Oldham Athletic
Also written as Oldham.
The club
Oldham Athletic were founded on 4 July 1895 as Pine Villa, moved to Boundary Park in 1899 and took the present name at the same time. The ground holds 13,560 and sits on high ground on the northern edge of Oldham, in Greater Manchester. The club are the Latics and play in blue.
Recent seasons
The last seven seasons cover a fall out of the Football League and a slow climb back. Oldham were 19th in League Two in 2019/20 with 41 points from a Covid-curtailed 37 games, 18th in 2020/21 with 54, and then 23rd in 2021/22 with 38 points, which sent them into the National League. They finished 12th there in 2022/23 with 61 points, 10th in 2023/24 with 63, and fifth in 2024/25 with 73, going up through the play-offs. The first season back was steady rather than exciting: 10th in League Two in 2025/26 with 68 points from 18 wins, 14 draws and 14 defeats. They stay in the fourth tier for 2026/27.
Honours and landmarks
Oldham were Second Division champions in 1990/91, which took them into the inaugural Premier League, and champions of the Third Division North in 1952/53 and the Third Division in 1973/74. They were First Division runners-up in 1914/15, a point off the title, which remains the club's best finish. They were League Cup runners-up in 1989/90 and won the National League play-offs in 2025. Roger Palmer scored 141 league goals between 1980 and 1994, a club record, and Ian Wood made 525 appearances between 1966 and 1980. Record attendance is 47,671 against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup fourth round on 25 January 1930, more than three times the current capacity. The record fee paid is £750,000 to Aston Villa for Ian Olney in June 1992; the record fee received is £1.7m, also from Aston Villa, for Earl Barrett in February 1992, and both figures date the club's high-water mark precisely.
Notable scorelines
Record win: 11-0 against Southport in Division Four on 26 December 1962. Record defeat: 4-13 against Tranmere Rovers in Division Three North on 26 December 1935, meaning the club's heaviest win and heaviest defeat both fell on Boxing Day, 27 years apart. No other individual famous matches were established from the sources read.
Head-to-head notes
No published all-time head-to-head records against 2026/27 League Two opponents were found. Port Vale, the opening-day visitors to Boundary Park, were relegated from League One in 2025/26; the last meeting between the clubs was not established. Stoke City, the EFL Cup first-round opponents, are a Championship club and no record between the two was established. The one live connection to another club this season is a transfer rather than a fixture: Oliver Norburn joined from Notts County on 1 July 2026, and Notts County are now in League One.
Right now (2026/27)
Micky Mellon is the manager. The sources read did not give his appointment date, and a reviewer should check it before it is used in an article.
The squad was cut back hard at the end of June, with Tom Conlon, Jake Leake, Reagan Ogle, Dynel Simeu, Billy Waters, Joe Garner and Kian Harratt all released on 30 June 2026. The rebuild was concentrated into a single day: on 1 July, defensive midfielder Keenan Appiah-Forson arrived on a free from Southend United, striker Elliott Nevitt from Gillingham, midfielder Oliver Norburn from Notts County, right-back Gus Scott-Morriss also from Southend and goalkeeper Aston Wilson from Barnsley. Attacking midfielder Noah Chilvers followed from Ross County for an undisclosed fee on 8 July and centre-back Ryan Delaney on a free from Swindon Town on 13 July. Two loans arrived late: centre-back Zain Tahir from Sheffield United on 27 July and winger Favour Fawunmi from Stoke City on 30 July.
Pre-season has been poor. Oldham lost 3-1 at Bolton Wanderers on 21 July, 3-1 to Huddersfield Town on 24 July and 1-0 to Stockport County on 28 July, with a final friendly against Sheffield Wednesday on 1 August. Their competitive season opens with an EFL Cup first-round tie away to Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on 8 August 2026 at 3pm. The League Two campaign begins at home to Port Vale on Saturday 15 August 2026 at 12.30pm.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldham_Athletic_A.F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Oldham_Athletic_A.F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_League_Two https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_Cup https://www.fchd.info/OLDHAMA.HTM
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.