Oldham Athletic were set to earn an unwanted record this afternoon. Were they to lose their game against Salford City, they would become the first team to have played in the Premier League and then be relegated to the Conference.
It is a sign of just how far they have fallen in recent times, with the club having never been outside the Football League since their formation in 1895.
This had been a long time coming. The club have been run into the ground over the last few years, with Abdallah Lemsagam proving to be a very unpopular figure among the supporters since his 2018 takeover. There have been a huge amount of financial issues, with players having failed to be paid at various points throughout this season.
Lemsagam has been attempting to sell the club in recent times, although his rumoured £5million asking price has not drummed up much interest.
There game against Salford went in a rather predictable manner. Trailing 2-1 with ten minutes to go, their relegation was set to be confirmed.
However the match would soon be stopped as fans took to the Boundary Park pitch to protest against the club's ownership.
Oldham fans have taken over the pitch to protest the ownership of their club as they face relegation to the National League pic.twitter.com/j4wS6qrcXx
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 23, 2022
Gary Neville, who was at the game to watch his Salford side play in their play-off hunt, tweeted a rather eye-catching image from the stadium.
Just left Oldham v Salford . Oldham fans on the pitch and it’s pretty moody
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 23, 2022
Get out of our club pic.twitter.com/Vdf3wwlL8B
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 23, 2022
Oldham are currently managed by former Republic of Ireland international John Sheridan, who is in his fourth spell in charge of the club. He also spent six years there as a player.
Sheridan was drafted in in January to try and pull off an escape from relegation but had little success.
He was seen on the pitch trying to reason with the supporters as the protests went on.
❌ Oldham vs Salford has been abandoned at 1-2 after the Oldham fans stormed the pitch to protest.
Oldham would've been relegated if the score stayed the same at full-time pic.twitter.com/T9XUsWHjYH— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 23, 2022
The game was then abandoned, meaning the club were not yet been officially relegated.
However, the two teams would later return to play the game behind closed doors as Salford ran out 201 winners.
Oldham have been pointed to as yet another example of how poor ownership can damage a club, with their financial issues meaning there is still a real possibility they could yet go out of business.
Their supporters will be hoping that does not happen, although dropping out of the Football League certainly makes the task of keeping the club alive all the more difficult.
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