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| Full name | Oldham Athletic Association Football Club[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Latics | |||
| Founded | 1895 (as Pine Villa F.C.) | |||
| Ground | Boundary Park | |||
| Capacity | 13,512 | |||
| Chairman | Frank Rothwell | |||
| Manager | Micky Mellon | |||
| League | National League | |||
| 2023–24 | National League, 10th of 24 | |||
| Website | https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/ | |||
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Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Lancashire, England.[2][3][4] The team compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 season.
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.[5] 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. Placed in the Fourth Division, they secured promotion in 1962–63, and again in 1970–71 after another relegation in 1969.
Jimmy Frizzell managed the club from 1970 to 1982 and under his leadership, Oldham won the Third Division title in 1973–74. He was succeeded by Joe Royle, who also had a 12-year spell in charge, during which time Oldham reached the League Cup final in 1990, before winning the Second Division title in 1990–91, which took them back into the top-flight for the first time in 68 years. Oldham were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but were relegated two years later and fell to the third tier by 1997. The club ended a 21-season-long stay in the third tier – which encompassed numerous financial crises – with relegation out of League One in 2018. At the end of the 2021–22 season, relegation from League Two was confirmed and the club fell into the National League, becoming the first former Premier League team to play non-League football.
They play home matches at Boundary Park.[3][6] Known as "Latics", Oldham traditionally play in blue shirts. The club contests numerous local rivalries, most notably with Rochdale, Bolton Wanderers and Huddersfield Town, the latter of which is known as the Roses Derby.
- ^ "Oldham Athletic". The Football League. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- ^ North Chadderton & SW Royton (Map) (1932 ed.). Cartography by Ordnance Survey. Alan Godfrey Maps. 2008. § Lancashire Sheet 97.01. ISBN 978-1-84784-157-5.
- ^ a b "Contact Oldham Athletic". Oldham Athletic AFC. 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- ^ "Club Directory". Oldham Athletic AFC. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
- ^ Historic England. "Boundary Park (890861)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 31 July 2008.
- ^ "League One clubs". The Football League. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.