OLDHAM Athletic’s Boundary Park might not be as well known as other football stadiums in the world such as Wembley, the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro or the Camp Nou in Barcelona.
But the home of the Latics is now more familiar on an island of Antarctica after a visit by diehard fan Chris Stringer.
The PHD student from Royton made the long journey to a Czech Republic base on James Ross Island on the freezing-cold continent in December before spending 64 days as part of his course, studying how the areas not covered by ice are changing.
While he was on the island - among a group of 16 - with Chris being the only Englishman and the rest being Czech or Slovakian, they were able to share their love of football.
They played games together and former season ticket holder Chris told them about his love for the Latics.
Chris and fellow students during the research trip
Chris on Antarctica
Chris gets up close to a penguin
Chris, 24, who is studying at the University of Leeds, said: “It was a fantastic trip and by far the most beautiful place I have been to.
“The temperature got as cold as -11 degrees and one time I got back inside I saw that my trousers had frozen solid.
“On another day it was 15 degrees though.
“I was the only Englishman there and they put up the Union Flag for me to make me feel welcome.
“There was a Totem pole there which had various signs on, and as I have been going to watch the Latics since I was 10, I asked the technician in charge if I could put one up on there for Boundary Park.
“He agreed and we got some wood and I made it.
“The internet wasn’t good where we were so I asked my girlfriend Eszter back home who looked up that Boundary Park was 13,904km away from the island.”
The Boundary Park sign
Chris, who co-hosts a League One and Two podcast, shared the sign on social media, much to the delight of his fellow Latics fans.
The former Oldham Hulme Grammar School student added: “My friends loved it and said it was something that they would expect me to do because I am mad about the Latics.”
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