
Mike Fondop played for Wrexham during non-league era
"I love Andrea Bocelli, Time to Say Goodbye is one of my favourites," former Wrexham striker Fondop told BBC Radio Manchester
"On game-days I listen to gospel and that is what calms me. I love jazz music as well, I don't have one specific type of song, I love a bit of everything.
"Usually in my downtime I can listen to opera and jazz. I don't like listening to things that give me headaches."
Fondop, who played for Wrexham in the Sam Ricketts era in the 2018/19 season, scored 18 league goals as Oldham made it through to the National League play-offs where they beat Yorkshire duo Halifax and York before coming from behind in extra-time to beat Southend last Sunday.
He's been at Boundary Park since 2022 when The Latics became the first former Premier League team to be relegated to non-league.
Fondop could have been tempted away with Football League clubs looking to sign him but the 31-year-old Cameroon-born frontman stayed loyal to The Latics.
"The manager at the time, John Sheridan, called me after the end of the season and said 'I need you to come back," added Fondop.
"You owe me because I signed you and you only played two games, 'I want you to get this club back where it belongs.'
"So that has always been an objective because I came and I didn't have a chance to help them stay in League Two.
Oldham now have new owners in place with businessman Frank Rothwell taking over from Abdallah Lemsagam.
"The club is absolutely different now," said Fondop. "The ownership now is more family orientated. The owners are approachable and want everyone to feel part of a family," he added.
"In the past it felt toxic. As a player I was focused on what I was signed to do but the environment at the time felt toxic. Now it is so different.
"If a club doesn't treat its players well you might think in the long run you can get away with it, you might for a period of time, but eventually it is going to affect results. Now the treatment is completely different."
MORE WREXHAM AFC NEWS
Fondop, who lists Halifax, Chesterfield, Burton Albion and Hartlepool as his former clubs, can now look forward to life back in League Two.
"It has been 34 years since we experienced promotion. I'm 31 so last time they won promotion I wasn't even born," Fondop added in the build-up to their tremendous win at Wembley.
"After the gaffer said that I went home and wrote down 34 years in bold on a piece of paper with my goals for the season and I put it on my kitchen wall. It's always in my mind.
"It's in my head every day because I want to be part of history and I want the fans to get back into the feeling of what Oldham deserves."
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