page_title: Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
section_title: 1994 to present
hierarchical_section_title: Oldham Athletic A.F.C. / History / 1994 to present
caption_attribution_description: Bury defend an Oldham Athletic corner during the Bury vs. Oldham Athletic friendly game at Gigg Lane, home of Bury Football Club. Saturday 18th July 2009
context_page_description: Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system, and play home matches at Boundary Park. Known as the "Latics", they traditionally play in blue shirts. The club has a rivalry known as the A62 derby with nearby Huddersfield Town, as well as rivalries with other local sides such as Bolton Wanderers, Rochdale and Stockport County.
  The history of Oldham Athletic began with the founding of Pine Villa F.C. in 1895, a team that played in the Manchester and Lancashire leagues. When neighbours Oldham County folded in 1899, Pine Villa moved into their stadium and changed their name to Oldham Athletic. They won the Lancashire Combination title in 1906–07 and were elected into the Football League. They won promotion out of the Second Division in 1909–10 and went on to finish second in the First Division in 1914–15, before being relegated in 1923. Another relegation in 1935 left them in the Third Division North, which they won at the end of the 1952–53 campaign, only to be relegated back into the following year.
context_section_description: 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 Athletic 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 Athletic, 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 fifth 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 Athletic, 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 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. After being offered the job on a permanent basis, Royle rejected the offer and announced that he would be leaving the club after the final game of the season. Darlington boss Dave Penney was announced as Royle's successor on 30 April 2009, though Royle still was in charge until season's end.
  Dave Penney was dismissed as Oldham manager on 6 May 2010, with his assistant, Martin Gray, taking over as caretaker manager for the final game of season 2009–10. During June 2010, Paul Dickov was named as Oldham Athletic player-manager signing a one-year contract. On 3 February 2013, he left his role as manager despite having recently knocked Liverpool out of the FA Cup the previous week. On 18 March, the club hired Lee Johnson to become the newest manager and, at the time of his appointment, was the youngest manager in the Football League at 31 years old. The club narrowly avoided relegation for the 2012–13 season, finishing 19th and just three points above the drop zone. The club fared better in Johnson's second season, finishing mid-table at 15th.
  In January 2015, it was reported that Oldham was attempting to sign Ched Evans, an accused rapist. The move faced a significant public backlash, including from politicians, while a petition against the signing gained 60,000 signatures and Verlin Rainwater Solutions withdrew club sponsorship. Oldham ultimately decided not to sign Evans due to "unbearable pressure" while condemning the "vile and abusive threats, some including death threats, which have been made to our fans, sponsors and staff".
  In January 2018, Moroccan football agent Abdallah Lemsagam agreed a deal with the club's majority shareholder Simon Corney, which ended Corney's 14-year association with Oldham Athletic. Corney had bought the club, along with Danny Gazal and Simon Blitz, in 2004, saving it from potential liquidation. Gazal and Blitz had left in 2010, with Corney stayin
caption: Oldham Athletic (in yellow) in a friendly match against Bury during the 2009–10 season
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