Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic began with the founding of Pine Villa F.C. in 1895, the team played in the Manchester and Lancashire leagues. When the local team Oldham County folded in 1899, Pine Villa moved into Boundary Park and changed their name to Oldham Athletic A.F.C.. They won the Lancashire Combination league 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 the following season. Placed in the Fourth Division, they secured promotion in 1962–63, and again in 1970–71 after another relegation in 1969.
One of their successful managers, Jimmy Frizzell was at the club from 1970 to 1982. During his tenure with the team, Oldham won the Third Division title in 1973–74. Frizzell was succeeded by another successful manager in Joe Royle, who was also in charge for 12 years. During his spell as manager, Oldham reached the League Cup final in 1990. They then won the Second Division title in 1990–91, which meant that Oldham played in the top flight for the first time in 68 years and became founder members of the newly created Premier League in 1992. They were relegated in 1994 and fell to the third tier by 1997, ending a 21-season stay within the top two tiers. Their time in the Second Division/League One encompassed numerous financial crises, eventually culminating in relegation to EFL League Two 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 club to play non-League football. They returned to the Football League after winning the 2025 National League play-off final.
They play home matches at their stadium of Boundary Park. Known to fans as the "Latics", Oldham traditionally play in blue shirts. The club contest numerous local rivalries, most notably with Rochdale, Bolton Wanderers and Huddersfield Town, the latter of which is known as the Roses derby.
History
Early history
In July 1895, licensee John Garland with his son formed a football club named Pine Villa Football Club with a group of friends inside the Featherstall & Junction Inn. The club was initially named after the Pine Mill whose shadow the club played in. The term "Villa" originated from Aston Villa's dominance of the football league at the time of formation. The club changed its appearance and name in 1899 to Oldham Athletic Football Club when nearby team, Oldham County folded.Athletic moved in to County's ex-stadium, Boundary Park. The club immediately gained professional status and played in both the Lancashire Combination and Lancashire League. Unlike many clubs, Oldham Athletic gained quick success and gained acceptance into the Football League in 1907–08. After three years in the Second Division, Latics gained promotion to the First Division.
Within a couple of seasons, Oldham had announced themselves serious contenders, finishing 4th in the league in 1912–13, and reaching the F.A. Cup semi-finals the same season, losing out 1–0 versus Aston Villa. In 1914–15, Latics reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup but were knocked out once again after a 0–3 replay against Sheffield United. In the league that season Latics almost won it all, losing by one point – as close as they have ever come to winning the league. Latics' early success was halted by the First World War.
Interwar struggles
Following the return of competitive football after the First World War, Oldham Athletic 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 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. From then on they slowly but surely fell down the league table, until a final placing of 21st at the end of the 1934–35 season saw them relegated to the Third Division North. They found life in this new division much more to their liking, coming 7th in their first season and following this with three seasons in the top five. Promotion back to the Second Division looked like it might just be a possibility, but the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 brought an end to League Football. Players' contracts were terminated, and relying largely on guest players, the club was to play in the war-time Northern League until August 1946.
Post-war plight
Following the return of competitive football there was to be no immediate success for Oldham Athletic. They finished 19th in the first league season after the war and manager Frank Womack resigned. In spite of reaching a more respectable 6th place under his successor Billy Wooton in 1949, it wasn't until the appointment of George Hardwick as player-manager in November 1950 that the club found any real form.
Hardwick's appointment came at a cost, with a £15,000 transfer fee paid to Middlesbrough. This was a huge amount at the time, especially for a third division club, but it was to stir up the town and its fans, who now looked forward to seeing a man who had been captain of England only two years previously in charge of its club's fortunes. In Hardwick's first full season in charge they finished 4th after topping the table for a considerable time. Home gates stayed high, with an amazing 33,450 watching a 1–0 win over local rivals Stockport County in March 1952. After a January game in the snow the team had established a new club scoring record when Chester were beaten 11–2. Eric Gemmell scored seven of these to establish an individual club record for one game which still stands to date. The season after, Oldham Athletic proudly finished champions of the division and won promotion to the Second Division. With an ageing squad and little money to recruit, however, the season that followed was a massive disappointment. Only eight games were won, Oldham finished in last place and quickly returned to the Third Division North, where a first equally disappointing season saw them finish no higher than 10th.
Hardwick resigned in 1955 and between then and 1960, they continued to struggle, finishing below 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 (where he was chairman for 5 years), and along with the appointment of manager Jack Rowley, the club's fortunes turned for the better. During the 1962–63 season, Oldham Athletic again gained promotion to the Third 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 Latics manager, a position he held for the next 13 seasons.
Frizzell and Royle eras
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, Latics missed out on promotion, finishing in fourth place, seven points behind local rivals and league champions Bolton Wanderers. In the 1973–74 season, Latics finished in 1st place and returned to the Second Division for the first time in 21 years. Oldham's trip back to the Second Division was far more successful than their previous visit. During Frizzell's remaining time at the club, 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 their manager. Royle's side finished 7th in his first season in charge, but fell to 19th 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 play-offs to (then) local rivals Leeds United, when previous seasons would have seen them automatically promoted.
In 1990 Royle's Latics reached Wembley Stadium in the Littlewoods Cup Finalnow the EFL Cup versus Nottingham Forest, where they lost 1–0. The next season, Oldham did not have the same cup success, but won the Second Division and returned to the First Division for the first time in 68 years. In their first season back in the top flight, the club finished 17th and became founding members of the newly formed Premier League. After two further seasons at the top level, Oldham faced relegation yet again and during the following season, the Joe Royle era came to an end as he left the club and went to manage Everton.
During this era, Oldham Athletic reached the FA Cup semi-finals twice, both times losing to (then) rivals Manchester United after a replay. In 1994 they were less than a minute away from winning 1–0 in extra time when a Mark Hughes equaliser for Manchester United saw the game at Wembley end in a 1–1 draw, and Oldham were beaten 4–1 in the replay at Maine Road. Many fans of Oldham in the years since have described the last minute equaliser by Hughes as the start of a rivalry with United and decline from which Oldham have never recovered. Oldham failed to win any of their seven remaining league games following the semi-final and were relegated on the final day of the season after a 1–1 draw at Norwich City.
1994–2018: second and third tier struggles
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. Oldham would ultimately stay in the third tier for 21 years. 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.