From the publisher:
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.
The author:
Tony Bugby is a sports journalist and has been a fan of the Latics for over forty years. He covered the club as a journalist for the Oldham Chronicle, and is currently the club's website editor. He lives in Oldham.
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