot is Chaddy Owl, a playful reference to the local pronunciation of “Oldham”, which sounds like “Owldum”.

Victory for Micky Mellon’s side would complete the ornithological set for 2024-25 to follow the successes of Premier League winners Liverpool (Liver Birds), Newcastle (Magpies), Crystal Palace (Eagles), Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur (Cockerill) and AFC Wimbledon (Eagle).

Oldham are slight 11/8 favourites to win in 90 minutes at Wembley this afternoon with Southend at 7/4 and 21/10 for the game to go to extra-time.