Oldham’s match was called off when enraged fans stormed the pitch in protest of the club’s ownership
With their club on the verge of elimination from the Football League for the first time, enraged supporters stormed the pitch to protest against the owners. Fans gathered near the center circle with a banner reading ‘GET OUT OF OUR CLUB.’
With fewer than 10 minutes remaining, the League Two match versus Salford had to be called off. Gary Neville, the owner of Salford City, was present at the game before making a hasty leave. Man United legend Wayne Rooney tweeted: “Just left Oldham v Salford.” There are Oldham supporters on the pitch, and the atmosphere is tense.
With supporters still on the field and a heavy security presence, the game had to be called off. As the supporters protested on the pitch, Oldham manager John Sheridan was among them. Because of the postponement, Oldham’s relegation was not confirmed until Saturday afternoon. With three games remaining, the Latics sit seven points behind Barrow and Stevenage.
Forest Green Rovers secured promotion to League One at the other end of the table. The League Two leaders drew 0-0 at Bristol Rovers to clinch promotion to English football’s third division. Since last September, fans have been urging Abdallah Lemsagam, the club’s owner and chairman, to sell the club he took over four years ago.
In a region that has lately lost Bury and Macclesfield Town due to financial difficulties, Oldham Athletic has been another northwest club beset by financial difficulties. They were at the High Court as recently as July to have a winding-up case dismissed after a debt owing to HMRC was cleared.
Since Oldham joined the Premier League as one of the 22 founding members in 1992, it has been a continuous decline down the divisions. Two years later, they were relegated. In 1997, they were relegated to League One, where they stayed for 21 years before being relegated to League Two. Since 2009, Oldham has never finished higher than 16th in any division in which they have participated.
