THE GROUND
Boundary Park
Furtherwood Road
Oldham
OL1 2PA
Boundary Park was originally opened in 1896 as the Oldham Athletic Ground and was the home of Oldham County FC.
When County folded three years later, Pine Villa FC moved in and changed their name to Oldham Athletic.
The ground currently has only three sides as the Broadway side of the ground, opposite the Pentagon Vauxhall Main Stand, has been demolished for redevelopment.
Boundary Park holds 10,683 supporters in its current guise – excluding press, executive, directors and disabled areas – and away fans are housed in a section of the Leesfield Developments Stand, the Rochdale Road End.
Away supporters are usually given a section with 1,600 seats.
THE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
It is approximately 215 miles from Griffin Park to Boundary Park by road.
The usual route would involve taking the M6 and M62 to junction 20 and then the A627 (M) to junction two and the ground is visible from there.
Drivers can also go via the M60, leave at junction 22 and then take the A62 and A627 to Boundary Park.
There is a large car park at Boundary Park.
The nearest station to Boundary Park was Oldham Werneth, but that has been closed as part of redevelopment work to the Manchester railway network and will not reopen.
An extension to the Manchester Metrolink, for it to run through Oldham, opened in February.
The nearest Metrolink station is Freehold, which is around a 30 minute walk.
Oldham Mumps and Derker stations are also within a long walk.
The Manchester Metrolink runs through Manchester Piccadilly station and Bees fans travelling by rail can get to Piccadilly by taking a Virgin Trains service from Euston or a CrossCountry service from Reading.
Mills Hill station is also around 30 minutes away while Castleton, one stop along the line, is also a long walk away.
Train travellers can get to Mills Hill on Northern Trains services from Manchester Victoria station, which can be reached on the Metrolink after changing at Manchester Piccadilly.
Supporters can also get to Castleton and Mills Hill from Leeds, which involves travelling from King’s Cross on an East Coast service.
The Supporters’ Association will be running coaches to every game this season – details of times and prices will be announced in due course.
THE FIXTURES
Brentford will welcome Oldham Athletic to Griffin Park on Saturday December 14.
The Bees will travel to Boundary Park on Saturday March 29.
THE RECENT HISTORY
Oldham Athletic are the longest serving members of the third tier and will begin their 17th successive season at this level.
The Latics have generally been an upper mid-table side since they dropped in to the third tier in 1997 following more than two decade in the upper echelons of the English game.
But recent seasons have been less successful and Oldham have looked more likely to leave the division though the trap door rather than the roof.
Their most successful period was in the late 1980s and early 1990s under Joe Royle.
They reached the Littlewoods Cup Final and FA Cup Semi-Final in 1990 and were promoted to the top flight a year later.
They spent three years in Division One and the Premier League, reaching another FA Cup Semi-Final in 1994 – losing to Manchester United on both occasions, before relegation in 1994 and then again in 1997.
They have had six top ten finishes since relegation and reached the Play-Offs twice but since at 10th place finish in 2008/09 have ended the season in 16th, 17th, 16th and 19th respectively.
Last season The Latics made headlines in the FA Cup – beating Nottingham Forest away from home in the Third Round and the Liverpool at Boundary Park in the Fourth Round.
They drew 2-2 with Everton in the Fifth Round before losing a Replay 3-1.
However, while the cup run was on-going, Oldham were slipping down the league.
The wins over Forest and Liverpool were the only victories between December 8 and February 9 and they lost eight out of nine League One games in that time.
Manager Paul Dickov was replaced by Lee Johnson and three successive wins in April gave Oldham enough points – they eventually finished three points clear of the drop zone.
THE MANAGER
Lee Johnson became the youngest Football League manager – taking that particular honour from Karl Robison of Milton Keynes Dons – when he was appointed as Oldham boss on March 18.
He brought to an end a 13-year professional career that had seen him play more than 250 Football League games in the centre of midfield.
Johnson started out at Arsenal and move to Watford as a youth player before making his professional bow at Brighton and Hove Albion.
His father – Gary Johnson – took him to Yeovil Town and he was part of the team that took the Somerset side in to the Football League.
He then played for Heart of Midlothian, Bristol City – again managed by his father, Derby County and Chesterfield before a move to Kilmarnock, his last club.
He won four of his first ten games in charge of Oldham to keep The Latics in League One.
THE TOP SCORER
Jose Baxter scored 15 goals in all competitions for Oldham last season, 13 of them in League One.
The 21-year-old, who usually played as an attacking midfielder, joined Oldham early in the 2012/13 season.
He had been with Everton since he was six but left in the summer of 2012 and was not picked up by Crystal Palace after a trial.
The former England Under-16 and Under-17 international signed a short term deal at Boundary Park but extended it until the summer of 2015 earlier this year.
THE KEY MEN
Change is in the air at Boundary Park with a large turnover in players underway.
Goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis, who played 42 games last term for The Latics, and former Brentford attacker Robbie Simpson, who scored four goals in 44 appearances, were among those to leave.
Striker Matt Smith, who scored 11 goals in 40 games in all competitions, moved to join Leeds United while key midfield player Lee Croft, who only missed one game last season, turned down a new contract, as did goalkeeper Alex Cisak.
Central defender Jean-Yves M’voto, who played 49 games, has yet to commit his future to the club.
Defender Cliff Byrne, who played 40 games last season, has signed a new contract and James Wesolowski, is set to be the main man in midfield.
The Latics have signed striker Jonson Clarke-Harris from Peterborough United and winger James Dayton, after he left Kilmarnock.
Midfield player Sidney Schmeltz arrived from Holland while Korey Smith has signed permanently from Norwich City after a successful loan spell.
THE FIRST MEETING
January 1 1927, FA Cup Third Round – Oldham Athletic 2 Brentford 4
Brentford line-up: Ferguson; Donnelly, Butler; Beacham, Rae, Dearn; Hendren, Lane, Watkins, Allen, Douglas
Brentford goal scorers: Allen (3), Watkins
Brentford reached the FA Cup Fourth Round for the first time ever with a win after the first tie had been abandoned due to mist with them trailing 2-1.
THE LAST MEETING
January 12 2013, npower League One – Oldham Athletic 0 Brentford 2
Brentford line-up: Moore; Logan, Dean, Craig, Bidwell; Kiernan (sub Diagouraga); Donaldson, Douglas, Forshaw, Forrester (sub Barron); Trotta (sub Saunders)
Sub (not used): Gounet, Hodson, Reeves, Hayes Brentford goal scorer: Donaldson (2)
Clayton Donaldson grabbed two more goals as Brentford picked up their first win of 2013, beating Oldham Athletic 2-0 at Boundary Park.
Click here for a full report.
THE MEMORABLE DAY
December 15 1998, FA Cup Second Round Replay – Brentford 2 Oldham Athletic 2 After Extra Time (Oldham win 4-2 on penalties)
Brentford line-up: Dearden; Boxall (sub Aspinall), Bates, Hreiðarsson, Folan; Rowlands, Quinn, Oatway, Hebel (sub Anderson); Freeman (sub Fortune-West), Owusu
Subs (not used): Bryan, Watson
Brentford goal scorers: Freeman, Owusu
Brentford missed out on a chance to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup Third Round with a penalty shoot-out defeat.