Latest news with #Latics
ITV News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Oldham Athletic fans celebrate historic return to the Football League with homecoming party
Thousands of supporters poured into Boundary Park on Monday night to celebrate the club's dramatic return to the English Football League. Music, fireworks, a trophy parade, and plenty of emotion filled the air as the Latics marked the end of a long and difficult chapter in their history. Just 24 hours earlier, Oldham pulled off a stunning 3-2 win over Southend United at Wembley in the National League play-off final. They came from behind twice, equalising with a second-half penalty before clinching the win with two late goals in extra time. It was their first promotion in 34 years, and it sent more than 21,000 travelling fans into complete euphoria. For many, the Wembley trip was a throwback to 1994, the last time Oldham played at the national stadium in an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United. But this win meant even more, a return to League Two after three years out of the EFL, and a full-circle moment after what fans have called "three dark decades" of decline. Monday's celebrations began with a civic reception at the town hall, before everyone made their way to Boundary Park. The stadium was packed, with a big screen in the Joe Royle Stand making sure no one missed out. Players, coaches, and club officials joined supporters on the pitch for speeches, cheers, and an emotional trophy lift. After falling out of the Football League in 2022, the first Premier League side to do so, many feared Oldham might never return. But under new owner Frank Rothwell, who took over that same year, the club has been rebuilt from the ground up. As fireworks lit up the night sky, it wasn't just about promotion. It was about pride, resilience, and a belief that Oldham Athletic is back where it belongs.
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Oldham to 'start again' ahead of League Two return
Oldham chairman Frank Rothwell has said the club "have to start again" after their dramatic promotion back into the English Football Latics were facing another season in the National League when they trailed Sunday's promotion final at Wembley in extra-time against goals in two extra-time minutes from substitutes James Norwood and Kian Harratt, however, snatched an incredible 3-2 club had a celebratory event at Boundary Park on Monday evening and Rothwell said the hard work will start told BBC Radio Manchester: "In extra time we had to come back again and score twice and my faith was wavering at that point."I was thinking about doing another whole year to get promoted but we scored and I couldn't believe it. It looked like penalties which are the flip of a coin and then we scored again."It was unbelievable, it was only three minutes before that my son was looking very dejected. All of our plans for the future revolved around us going up and it was slipping away."We have to start again now." Oldham were relegated from League Two in 2022 after a tumultuous spell under the ownership of Abdallah took charge later that summer and said the club have learned from their mistakes in the said: "We are gong to build around the players who are under contract. The previous owners interfered too much with team selection, they did all the buying and selling of players."We have no input into the manager's strategy. I am sure Micky Mellon has people in mind for next season and is pondering his next move."
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Oldham Athletic promotion parade start time and location revealed
Thousands of partying Oldham Athletic fans will celebrate their club's return to the English Football League (EFL) Latics secured their first promotion in 34 years on Sunday by dramatically beating Southend 3-2 in the Vanarama National League play-off final at Micky Mellon said Oldham's return to the EFL after three years away would awaken his "monster of a club".Oldham have revealed all the details of Monday evening's celebrations at Boundary Park. Where can I watch the parade? The ticketed event will take place at the club's Boundary Park stadium, which has a total capacity of 13, at the Park will include an evening of music, speeches, and a trophy Latics fans not able to get into the ground will be able to watch proceedings on a large screen which is being erected in the Joe Royle management and board members will be part of the parade. What time does everything start and end? Gates will open at 17:00 BST on Monday, with turnstiles opening an hour music will be on throughout the evening, with four acts booked to play: Two Connors, Boundary Parkas, Sam Hewitt and Victor Michael. DJ Michael "Braddy" Bradshaw will host the evening of will also hear from players and coaching will round off the celebrations at 21:00. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram and watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harratt completes comeback to sink Southend and fire Oldham into EFL
Oldham are back in the Football League, edging Southend United in a playoff final that was not just a thrilling contest in front of a record crowd, but a showcase of the strength of the English football pyramid. Two goals in the second half of extra time turned things around for Mickey Mellon's side, after Leon Parillon's header had given the Shrimpers control of the match. A piece of striking flair from the journeyman forward James Norwood, followed by a freakish series of events that saw a cross go all the way into the Southend net was enough to overstimulate the blue half of a 52,115 crowd, a record for a National League playoff match. Advertisement After three years outside the 92, and a period of torment that led to fans staging mock funerals for their club, Oldham can now look forward to returning to the fold of the football league. For Southend and their clearly heartbroken players, there will – in the end – come the realisation that they too are on the way back following the dozens of winding up orders that nearly led to the club's extinction before its takeover last year. Related: Oldham 3-2 Southend (aet): Latics promoted to EFL after playoff final drama – live reaction The clash in styles between the two teams was visible from the off. Oldham had already lofted a few set plays into the Southend box, some from their own half, before the Shrimpers took an early lead in the fifth minute. Tom Pett, Oldham's reliable midfield anchor gave the ball away to Gus Scott-Morriss who immediately lofted a ball for Charley Kendall to chase. The Southend forward couldn't get there, but he did enough to unsettle defender Manny Monthé into beating him to the ball with the tip of a toe, a touch that went past his own keeper. In the 17th minute the Owls should have equalised through teenager Vimal Yoganathan when he placed a header wide at the far post after being found in space. That routine was one Oldham then went for time and again. Joe Garner saw an effort cleared off the line by Cav Miley on the half hour. A minute before half time and Oldham's biggest chance came to Mike Fondop as he chased down two Southend clearances and burst through on goal only to look to lift the ball over goalkeeper Nick Hayes with his left foot, an effort that span wide by a yard. Advertisement The momentum was all with Oldham and they carried on where they had left off after half-time. Their intense press unsettled Southend again and a corner just a minute after the restart was aimed at Monthé who was hauled to the ground by Ben Goodliffe. The referee, Elliot Bell, pointed to the spot and James Garner, the former Ipswich and Nottingham Forest forward, stepped up coolly, sending Hayes the wrong way. The game slid back into equilibrium after that, with Southend producing decent patterns with the ball and Oldham perhaps struggling to maintain their earlier intensity. Fondop had a shot on the spin saved on the hour mark and Keenan Appiah-Forson had a big shout for a penalty turned down after he wriggled his way past Charlie Raglan. The best openings of the half, however, only came in added time and both opportunities falling for Oldham; first a low drive from Mark Kitching that went just past the post; then an air kick from substitute James Norwood where any connection would surely have sealed the match. Then came extra time and a period that resembled delirium. In the first half Southend reclaimed the lead with a wicked cross shot from Scott-Morriss that Hudson could only parry into the path of Parillon, who duly headed home. In the second, they nearly doubled their advantage when winger Josh Walker cut in from the right to this time force a good save from the Oldham keeper. Then Norwood made the game's decisive intervention. Tussling with Goodliffe for a long ball he threw the defender off him decisively, advanced on goal, lifted the ball over the onrushing Hayes while skirting him and then finished coolly. 'This is my house!' Norwood screamed at the crowd and the atmosphere, already wild, jumped up another level. Within 60 seconds Oldham had the lead, when Kian Harrat's left footed cross from way out went under the legs of the sliding Goodliffe and somehow past Hayes too.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Oldham 3-2 Southend: Latics mount INCREDIBLE comeback to win National League play-offs - and return to EFL after years of stagnation and hurt
Oldham left Southend speechless with a pulsating comeback to exorcise their demons of the recent era and restore their place in the Football League. How do you bottle up such ecstasy? The Latics looked down and out after 110 minutes of this scrappy, roistering, explosive affair. Then substitutes James Norwood and Kian Harratt turned history on its head. Wembley was deafening. No fans have known mediocrity and stagnation better than Oldham's. The Latics became the first former Premier League side to drop into non-league in 2022. This was their first play-off campaign since 2007 and only the fourth time they had finished in the top half of a division since then. In 2021, fans carried a mock coffin in protest against then-owner Abdallah Lemsagam, with the club threatened by administration and struggling to pay salaries. Calling it bleak doesn't do their pain justice. Now, finally, they have redemption. Micky Mellon, their 19th manager in the last decade and the first to complete a full season in that time, has brought an offering no man before him could. Joy. Star striker Mike Fondop, 31, was not even born the last time Oldham won a promotion back in 1991. The build-up to this one was marred by frustration at an initial ticket allocation of just 40,000. After much lobbying, that restriction was relaxed and we saw a record National League attendance – 52,115 – with supporters journeying from as far as Australia. It was hardly a pretty contest – there were plenty of scraps and long balls to speak of – but it was aptly raucous for two giants at this level who spent a combined consecutive 226 years in the EFL before their relegations. Seven years ago, this was a League One fixture. Fans knew they were in for a rollercoaster after two minutes when Oldham's Vimal Yoganathan danced past his man and pinned a cross at the far post, but Mark Kitching was just unable to reach it. Southend drew first blood after five minutes when Manny Monthe saw calamity. The defender, so experienced on this stage, dinked the ball into his own net under pressure from Charley Kendall. Cue pandemonium from the Shrimpers, who had brought more than 150 coach loads and thousands more on the train. Multiple chances went begging for the Latics in the first half. Yoganathan fluffed a header from point-blank range 18 minutes in. Star striker Mike Fondop, who initially moved here from Cameroon to study actuarial science, blew and blew but could not collapse the house. It is believed fans paid to fly out his father from his homeland. The marksman missed two gilt-edged chances in the first period and was denied a penalty despite a rash challenge from Harry Taylor, who was otherwise unimpeachable. Oldham perhaps began to feel it wasn't their day when Fondop inexplicably chipped the ball wide after racing through one-on-one just before half-time. Fans erupted in cheers thinking it had gone in, only for their faces to turn pale. How had he missed? But Micky Mellon's men were gifted a chance to get level just after the break when Ben Goodliffe dragged down Monthe in the box – and duly took it. Joe Garner, once a Championship man, stepped up and stroked home from 12 yards, sending Nick Hayes the wrong way and charging over to celebrate with the euphoric Oldham masses. In the latter stages the game remained attritional. Corry Evans was booked for a poorly timed slide on Macauley Bonne. Oldham skipper Charlie Raglan, a bullying fortress throughout the day, continued to command a stern defence. Southend's top-scoring right-back, Gus Scott-Morriss, struck a half-volley from 25 yards with minutes to go but it was straight down the throat of Mathew Hudson. A minute into stoppage time, Oldham let out an almighty groan as Kitching flashed a low first-time effort just wide of the post. But nobody could find a winner after 99 minutes of struggle. And so into extra-time it was, like the previous four non-league showpiece occasions. of course, it had to go this way. Then it was Parillon's time to etch his name into Southend folklore - or so he thought. Hudson parried a cross from Scott-Morriss straight into his path and the substitute nutted in the most pressurised header of his life. Southend's almost 30,000 disciples went delirious. But the day wasn't done. Oldham had other ideas. First, Norwood latched onto a long ball and rounded Hayes to finish. Then Harratt swung a speculative cross into the far post and nobody touched it. MIraculously, it went in. Oldham have redemption.
