Thirty years on, Redfearn's never-to-be-forgotten penalty winner is immortalised on canvas

Andrew Mellor and Paul Town are pictured with the new artwork

Lifelong Latics fanatic Andrew Mellor is now the proud owner of the penalty kick that became one of the most important goals in the club’s history, after it was brilliantly immortalised on canvas by talented Yorkshire artist Paul Town.

Andrew commissioned the painting, taken from an iconic original Oldham Chronicle photograph, to mark 30 years since Neil Redfearn's dramatic stoppage-time penalty winner against Sheffield Wednesday secured the Second Division title - and promotion to the Premiership - in front of a jam-packed Chaddy End.

Ahead of the 30-year anniversary, Andrew spoke to his now friend and professional artist Paul, who specialises in stadium and sport artwork, to capture the moment that meant so much to him from that memorable 1991 photo.

After being presented with the original oil painting at Boundary Park, Andrew spoke of his delight with the finished product.

He said: “Paul has done a brilliant job on what is an iconic image in Oldham’s history.

“I came up from Bristol on the day to watch it unfold with my very own eyes and always remember the photo in the paper.

"With that in mind, a few years ago I had the idea of doing this after seeing Paul’s superb work and thought it’d make a great subject piece. 

“It also coincides as a nice 60th birthday present for myself, so now I’m just proud to be able to enjoy and relive the moment every time I see it.”

Paul works with a number of clients to capture memories, emotions and echoes from the past.

He said: “We’ve built up a rapport over the last few years on social media and my business has also taken off during that time working with many clubs around the country.

“A lot of my business is based around nostalgia and I always try to get inside the mind of the fan and how important it is to them whenever I get a new commission.

“I love painting football stadiums like Boundary Park, especially with the floodlights which is one of my favourite parts alongside Neil striking the ball.”

To view the work from Stadium Portraits, in particular his Oldham Athletic pieces, please click here

Latics have also thanked Andrew for gifting one of the prints to the club to be on show inside Boundary Park.

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.