Oldham Athletic

Latics were founded as Pine Villa FC in 1895, but four years later rivals Oldham County folded and Villa moved to their stadium, the Athletics Ground, to become Oldham Athletic. A meteoric rise saw them elected to the Football League in 1907, quickly promoted and runners-up in the First Division in 1914/15. They were relegated in 1923, and it would take sixty-eight years and many traumas before they finally regained their top-flight status. In a highly successful period under Joe Royle, Latics reached the 1990 League Cup final, won the Second Division title in 1991, and a year after that became founder members of the new Premier League. Division One has brought much drama, including a period in administration in 2003/04. Tony Bugby, having watched the Latics for the last forty years as a fan, newspaper reporter during the good times under Joe Royle and as a club website editor, gives us a potted history of the club from founding to the present day.