# 2011–12 Oldham Athletic A.F.C. season

The 2011–12 season was Oldham Athletic's 15th consecutive season in the third tier of the English football league system. The team was managed by Paul Dickov and captained by Dean Furman following the departure of the previous captain, Reuben Hazell after the 2010–11 season.
As well as Hazell's departure, a number of other players, including goalkeeper Dean Brill, former youth team players Lewis Alessandra and Deane Smalley and highly rated midfielder Dale Stephens left the Latics before the start of the season. In their place, Dickov signed goalkeeper Alex Cisak from Accrington Stanley and Zander Diamond from Aberdeen. Jean-Yves Mvoto, who had been on loan at Oldham during the 2010–11 season was also signed on a permanent contract. Dickov made his highest profile signing of the summer on transfer deadline day, 31 August 2011, when he signed Finnish forward Shefki Kuqi following his release by Newcastle United. Kuqi became an immediate success, scoring 11 goals in his first 15 games for Oldham.
The Latics struggled with inconsistency in the league for the first half of the season, ending 2011 in 14th place in League One. However, propelled by Kuqi's goals and the form of loan signings Luca Scapuzzi and Robbie Simpson, Oldham progressed to the Northern Section Final of the Football League Trophy and the third round of the FA Cup, eventually losing over two legs to Chesterfield in the Football League Trophy and going down 5–1 to Premier League Liverpool in the FA Cup after a creditable display at Anfield.
The end of Oldham's cup runs coincided with a loss of form in the league and the end of Kuqi's goalscoring run. After starting 2012 eight points from the play-offs in 14th place, the Latics slipped into a relegation battle, winning only 5 of their next 20 matches before their League One status was guaranteed by a 1–1 draw at home with Preston North End. The season ended with a 2–1 victory at home to Carlisle, following which Oldham prepared for a summer of change, with a total of 18 first-team players out of contract for the 2012–13 season.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 14 | Bury | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 60 | 79 | −19 | 56 |
| 15 | Preston North End | 46 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 54 | 68 | −14 | 54 |
| 16 | Oldham Athletic | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 50 | 66 | −16 | 54 |
| 17 | Yeovil Town | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 59 | 80 | −21 | 54 |
| 18 | Scunthorpe United | 46 | 10 | 22 | 14 | 55 | 59 | −4 | 52 |

## Squad statistics
### First-team squad

    Includes all players who were awarded squad numbers during the season.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | POL | Alex Cisak |
| 2 | DF | FRA | Jean-Yves Mvoto |
| 3 | DF | ENG | Paul Black |
| 4 | MF | AUS | James Wesolowski (from August 2011) |
| 5 | DF | SCO | Zander Diamond (to May 2012) |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Nathan Clarke (from August 2011 to January 2012) |
| 6 | DF | ENG | Reece Brown (from March 2012) |
| 7 | MF | POR | Filipe Morais |
| 8 | MF | RSA | Dean Furman (Captain) |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Reuben Reid |
| 10 | FW | ENG | Robbie Simpson (from September to December 2011 and from January 2012) |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Tom Adeyemi (from August 2011 to April 2012) |
| 12 | DF | FRA | Bradley Diallo (from August 2011) |
| 13 | GK | AUS | Dean Bouzanis (from November 2011) |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Matt Smith |
| 15 | FW | ENG | Ryan Brooke |
| 16 | DF | ENG | James Tarkowski |
| 17 | MF | ATG | Josh Parker |
| 18 | MF | ENG | Chris Taylor |
| 19 | DF | ENG | Kieran Lee |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | NIR | Matthew Lund (to October 2011) |
| 20 | FW | ITA | Luca Scapuzzi (from November 2011 to January 2012) |
| 20 | MF | COM | Youssouf M'Changama (from March 2012) |
| 21 | MF | NIR | Kirk Millar |
| 22 | MF | COD | Djeny Bembo-Leta |
| 23 | MF | NIR | Phillip McGrath |
| 24 | MF | ENG | Connor Hughes |
| 25 | DF | ENG | Matthew D Carr |
| 26 | DF | NIR | Carl Winchester |
| 27 | MF | NIR | Ryan Burns |
| 28 | GK | ENG | Paul Gerrard (Player/Coach) |
| 29 | MF | ENG | David Mellor |
| 30 | MF | ITA | Andreas Mancini (from November 2011 to January 2012) |
| 30 | MF | ENG | Keanu Marsh-Brown (from January 2012) |
| 32 | FW | FIN | Shefki Kuqi (from August 2011) |
| 33 | GK | ENG | Luke Simpson |
| 36 | FW | FRA | Oumare Tounkara (from March 2012) |
| 39 | FW | ENG | Harry Bunn (from March 2012) |
| 41 | DF | ENG | Glenn Belezika |
| 42 | DF | ENG | Alex Parks |

### Appearances, goals & disciplinary record

    As of 6 May 2012
| No | Nat | Pos | Name | Total | Total | Total | Total | League | League | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | JP Trophy | JP Trophy | JP Trophy | JP Trophy |
| No | Nat | Pos | Name | Apps | | | | Apps | | | | Apps | | | | Apps | | | | Apps | | | |
| 1 | | GK | Alex Cisak | 47 (0) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 38 (0) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | | DF | Jean-Yves Mvoto | 43 (1) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 35 (1) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | | DF | Paul Black | 18 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 (0) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | | MF | James Wesolowski | 31 (0) | 4 | 6 | 0 | 21 (0) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | | DF | Reece Brown | 15 (0) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 (0) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | | MF | Filipe Morais | 26 (19) | 5 | 5 | 0 | 23 (13) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | | MF | Dean Furman | 27 (2) | 2 | 6 | 0 | 21 (2) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | | FW | Reuben Reid | 19 (3) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 17 (3) | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | | FW | Robbie Simpson | 33 (3) | 9 | 6 | 0 | 26 (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 (0) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | | DF | Bradley Diallo | 13 (3) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 (3) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | | GK | Dean Bouzanis | 8 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | | FW | Matt Smith | 4 (31) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 (25) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | | DF | James Tarkowski | 14 (4) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 (3) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | | FW | Josh Parker | 9 (9) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 (6) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | | MF | Chris Taylor | 46 (0) | 3 | 6 | 0 | 38 (0) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | | DF | Kieran Lee | 53 (0) | 2 | 5 | 0 | 43 (0) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | | MF | Youssouf M'Changama | 8 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | | MF | Kirk Millar | 2 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | | MF | Connor Hughes | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | | DF | Carl Winchester | 9 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | | GK | Paul Gerrard | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | | DF | David Mellor | 20 (4) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 19 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | | MF | Keanu Marsh-Brown | 5 (7) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 (6) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | | FW | Shefki Kuqi | 48 (1) | 16 | 8 | 0 | 39 (1) | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 (0) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (0) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | | FW | Oumare Tounkara | 3 (5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 (5) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | | FW | Harry Bunn | 8 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | | DF | Glenn Belezika | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players appeared for Oldham this season on loan who have returned to their parent club: ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | | DF | Nathan Clarke | 19 (1) | 1 | 5 | 0 | 16 (0) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | | MF | Tom Adeyemi | 41 (4) | 3 | 4 | 0 | 33 (3) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | | MF | Matthew Lund | 2 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | | FW | Luca Scapuzzi | 15 (2) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 (2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (0) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | | MF | Andreas Mancini | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players released or transferred out during the season: ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | | DF | Zander Diamond | 29 (2) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 21 (2) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | TOTALS | | 64 | 75 | 6 | | 50 | 59 | 6 | | 6 | 7 | 0 | | 1 | 2 | 0 | | 7 | 7 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Name | League One | FA Cup | League Cup | JP Trophy | Total |
| 1 | FW | Shefki Kuqi | 11 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 16 |
| 2 | FW | Robbie Simpson | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | FW | Reuben Reid | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | MF | Filipe Morais | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | MF | James Wesolowski | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | MF | Tom Adeyemi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| = | FW | Matt Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| = | MF | Chris Taylor | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | DF | Zander Diamond | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| = | MF | Dean Furman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| = | DF | Kieran Lee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| = | MF | Luca Scapuzzi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | DF | Nathan Clarke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | MF | Keanu Marsh-Brown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | MF | David Mellor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | DF | Jean-Yves Mvoto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | DF | James Tarkowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| = | FW | Oumare Tounkara | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 50 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 64 |

## Transfers

Players transferred in :
| Date | Pos. | Name | Previous Club | Fee | Ref. |
| 30 June 2011 | DF | Jean-Yves Mvoto | Sunderland | Free | |
| 6 July 2011 | GK | Alex Cisak | Accrington Stanley | Free | |
| 14 July 2011 | DF | Zander Diamond | Aberdeen | Free | |
| 5 August 2011 | MF | Josh Parker | Queens Park Rangers | Free | |
| 8 August 2011 | MF | James Wesolowski | Peterborough United | Free | |
| 19 August 2011 | DF | Bradley Diallo | Olympique Marseille | Free | |
| 31 August 2011 | FW | Shefki Kuqi | Unattached | Free | |
| 26 November 2011 | GK | Dean Bouzanis | Unattached | Free | |
| 30 January 2012 | FW | Robbie Simpson | Huddersfield Town | Free | |
| 30 January 2012 | FW | Keanu Marsh-Brown | Unattached | Free | |
| 5 March 2012 | MF | Youssouf M'Changama | Unattached | Free | |
| Players transferred out ||||||
| Date | Pos. | Name | To | Fee | Ref. |
| 21 June 2011 | DF | Cedric Evina | Charlton Athletic | Free | |
| 23 June 2011 | FW | Lewis Alessandra | Morecambe | Free | |
| 29 June 2011 | MF | Dale Stephens | Charlton Athletic | Undisclosed | |
| 1 May 2012 | DF | Zander Diamond | Released | Free | |
| Players loaned in ||||||
| Date from | Pos. | Name | From | Date to | Ref. |
| 28 July 2011 | MF | Matthew Lund | Stoke City | October 2011 | |
| 19 August 2011 | DF | Nathan Clarke | Huddersfield Town | January 2012 | |
| 31 August 2011 | MF | Tom Adeyemi | Norwich City | 9 April 2012 | |
| 9 September 2011 | FW | Robbie Simpson | Huddersfield Town | 9 December 2011 | |
| 3 November 2011 | FW | Luca Scapuzzi | Manchester City | 29 January 2012 | |
| 3 November 2011 | FW | Andreas Mancini | Manchester City | 3 January 2012 | |
| 2 January 2012 | FW | Robbie Simpson | Huddersfield Town | 2 February 2012 | |
| 2 March 2012 | DF | Reece Brown | Manchester United | 6 May 2012 | |
| 16 March 2012 | FW | Harry Bunn | Manchester City | 6 May 2012 | |
| 23 March 2012 | FW | Oumare Tounkara | Sunderland | 6 May 2012 | |
| Players loaned out ||||||
| Date from | Pos. | Name | To | Date to | Ref. |
| 10 September 2011 | FW | Ryan Brooke | Barrow | 9 October 2011 | |
| 31 January 2012 | FW | Ryan Brooke | AFC Telford United | 29 April 2012 | |
| 6 March 2012 | DF | Matthew D Carr | Woodley Sports | 22 April 2012 | |
| 8 March 2012 | MF | Josh Parker | Dagenham & Redbridge | 6 May 2012 | |
| 14 March 2012 | FW | Matt Smith | Macclesfield Town | 6 May 2012 | |