add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Oldham Dentist - Oldham Cosmetic Dentist Oldham oldhamdentist.co.uk | Oldham Chiropractor, Oldham, Rochdale, Ashton and Manchester Greater... manchesterchiropractic.co... | Drug Rehabilitation Program in Oldham County, Kentucky Alcohol... drugrehabkentucky.com |
Oldham Athletic (2004) Association Football Club Limited (pronounced /ˈoʊldəm ˈæθˈlɛtɪk/),[3] more commonly Oldham Athletic Football Club or Oldham Athletic,[4] is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Furtherwood Road in Oldham, Greater Manchester.[1][3] The club currently competes in Coca-Cola League One.[5] The current limited company was formed after several months in administration in 2003–04.[6][7] On 3 February 2004, the club's immediate future was secured when a group of American-based expatriate British businessmen led by Simon Blitz bought the club, forming Oldham Athletic (2004) Association Football Club Limited.[6][8]
[edit] HistoryMain article: History of Oldham Athletic A.F.C. See also: Oldham Athletic A.F.C. seasons [edit] Early history Pine Villa Football Club was formed in 1895, though the club changed its appearance and name in 1899 to Oldham Athletic Football Club. The club immediately gained professional status and played in both the Lancashire Combination and Lancashire League. Unlike many clubs, Oldham gained quick success and gained acceptance into the Football League in 1907–08. After three years in the Second Division, the Latics gained promotion to the First Division. Oldham also gained some success in the FA Cup by reaching the semi-finals in 1912–13 campaign but lost 1–0 versus Aston Villa. In the 1914–15, the Latics reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup but were knocked out once again after a 0–3 replay against Sheffield United. The Latics early success was only halted by the First World War. [edit] Interwar strugglesFollowing the return of competitive football after the First World War, Oldham struggled to find their early success before they returned to the Second Division in 1923 - it would be another 68 years before they played top division football again. Many of the players from their former squads had either retired from football or had been killed in the war. Their highest success came in the 1929–30 season as they finished in 3rd, missing out on promotion by finishing two points behind Chelsea. Several years later, the club was once again be relegated as they finished in 21st place and falling to the Third Division North. Oldham found success in Division Three North, though they never gained promotion before the outbreak of the Second World War. [edit] Postwar plightOnce more, the war hit Oldham hard as the team began to struggle immediately following the return of competitive football. In the first five years after the war, the Latics finished inside of the top 10 once. It wasn't until the 1952–53 season that the club found their old form, finishing champions of the division and winning promotion to the Second Division. The next season, however, Oldham finished in last place and return to Third Division North. After their return, the club returned to mediocrity as they finished in 10th place. Between 1955 and 1960, Oldham struggled as they finished out of the top 20 on three occasions. With a 15th place finish in 1958–59, Oldham became a founding member of a newly formed Fourth Division. In the following season they finished in the 23rd position - their lowest position in the entire League, and had to apply for reelection, which they passed as the League chose to drop Gateshead, who had finished above them, in favour of newcomers Peterborough United. Ken Bates entered the picture at Oldham Athletic in the early 1960s, and along with the appointment of manager Jack Rowley, the club's fortunes turned for the better. During the 1962–63 season, Oldham again gained promotion to the Second Division as Rowley left as manager. Over the next six seasons, Oldham struggled with consistency in the league and at the manager position—with Les McDowall, Gordon Hurst, and Jimmy McIlroy all spending time at the managerial position. In the 1968–69, Jack Rowley once more returned as manager. With their inconsistency, Rowley and Bates could not save the club from a last place finish and inevitable relegation. Midway through the 1969–70 season, Rowley and Bates both left the club as Jimmy Frizzell became the Latics manager—a position he held for the next 13 seasons. [edit] Frizzell and Royle erasJimmy Frizzell, a Scottish-born defender, became Oldham's player-manager during the 1969–70 season. In the 1970–71 season, Oldham saw their best result since 1962–63 as they finished in third place, earning promotion back to the Third Division. After a mid-table finish in their first season, the Latics missed out on promotion—finishing in 4th place, seven points behind league champions Bolton Wanderers. In the 1973–74 season, the Latics finished in 1st place and return to the Second Division for the first time in 21 years. Oldham's trip back to the Second Division was more successful than their previous appearance. During Frizzell's remaining time at the club, the Latics remained in the Second Division, but with little FA Cup and Football League Cup success. In June 1982, the club appointed Joe Royle as manager and a new era was underway. Royle's side finished 7th in his first season in charge and fall to 19th spot finish in his second. In the 1986–87 season, Oldham narrowly missed promotion to the First Division finishing three points behind Portsmouth and losing in the inaugural playoffs. Royle's Latics reached Wembley Stadium in the 1990 Football League Cup Final versus Nottingham Forest, where they lost 1-0. The next season, Oldham did not have the same cup success, but instead found success by winning the Second Division and returning to First Division for the first time in 68 years. In their first season back in the top flight, the club finished in 17th and became one of the founding members of the newly-formed Premier League. Though after two more seasons at the top level, Oldham faced relegation yet again and during the following season, the Joe Royle era at Oldham Athletic came to an end, as he left the club for Everton. During this era, Oldham reached the FA Cup semi-finals twice, both times losing to Manchester United after a replay. In 1994 Oldham were just a minute away from winning 1-0 in extra time when a Mark Hughes equaliser for Manchester United saw the game at Wembley Stadium end in a 1-1 draw, and Oldham were crushed 4-1 in the replay at Maine Road. Oldham's side of the late 1980s and early 1990s featured several players who were then sold to much bigger clubs. Mike Milligan, a highly rated young Irish midfielder who was a product of Oldham's youth system, was sold to Everton for £1million in 1990, but returned to Boundary Park a year later after an unsuccessful season on Merseyside. At the same time, Oldham sold Milligan's fellow countryman Denis Irwin to Manchester United for £625,000, and over the next 12 years the Cork born defender won a host of domestic and European honours. Earl Barrett, another defender who played a crucial part in Oldham's cup runs and promotion success, was sold to Aston Villa for £1.7million in February 1992. At the time he was one of Britain's most expensive defenders, and would go on to win a League Cup winner's medal at Aston Villa (just missing out on a title medal) as well as playing more than 200 top division games before finally retiring in 2000. [edit] Recent history Graeme Sharp took over as Oldham's player-manager on the departure of Joe Royle in November 1994, but he was unable to mount a promotion challenge and the pressure continued to build up a year later when Oldham narrowly avoided relegation. Relegation to Division Two happened at the end of the 1996-97 season, just after Sharp had resigned to be succeeded by Neil Warnock. As one of the biggest clubs in Division Two for 1997-98, and being managed by Warnock who had achieved no less than five promotions with other clubs in the last 11 years, Oldham were tipped for an immediate return to Division One, but they finished a disappointing 13th in the league and Warnock resigned. Veteran striker Andy Ritchie took over as player-manager, but he too failed to mount a promotion challenge and was sacked in October 2001 to be succeeded by Mick Wadsworth. In 2001, Oxford based businessman Chris Moore purchased Oldham, vowing to take the club back to Premier League football within five years. Wadsworth quit as manager in the summer of 2002 to make way for Iain Dowie, who transformed Oldham's fortunes on the pitch as they made their first serious challenge for promotion in Division Two. Oldham finished third and their promotion dreams were ended in the playoffs, and their fans were furious when Moore decided to end his interest with the club—leaving behind large debts and a weak squad, and after selling the better players at a fraction of their market value at the time. For a while it looked as though the club would go out of business, but a takeover deal was soon completed. In 2004–05, Simon Blitz and two other partners, Simon Corney and Danny Gazal, purchased Oldham, trying to rescue the club from possible liquidation. While trying to repay debts, Oldham struggled for several seasons—barely avoiding relegation once more in 2004–05. In the 2006–07, Oldham's fortune turned for the better once more as the club narrowly missed out on promotion —losing to Blackpool 5–2 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final. After two years with the club, manager John Sheridan was sacked on 15 March 2009, immediately being replaced by former manager Joe Royle.[9] After being offered the job on a permanent basis,[10] Royle rejected the offer and announced that he would be leaving the club after the final game of the season.[11] Darlington boss Dave Penney was announced as Royle's successor on 30 April, though Royle still was in charge until season's end.[12] [edit] Players[edit] First-team squad
[edit] Out on loan
[edit] Club officials
[edit] Notable former managersMain article: List of Oldham Athletic A.F.C. managers The following managers have all won a title in the club's history.
[edit] Stadium Main article: Boundary Park After playing at what was originally called Athletic Ground, the ground was opened for Oldham's first football club—Oldham County F.C. In 1899, after County had folded, Pine Villa moved into the ground and renamed the club and stadium. The stadium is located on the Oldham side of the conjunction of Oldham, Chadderton and Royton,[1] and has a current capacity of 10,638. The stadium currently only has three stands, with one undergoing construction as the original was demolished in June 2008. Before the demolition of the fourth stand, the stadium had a capacity of 13,559. The record attendance is 47,671 during an FA Cup tie between Oldham and Sheffield Wednesday in 1930—when the capacity was 50,000. In February 2006, the club unveiled plans for reconstruction of the stadium. After initially being rejected by Oldham Council, the decision was overturned with permission for the entire ground to be redeveloped. The ground was expected to seat 16,000 and cost approximately £80 million. On 5 September 2008, Simon Blitz announced on World Soccer Daily podcast that due to the economic problems in England, the development of the stadium was placed on hold temporarily. On 22 July 2009, the club and Oldham Council unveiled plans for an entirely new, £20 million stadium to be located in Failsworth.[16] The club made an agreement with BAE Systems to purchase a 30-acre piece of land, on which the club plans to build a 12,000 capacity arena along with other leisure and corporate facilities.[17] [edit] RivalriesBoundary Park is less than 9 miles (14 km) from the stadiums of Bury, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Rochdale. As their more traditional rivals such as Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Bury, and Manchester City are no longer regular opponents, the Latics maintain local rivalry with West Yorkshire clubs Huddersfield Town, Leeds United and near neighbours Stockport County. Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool also share an albeit smaller rivalry with Oldham. [edit] ColoursLatics originally started out playing in red and white hooped shirts with blue shorts, with similarities to the Oldham RLFC colours). The red stripes were eventually replaced with blue, before this was in turn replaced by a white shirt with the blue stripe down the middle, this shirt was rumoured to have been influenced by the Ajax Amsterdam shirt of the times. In the mid-1960s, under the ownership of Ken Bates, the strip was changed to tangerine shirts with blue shorts, these colours were popular amongsts a number of supporters due to the success on the pitch at the same time. In the mid-1970s the club adopted an all blue shirt, and these colours have remained ever since with the exception of the red and blue hooped shirt that was used the late 1990s. This shirt proved unpopular amongst supporters and caused kit clashing problems, resulting in opposition teams occasionally having to wear Oldham's away kit. The club brought back the colours from the 1960s as an away kit for the 2007-2008 season and this proved to be very popular amongst the fans. [edit] Honours[edit] League[edit] Cup[edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
