It is hard to imagine now as Oldham AFC languish in League One, but in the early 1990s Oldham were contenders for major honours. In 1990 Joe Royle's side reached the Football League Cup final, losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest, and the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1914, going down 2-1 to mighty Manchester United in a replay after holding them to a thrilling 3-3 draw.

A year later Royle engineered the Latics' return to the top flight for the first time in 68 years via a club-record tally of 88 points, which earned them the Second Division title. The Latics then became founder members of the Premier League and in 1994 reached the FA Cup semi-finals again, only to lose out to Man United once more after a replay.

The same season the Latics went down and life has never been the same since at Boundary Park, with a further relegation following in 1997 to the third tier of English football.

Oldham started life in 1895 as Pine Villa FC before changing their name to Oldham Athletic FC four years later. Initially the Latics played in local leagues, but in 1907 Oldham were elected to the Football League Division Two. They were promoted to Division One as Division Two runners-up in 1910, reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1913 and were Football League runners-up in 1915. However, Oldham AFC never recaptured their pre-First World War form and they were relegated first in 1923 to Division Two, and later to Division Three North in 1935.

Promotion finally came in 1953 after winning the Division Three North title, but the Latics were back in the Third Division a year later and when the League was reorganised in 1958, the Boundary Park side found themselves in the League's basement division for the first time.

For the next 16 seasons the Latics alternated between the League's bottom two tiers until player-manager Jimmy Frizzell led the team to promotion to Division Three in 1971 and a third-place finish.
There was another promotion in 1974, when the Latics record of 62 points gave them the Division Three title, and they stayed in the Second Division for a further 17 years until Royle worked his magic.