MANAGER Les Parry welcomed Tranmere’s opening League One fixture against Oldham Athletic at Prenton Park as “a great way to start the season.”
Rovers play host to the Latics on August 7, then travel to Huddersfield Town for their first away match of the campaign a week later.
The new season’s fixtures, announced yesterday, see Rovers play host to Sheffield Wednesday in an attractive Boxing Day fixture.
They finish the campaign with a home game against Swindon Town on May 7.
Parry said: “Oldham will bring a lot of fans to Prenton Park.
“They have a new manager in Paul Dickov and there should be a great atmosphere. It is everything you could want for the opening day of the season, a home game that is almost a local derby.
“Then we’ve got a game at Walsall in the Carling Cup and at Huddersfield in the league during the following week.
“It’s an attractive start – but a difficult one.”
Tranmere and Oldham met in an opening day game four years ago. The League One fixture in August 2006 was Ronnie Moore’s first in charge after returning to Prenton Park as manager that summer. Moore saw Chris Greenacre score the only goal of the game in a Rovers victory. Tranmere went on to finish the season in 10th place and the Latics eighth.
Among Les Parry’s current squad, Ian Goodison and Paul McLaren are lone survivors from that game.
Tranmere face at least a dozen long distance away games requiring an overnight stay for the team and staff.
They are spread fairly evenly through the nine months of the campaign although Parry has identified concentrations of long-haul trips in September and early October, another around Christmas and a third in February.
Rovers face an arduous week in late September when they make trips to Colchester United and Bristol Rovers in the space of four days.
Just as last season, League One boasts a high concentration of clubs from the south of England.
Tranmere can look forward to visiting just four North West clubs – Oldham, Carlisle United, Huddersfield and newly-promoted Rochdale together with Sheffield Wednesday from South Yorkshire and Notts County in the East Midlands.
Walsall is a relatively short drive away in the West Midlands but otherwise the team bus will be making long trip south on the majority of awaydays.
Meanwhile, Parry’s planning for the new campaign has been boosted with the news that John Welsh is ready to commit himself to another two seasons with Tranmere.
The former Liverpool and Hull City midfielder, who played 50 games for Rovers last season, has agreed to sign terms to stay on at Prenton Park.
Liverpudlian Welsh, 26, was among a clutch of players offered new contracts at the end of last season after playing a major role in Tranmere’s ultimately successful fight to fend off relegation.
