Germany v England – International Friendly 

Olympic Stadium, Berlin

Wednesday 19 November 2008, 21:00 K.O. (local time)

Northampton Town v Oldham Athletic – League One 

Sixfields Stadium, Northampton

Saturday 15 November 2008, 15:00 K.O.

The news of the death of Ernie Cooksey on 3rd July 2008 was something which was hugely upsetting for a lot of people and a large number of Oldham Athletic fans in particular.

The passing of a former player is always a sad event but when that player was as popular as Ernie, it was always going to be hard for those who had watched him on a regular basis. What, of course made matters so much worse was the fact that Ernie lived to be just 28.

In the days following Ernie’s death a group of Oldham fans decided that we wanted to do something to remember him by and the idea of a flag was conceived. Originally, that was it. A group of fans would have a flag made that could be taken to games to honour his memory but we also wanted to do something that may help in the fight against cancer.

We do not believe that we personally can do anything that can cure cancer and we are not saying that we want to raise a particular amount. All we want to do is our own little bit because we genuinely believe that every little helps in the fight against this terrible illness.

We decided, therefore that we wanted to try to use the flag in two ways. Firstly, we wanted to tell people about Ernie and why he meant so much to us and also to fans of the other clubs he played for. Secondly, we wanted to publicise the fight against malignant melanoma, the cancer that killed him.
 
We are intending to take the flag to every game that Oldham Athletic play in during the 2008/9 season, starting with a  friendly match at Rhyl and ending in the FA Cup Final in May (OK, it will probably be the final league game at Walsall but everyone’s allowed to dream). We will also be taking it to the North West Masters tournament at the MEN Arena in Manchester where a team of former Oldham players will be competing and also every England game bar those which clash with an Oldham match.

Not all 10 of us that have funded the flag will make it to every game but we shall endeavour to ensure that the flag does.

Along the way, we shall take a photograph of the flag at each ground and will publish a report of each away trip. Again, this will not always be written by the same individual but it should provide Oldham fans with a different perspective on these trips. It is also hoped that supporters of other clubs will find these tales interesting. For supporters of Premier League clubs, these will show why we follow our club and how our experience differs from their own. For supporters of clubs that we visit during the tour we hope that they will take an interest on our take on visiting their town and take the reports in the manner in which they are intended.

The plan is not to produce a detailed match report, but to provide a record of our trip. This will be a personal experience and as different members of our group write, there should be a wide variety of views and opinions.

Thank you for taking a look at our site. Please take some time to read about Ernie and what he did for our football club and also to read about the fight against cancer. If you wish to donate to one of the charities we have provided links to, that would be fantastic but if not, please keep in touch and follow our tour.