Just two months after their epic National League play-off win over Southend United at Wembley, Oldham Athletic face MK Dons this weekend as they return to the Football League after three seasons away.
Relegated in 2022 after years of drift and dysfunction, the club, who once helped launch the Premier League found itself bottomed out in the National League. But from that low came clarity. Fan protests turned the tide, new ownership brought direction, and now, two years later, Oldham return revived, a club with purpose, energy, and belief.
From borderline despair to Boundary Park jubilation, the transformation has been profound.
The scars remain, but they’re now seen as positives, proof of what supporters endured to bring their club back to life. Where apathy once lingered, there is now atmosphere. And as they prepare for League Two, the Latics, as they’re known to their fans, do so with a grounded optimism, not swept up in delusion but carrying a perspective hard-earned and deeply felt.
A retrospective with perspective
For 21 years, Oldham Athletic stalled in League One like a club with collective locked-in syndrome, never quite rising, never quite collapsing, just endlessly circling the middle. It looked like stability on paper, but it was more a slow-motion decline disguised as routine.
A few cup runs flickered, a playoff chase teased, but mostly it was mid to low-table finishes, managerial churn, and a fanbase watching the colour drain from a club that once dined, however briefly, at football’s top table. League One became a slow-release quicksand to the club.
When they finally broke the League One curse, it was inevitably through relegation to League Two. When relegation out of the EFL to the National League came in 2022, it didn’t feel like a shock, it felt like gravity finally asserting itself.
The club that helped launch the Premier League became the first of its kind to fall out of the Football League entirely. The long League One stay, which could have been disguised as an era of consistency, was really a drawn-out surrender.
A resurgent fanbase hopes to carry on the good feeling
Oldham’s long-suffering fans have kept hold of a feverish joy since the three-game play-off charge that had echoes of their famous 1992-93 Premier League relegation escape. From Halifax to York to Wembley, belief returned in waves. It is something that co-host and producer of the brilliant Oldham Athletic fan podcast, The Boundary Park Alert System, Matt Dean, talked to us about:
“It was better in most ways to that Premier League season as we have never made a play-off final before. We really just huffed and puffed our way into the play-offs but when we got there our fans and the team were incredible. We haven’t been in a play off since 2007 so there was huge excitement. The match against Halifax at Boundary Park was the best atmosphere I’ve ever experienced, it was just phenomenal,” said Dean.
“We’ve got stability at the top of the club, ownership that think things through and listen to supporters. I hope this season is a good season and we can build on that positivity. We used to be the most stagnant football team but now we have a hardcore group of fans, the Athleticos, and they’ve done wonders for the atmosphere. On Saturday against MK Dons it will be a party atmosphere and could set the tone for the season, and I hope it does.”
A season to hopefully enjoy, not endure
With kick-off time closing in, Oldham Athletic have every reason to be optimistic compared to their last stint in League Two.
They now enjoy financial stability, a reinvigorated fanbase, and a team capable of competing for far more than mere survival. If they can harness the momentum from last season across the full League Two campaign, who knows what might be possible.
What is certain is that every trip to Ice Station Zebra, as legendary former manager Joe Royle nicknamed Boundary Park, will be filled with fans in far better voice than when they left the Football League three years ago.
And that alone is reason enough to have your eyes glued to the game this weekend, wherever you are.
