Oldham Athletic

Oldham Athletic AFC is a professional football club from the Lancashire town of the same name that was formed in 1895 as Pine Villa FC. The club moved into Boundary Park, which was originally called The Athletic Ground in 1899 after another club, Oldham County, folded.

The club changed to their present title at the same time after starting out competing in the Lancashire Combination, which they won in 1906-07 which saw them being elected to Division Two of the Football League. A runners-up spot in 1909-10 led to promotion to Division One. 

Athletic were FA Cup semi-finalists in 1912-13, losing to Aston Villa, and league runners up in 1914-15 on the cusp of the Great War under their first manager David Ashworth. Like many nearby towns Oldham suffered from the loss of many men during the conflict, which influenced everyday life as well as the football club.

In 1922-23 they were relegated to Division Two, which was followed by another drop to Division Three South in 1934-35. The 1952-53 campaign a league title which returned the club to Division Two under manager and former England international, George Hardwick.

The Latics were relegated twelve months later, prior to being placed in Division Four when the league was restructured in 1958. Promotion was achieved in 1962-63 under the tutelage of Jack Rowley, prior to another demotion in 1968-69. Shortly after long serving boss Jimmy Frizzell took over as manager.

In 1969-70 Athletic went back up to Division Three, followed by another promotion as champions to Division Two in 1973-74. Frizzell’s side maintained their place without too many big stars, which saw him move onto Manchester City in 1982, with Joe Royle taking over as boss and developed an outstanding team. 

This was assisted in 1986 when an artificial pitch was installed at Boundary Park to assist with ailing finances. In 1986-87 the Latics lost to Leeds United in the playoff semifinals. A fine League Cup run in 1989-90 led all the way to the final where they went down 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

They hammered Scarborough 7-0, and West Ham United 6-0 during the run, as well as seeing off Leeds United, Southampton, and Arsenal. The team also reached the FA Cup semifinal, losing to Manchester United after a replay in two incredible games. 

The team featuring Richard Jobson, Earl Barrett, Roger Palmer, Andy Ritchie, Frankie Bunn, Neil Redfearn, and Paul Warhurst did the club proud. Click here to see a classic semifinal from 1990 at a grand old Maine Road.

In the following 1990-91 season Royle took the side to the Division Two title to become founder members of the Premier League. The team defied the odds to survive for three seasons. In the 1993-94 FA Cup semifinal Athletic were seconds from victory until Mark Hughes saved Manchester United and denied The Latics at Wembley. 

However, the team was relegated before Royle took the Everton manager’s job. Graeme Sharp was appointed, but the club continually struggled with finances in an ageing stadium while top players were sold or were getting past their best. In 1996-97 Oldham were relegated to the third tier Division Two.

Neil Warnock had a spell in charge of the team before he was succeeded by Andy Ritchie. Mick Wadsworth was given a chance before the appointment of Iain Dowie, whose side were defeated in the 2002-03 playoff semifinals by Queens Park Rangers. 

The club hit severe financial troubles and entered administration in 2004 before being bought by three ex-patriot businessmen. Managers came and went including Tony Philliskirk, and Ronnie Moore. John Sheridan took Oldham to the playoffs in 2006-07 where they suffered semifinal defeat to Blackpool.

Plans were announced in July 2009 to move to a new stadium to be shared with Oldham Roughyeds Rugby League FC, who were sharing Boundary Park at the time after selling their much missed but dilapidated Watersheddings home, on the junction of Broadway and Oldham Road in Failsworth, a couple of miles away from Boundary Park.

 

It was rejected by the local council. The Failsworth plans simply hit problems from the moment they were announced as Paul Dickov did his best with a young side and a reduced budget on the pitch. In July 2011 the local council decided to assist with the redevelopment of Boundary Park.

Dickov departed to be replaced by Lee Johnson in March 2013. He led the side to safety and then consolidation in the 2013-14 season. Latics fans rejoiced as work on the new stand was started in the summer of 2014 to make Boundary Park four sided for spectators once again.

Johnson left for Barnsley and was replaced briefly by Darren Kelly, with David Dunn, and then a returning Sheridan taking over the reins. Steve Robinson took over as manager in July 2016 with the financial turmoil and ownership wrangle continuing in the background.

 

Sheridan returned once again in January 2017 before being replaced by Richie Wellens in October 2017. The Latics were relegated to League Two a few months later after Moroccan football agent Abdallah Lemsagam agreed a deal with the remaining owner of the previous group.

Frankie Bunn was installed as manager, lasting until the following February. Oldham fan and former England international Nicky Butt was put in charge of the team, but lasted just a couple of months before the job was given to Pete Wild. Laurent Banide was brought in, in the summer of 2019.

It was another poor appointment, as Dino Maamria had replaced him within three months. A former owner, Simon Blitz took the club into administration in March 2020 over debts owed to his bank that owned Boundary Park as fans protests grew while investment in the team continued to dwindle. 

Harry Kewell arrived as manager in August 2020 with rumours growing over a change of ownership, before the increasingly hated Lemsagam said he didn’t want to sell. Keith Curle was made the new team boss in March 2021.

Threats of players strikes, a transfer embargo, and potential administration affected the team, as Sheridan once again was appointed, in January 2022. He couldn’t help the side avoid relegation to the National League.

In July 2022 local businessman and lifelong fan Frank Rothwell bought the club. David Unsworth soon came in as manager, and settling the ship, as Boundary Park was also purchased by Rothwell, offering the club the chance to progress for the first time in many years. 

Micky Mellon became Latics boss in October 2023, finishing his first season in charge in tenth place as the crowds began to return in numbers.

Oldham Athletic AFC will play in the National League in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Oldham Athletic 3 Hull City 1 (Division Two) Saturday 31st August 1985 (att: 4,500)

I went to this game by the supporters coach which started in Scarborough and picked up in Filey and Bridlington. We parked up on the huge car park at the ground with plenty of time to kill, but unfortunately there was no nearby pubs allowing away fans admission.

Boundary Park is the second highest ground in England, after The Hawthorns at West Bromwich. It was extremely open and showing signs of age. The away Rochdale Road End was an open terrace which had been much truncated and realigned. To the right was the Broadway Stand. This had been erected after receiving money from Ford in the early 70's.

 

It was a raised seated construction above an open paddock. The far Chadderton Road End was a large covered terrace with wooden steps at the rear. To the left was an open paddock with the Main Stand stood on top of it. An unusual feature was that the players had to run down steps to the pitch from the stand.

City were blown away by a physical Athletic outfit managed by Joe Royle, who was slowly putting the clubs most successful team together. The consolation goal was scored by Billy Whitehurst on the hour mark.

Oldham Athletic 0 Hull City 0 (Division 2) Saturday 30th August 1986 (att: 5,104)

As with the season before we got there too early without any chance of a drink on the coach. Some City fans decided to "take" the home end in jest. They gradually returned round the pitch with stewards a few at a time during the first half. It was about as exciting as it got although in hindsight a draw was a decent result at Boundary Park.

Oldham Athletic 7 Scarborough 0 (League Cup Round Three) Tuesday 17th October 1989 (att: 7,712)

This was a chastening experience of the highest order. Boro had knocked out league leaders Chelsea over two legs in the previous round. The draw was made on Midweek Sports Special after showing highlights of that game. When Boro were drawn out away to Oldham the cameras panned back to the dressing room at the McCain Stadium, where manager Colin Morris told the watching nation that we'd give it a good go!

I travelled with my usual mates on the Gas Board mini bus. The traffic was horendous and we got there just as kick off was approaching. We caught out the home club by surprise with the size of our support of around 1,200. They only had two turnstiles open and the police did their very best to be unhelpful. 

Once we were in we wondered why we had bothered. Boro went in at half time losing 6-0 and all Athletic's goals had been scored by Frankie Bunn which can be seen here. There were slightly mitigating circumstances. Boundary Park now had an artificial pitch and Boro were abysmal. 

The defence was like Bambi on Ice as Bunn repeatedly waltzed through. The ironic thing for me was that i used to cheer him on when he played up front for Hull City without ever really threatening any such damage. The proud thing for me is when watching the video, you can still hear the Boro fans singing even though we were six down at the time. 

Then Andy Ritchie, who would go on to play for Boro, walloped in an unstoppable seventh. At this point Boro fan Pete Trapps made the amazing statement that the goal had come completely against the run of play! I showed by disgust by splattering a pie onto the plastic pitch.

At the end of the game the police decided we hadn't suffered enough so they kept us in the away end for a while. The Boro fans decided this was not entirely satisfactory and many started taking pot shots with any missiles they could find at the electric scoreboard displaying the final score. As each bulb was popped, even the most mild mannered Seadogs gave out a large cheer.

We eventually got back to Sherburn In Elmet just in time for a couple of pints, no thanks to the police. A friendly landlord welcomed us and told us we were just in time to watch the match highlights on TV. He was asked to turn it over!

Tuesday 20th July 2010

I alighted from the regular bus service which was enhanced while the railway loop line was being changed to a tram route from Rochdale on Oldham Road. I could see the floodlights in the distance down Sheepfoot Lane. As I walked down the hill, recounting former memories, it started raining.

I had seen Boundary Park plenty of times on the TV so I was aware it had changed since I was last there. The Latics had reached the Premiership for a couple of seasons so the ground had been adapted to suit the demands that were required for participation in the self titled “Greatest League in the World”.

I was naturally apprehensive as to whether I’d gain admission or not. I walked across a car park behind the Rochdale Road Stand and saw that the gates were wide open. I was soon in at the back of the single tiered stand that was once the open away terrace. The Main Stand down the left hand side had been smartened up with seats now on the paddock. The Chaddy End was the same as before, save for the addition of seats. 

The area to the right where the old stand had once stood just had a few steps of terracing in front of a large blue fence. The stand had been demolished a few years earlier as part of a masterplan to build Oldham Arena. The costs and planning didn’t add up, so the ground was now looking very lopsided. 

The club as of 2010 seemed determined to concentrate all their efforts on a controversial move a couple of miles away on the Oldham/Manchester border in Failsworth. The club had added raised hospitality boxes up each touchline near to the corner flag by the Chaddy End to try and maximise revenue.

Boundary Park has no doubt seen better days, but it was a ground I liked since the Rochdale Road End had a roof. The club smartened it up wherever possible, with the addition of red paint on any concrete steps. It worked very well. If I was a fan I’d want serious words with whoever made the crazy decision to demolish a stand before finances for a new one were in place.

I walked down the hill past the Main Stand and set off in the inclement conditions for a mile or so walk to my next venue, Chadderton FC.