Images courtesy of Oldham Athletic Football Club
MIKE Fondop may be the main man in Oldham Athletic’s frontline as they chase a return to the Football League.
But he knows it will not be easy to do the job – just like his route to Boundary Park.
And a good dose of Saddleworth spirit is helping him along the way. Thanks to Greenfield-based owner Frank Rothwell.
Striker Fondop will be one of the key weapons for Micky Mellon’s side when it heads to League Two Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup’s first round.
However, with a back story like his, you can be sure there will be no shortage of effort.
When you have juggled shifts at takeaway firm Pret a Manger’s branch on London’s Regent Street or as a nightclub doorman with a degree and trying to make it in football, you can be sure he will give his all.
“There have been a lot of sacrifices,” said the Cameroon native, who moved to Colchester, Essex to study for a degree in actuarial sciences – the mathematical methods behind financial risk assessment.
“I started working for Pret a Manger but that was in London. I worked behind the counter, cleaned toilets, served clients. I was a barista, doing coffees, too.
“I’d be at uni in Colchester Monday-Friday then be in London on Saturday and Sunday. I’d cycle from uni to Colchester station, get the train to Stockwell – where a family friend lived – then cycle 20-30 minutes to the branch!
“And with the little time I had, I had to study. My friends stopped inviting me out as they knew I wouldn’t go.
“But that wasn’t sustainable, so I became a bouncer as I thought if I wanted to play football, I’d have to work at night.
“My uni team’s manager, Angelo Harrop, got me on at Stanway Rovers and it went from there but I was still a bouncer while playing for Oxford City.
“One Friday, I went straight from uni to work in London, finished at 3am and had to be up at 7am on Saturday for the game. I scored two goals that day but I was like, ‘That’s it. I need to focus on football.’
“Even then it wasn’t easy. I played for Oxford but lived in Colchester. I’d get back from training on Tuesday and Thursday at midnight and had to go to lectures the next morning – but I had a goal.
“I’d tell my mates, ‘I want to be a professional footballer.’ They’s be like, ‘I think it’s a bit late for that mate.’
“I took screenshots of their comments and when I signed for Wrexham, some said, ‘He said he’d be a pro and he’s not far off.’
“I’ve always been someone who wants to challenge himself and my mum knows I love numbers, so she brought up becoming an actuary.
“But leaving Cameroon in 2013, with no family members, wasn’t easy but I knew the plan – although I was going to uni, I always wanted to be a professional footballer.
“I could’ve gone to the UK or Germany but I thought, ‘Football is a culture in the UK and I’ve always wanted to be a professional.’
“But I thought I’d have the good university life!”
Fondop may play like an old fashioned striker at times but he is not your typical footballer.
His listening exemplifies that. Radio Four and sermons – as the word of God influences him every day – along with podcasts by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, of which he is still a member.
But he has been through the full range of emotions during his time at Boundary Park.
As Latics tumbled out of League Two under then owner Abdallah Lemsagam, he heard tales of woe as chaos reigned in what he describes as a ‘toxic environment.’
Enter Frank Rothwell and his family.
Now Oldham feel like a club again. Smiles are on faces, results are picking up and something badly missing has returned to the terraces, optimism.
No better way is the new attitude summed up by how partner Ellen Taylor and daughter Honey-Faith have been taken in.
Fondop added: “Under the previous owners, you could just feel the toxic environment. You heard stories about the treatment of previous players
“All that crept in and it affected results but I always think if you don’t act well, it always catches up with you.
“The club went on a downward spiral and was relegated. There was a lot of uncertainty and it was just toxic.
“You heard some stories and asked yourself, ‘What’s going to happen next?’ Fans wanted change but since the Rothwell family came in, it’s been completely different.
“They try to get involved in a positive way, It’s all positive vibes and if you work in a toxic environment, it can affect you but if it’s positive, it can the other way.
“At home games, we have the family stand and knowing you family’s well looked after, not knowing my daughter was lacking or my missus was stressing, it has a positive influence.”
Oldham head to Tranmere sitting sixth in the National League, five points behind leaders York.
Some 2,200 Latics fans travel hoping to see them do what they did across the Mersey when they won at Everton in 2008.
When Saddleworth Independent was at Boundary Park, a steady stream of supporters turned up hoping to get one of the remaining tickets.
But while shocking the League Two side as Mellon returns to his old stomping ground would be great, Fondop knows fleeting triumph will not mean they are truly back.
“For me, the test is over a season, not one game,” he continued as he admitted dreams of making round three and drawing Manchester United at Old Trafford. “It’s a good opportunity for us, an important test but not the final one.
“And Oldham is a big club, we were in the Premier League. If anything, it could be a test for Tranmere.”
