Oldham Athletic Football Club - The Latics

Oldham Athletic History

2006-07 Season

6th in League One; lost 5-2 on aggregate to Blackpool in the play off semi finals.
League Cup: 1st round; Rotherham United a. 1-3
FA Cup: 3rd round replay; Wolverhampton Wanderers h. 0-2
JP Trophy: 2nd round; Chesterfield h. 0-1

Highlight:
5-0 drubbing of Nottingham Forest, 1/1/07

Low Spot:
0-3 home defeat to Bristol City, 20/1/07

Good:
Andy Liddell
This guy remains a class act and is one of the most creative players in the section. Good touch and vision allied to an eye for goal make Liddell an opponent to fear.
Chris Porter
A fairly uncomplicated centre forward but his return of 23 goals in 38 games shows that he certainly knows where the net is. Has great physical attributes and should carry on scoring consistently at this level at least.

In Brief:
After a poor start the Latics were 22nd after 6 games. Then 13 points from the next 5 games saw the club heading in the right direction.
From the end of October to early January the club enjoyed a rich vein of form which meant they remained in play off contention despite suffering a shaky finish.
Eventually a 1-0 win over Chesterfield on the final day of the season guaranteed a play off place but the Latics were never really at the races when they came up against in form Blackpool in the semi finals and went out after losing both legs.
This showed that Oldham still need more quality if they are to escape this division but their sustained play off challenge shows that they have a solid platform from which to build.

Oldham Athletic Football Club was formed in 1895 by the landlord of the Featherstall and Junction Hotel and was originally called Pine Villa.

The club became more prominent when it assumed the mantle of the professional club Oldham County which went out of business in 1899. The club changed its name to Oldham Athletic and turned professional themselves.

Oldham were elected into Division Two in 1907. In 1910 the club achieved promotion to the first division as runners up behind Manchester City. In a hard fought race they edged out both Hull City and Derby County on goal average.

The Latics had a bright start to life in the top flight. In 1913 they reached the FA Cup semi finals, beating Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Everton before losing 1-0 to Aston Villa in the last four.

The following season they finished 3rd in Division One and in 1915 they were runners up by just one point behind Everton.

After the First World War, however, Oldham's fortunes slumped, culminating in relegation to Division Two in 1923. The closest the Latics came to a return was in 1930 when they finished 3rd behind Blackpool and Chelsea.

In 1935, however, Oldham were relegated into Division Three North.

It would be 1953 before the club would escape this section after winning the championship but they would then suffer immediate relegation.

When the north and south sections of Division Three were merged in 1958 Oldham landed in the fourth division. They gained promotion from that division in 1963 as runners up behind Brentford.

In 1969 Oldham dropped back into the fourth division but their stay there was short, gaining promotion again in 1971.

In 1974 the Latics finished one point clear of Bristol Rovers and York City to claim the third division title and then spent 17 seasons in the second division before making a stunning impact under the guidance of Joe Royle.

Royle had taken control at Boundary Park in 1982 but it would take some time before his influence really began to tell. Oldham reached the first ever play offs in 1987 but were denied in the semi finals by Leeds United on away goals.

1989-90 provided a remarkable season for Oldham in the cup competitions as they reached the semi finals of both the League and FA Cups.

The Latics brushed aside Leeds United, Scarborough, Arsenal and Southampton to reach the last four in the League Cup. Paired with West Ham United they destroyed the Hammers 6-0 in the first leg to guarantee a trip to Wembley. There was disappointment in the final as they lost by the only goal to Nottingham Forest.

In the FA Cup Birmingham City, Brighton, Everton and Aston Villa were humbled to set up a semi final meeting with Manchester United.

A memorable game ended in a 3-3 draw and the replay also went to extra time before United squeezed home 2-1.

These cup exploits had hampered their promotion bid but there would be no mistake the year after as Oldham claimed the second division title to win promotion to Division One.

Oldham managed three seasons in the top flight before suffering relegation in 1994. There was also massive disappointment in the FA Cup that season. The Latics again made it through to the semi finals and once more had to face Manchester United.

The game went to extra time and the Latics were seconds away from victory after Neil Pointon had given them the lead. Then Mark Hughes levelled with a superb volley and United cruised to a 4-1 victory in the replay.

Players who were instrumental in Oldham's success during this period were Andy Goram, Dennis Irwin, Earl Barrett, Paul Warhurst, Mike Milligan, Rick Holden, Andy Ritchie, Ian Marshall and Roger Palmer.

Joe Royle would now leave for Everton, however, and take several of the players with him. Oldham's bubble would immediately burst and in 1997 they suffered another relegation into the third tier.

The club have spent the last eight seasons generally ensconced in the middle reaches of this section.

They did reach the pay offs in 2003 but lost out in the semi finals to Queens Park Rangers. The sides drew at Boundary Park before the Latics went down to a late goal at Loftus Road.

Immediately after this the club were involved in an altogether more crucial battle as financial difficulties really began to bite. Touch wood the club seem to have overcome the worst of these and are approaching a position of relative security.

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