Oldham Athletic's luck finally ran out on the final day of the season as their failure to beat Norwich City condemned them to relegation after three years in the top flight. A year earlier, they had won their final three games of the season to stay up on goal difference and, this time round, they had looked more than capable of beating the drop without needing any last-gasp "Houdini" survival acts. They even looked on course for their first-ever FA Cup final as they entered the final minute of the semi-final beating Manchester United 1–0.
But Mark Hughes then equalised for United and forced a replay, in which a visibly downbeat Latics were crushed 4–1 at Maine Road. The team seemed to lose its fighting spirit in the final weeks of the season, and the results of other relegation-threatened teams would have sent them down even if they had managed to beat Norwich on that final day.
Yet there was no pressure for manager Joe Royle, the longest-serving manager in any division, to be removed from his position. The board kept faith in him and he kept faith in his players, with Mike Milligan (to Norwich) being the only significant departure of the close season.
The season had started dismally with a 3–0 home defeat to Ipswich Town, who would only narrowly avoid relegation at the end of the season after a decent start was followed by a slump. The next game saw Oldham win 1–0 at newly promoted Swindon Town, but then came a 10-match winless run which included five draws. The winless run ended on 30 October when a Darren Beckford goal gave them a 1–0 win at Chelsea. Three successive defeats followed before Oldham recorded their third league win of the campaign, a 2–1 home win over high flying Norwich City. There were a number of decent results after the turn of 1994, including two successive 2–1 home wins followed by a point at home to Leeds United. On 2 April, a 4–1 home win over Queen's Park Rangers suggested that the Latics were more than capable of survival. And they also had an FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester United at Wembley to look forward to. First they had to meet United in the league at Old Trafford, and gave them a serious run for their money as the table-leading hosts managed a narrow 3–2 win. However, then came the semi-final, which went to a replay which the Latics lost, leaving them with Premier League survival to focus on. Three successive defeats did them no favours (a poor 2–1 home loss to West Ham United, a narrow 3–2 defeat at in-form Newcastle United - including two Oldham equalisers - and a 3–0 defeat at Wimbledon), and draws against the two Sheffield teams and a defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur left them needing to beat Norwich City at Carrow Road on the final day of the season to stand any chance of survival. A 1–1 draw was not enough, and Oldham's three-year stay in the top flight was over.[1]
1993, oldham, athletic, season, during, 1993, english, football, season, oldham, athletic, competed, premier, league, oldham, athletic1993, seasonchairmanian, stottmanagerjoe, roylestadiumboundary, parkpremier, league21st, relegated, cupsemi, finalscoca, cola,. During the 1993 94 English football season Oldham Athletic competed in the FA Premier League Oldham Athletic1993 94 seasonChairmanIan StottManagerJoe RoyleStadiumBoundary ParkPremier League21st relegated FA CupSemi finalsCoca Cola CupFourth roundTop goalscorerLeague Graeme Sharp 9 All Graeme Sharp 11 Highest home attendance16 708 vs Manchester UnitedLowest home attendance6 433 vs Swansea City League Cup Average home league attendance12 563Home coloursAway coloursThird colours 1992 931994 95 Contents 1 Season summary 2 Final league table 3 Results 3 1 Legend 3 2 FA Premier League 3 3 FA Cup 3 4 League Cup 4 First team squad 4 1 Left club during season 5 Notes 6 ReferencesSeason summary editOldham Athletic s luck finally ran out on the final day of the season as their failure to beat Norwich City condemned them to relegation after three years in the top flight A year earlier they had won their final three games of the season to stay up on goal difference and this time round they had looked more than capable of beating the drop without needing any last gasp Houdini survival acts They even looked on course for their first ever FA Cup final as they entered the final minute of the semi final beating Manchester United 1 0 But Mark Hughes then equalised for United and forced a replay in which a visibly downbeat Latics were crushed 4 1 at Maine Road The team seemed to lose its fighting spirit in the final weeks of the season and the results of other relegation threatened teams would have sent them down even if they had managed to beat Norwich on that final day Yet there was no pressure for manager Joe Royle the longest serving manager in any division to be removed from his position The board kept faith in him and he kept faith in his players with Mike Milligan to Norwich being the only significant departure of the close season The season had started dismally with a 3 0 home defeat to Ipswich Town who would only narrowly avoid relegation at the end of the season after a decent start was followed by a slump The next game saw Oldham win 1 0 at newly promoted Swindon Town but then came a 10 match winless run which included five draws The winless run ended on 30 October when a Darren Beckford goal gave them a 1 0 win at Chelsea Three successive defeats followed before Oldham recorded their third league win of the campaign a 2 1 home win over high flying Norwich City There were a number of decent results after the turn of 1994 including two successive 2 1 home wins followed by a point at home to Leeds United On 2 April a 4 1 home win over Queen s Park Rangers suggested that the Latics were more than capable of survival And they also had an FA Cup semi final clash with Manchester United at Wembley to look forward to First they had to meet United in the league at Old Trafford and gave them a serious run for their money as the table leading hosts managed a narrow 3 2 win However then came the semi final which went to a replay which the Latics lost leaving them with Premier League survival to focus on Three successive defeats did them no favours a poor 2 1 home loss to West Ham United a narrow 3 2 defeat at in form Newcastle United including two Oldham equalisers and a 3 0 defeat at Wimbledon and draws against the two Sheffield teams and a defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur left them needing to beat Norwich City at Carrow Road on the final day of the season to stand any chance of survival A 1 1 draw was not enough and Oldham s three year stay in the top flight was over 1 Final league table editMain article 1993 94 FA Premier League Pos Teamvte Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation 18 Southampton 42 12 7 23 49 66 17 43 19 Ipswich Town 42 9 16 17 35 58 23 43 20 Sheffield United R 42 8 18 16 42 60 18 42 Relegation to Football League First Division 21 Oldham Athletic R 42 9 13 20 42 68 26 40 22 Swindon Town R 42 5 15 22 47 100 53 30Source Premier LeagueRules for classification 1 points 2 goal difference 3 number of goals scored R RelegatedResults editOldham Athletic s score comes first 2 Legend edit Win Draw Loss FA Premier League edit Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers 14 August 1993 Ipswich Town H 0 3 12 182 18 August 1993 Swindon Town A 1 0 11 970 Bernard 21 August 1993 Blackburn Rovers A 0 1 13 731 24 August 1993 Coventry City H 3 3 10 817 Ritchie pen Bernard Olney 28 August 1993 Wimbledon H 1 1 10 633 Bernard 30 August 1993 Leeds United A 0 1 28 717 11 September 1993 Everton H 0 1 13 666 18 September 1993 Tottenham Hotspur A 0 5 24 614 25 September 1993 Aston Villa H 1 1 12 836 Halle 4 October 1993 Manchester City A 1 1 21 401 Sharp 16 October 1993 Liverpool A 1 2 32 661 Beckford 23 October 1993 Arsenal H 0 0 12 105 30 October 1993 Chelsea A 1 0 15 372 Beckford 8 November 1993 Newcastle United H 1 3 13 821 Jobson 20 November 1993 West Ham United A 0 2 17 251 24 November 1993 Sheffield Wednesday A 0 3 18 509 27 November 1993 Norwich City H 2 1 10 198 Sharp Makin 4 December 1993 Ipswich Town A 0 0 12 004 7 December 1993 Swindon Town H 2 1 10 771 Holden Halle 11 December 1993 Blackburn Rovers H 1 2 13 887 Holden 18 December 1993 Coventry City A 1 1 11 800 Bernard 27 December 1993 Queens Park Rangers A 0 2 13 218 29 December 1993 Manchester United H 2 5 16 708 Sharp Holden 1 January 1994 Sheffield United A 1 2 17 066 Jobson 15 January 1994 Liverpool H 0 3 14 573 22 January 1994 Arsenal A 1 1 26 524 Sharp 5 February 1994 Southampton H 2 1 9 982 McCarthy Bernard 12 February 1994 Chelsea H 2 1 12 022 Jobson Sharp 28 February 1994 Leeds United H 1 1 11 136 Beckford 5 March 1994 Everton A 1 2 18 837 Sharp 19 March 1994 Aston Villa A 2 1 21 214 Beckford Holden 26 March 1994 Manchester City H 0 0 16 464 30 March 1994 Southampton A 3 1 14 101 Benali own goal Sharp Holden 2 April 1994 Queens Park Rangers H 4 1 10 440 Jobson McCarthy Beckford A McCarthy own goal 4 April 1994 Manchester United A 2 3 44 686 McCarthy Sharp 16 April 1994 West Ham United H 1 2 11 669 Holden pen 23 April 1994 Newcastle United A 2 3 32 216 Jobson Sharp 26 April 1994 Wimbledon A 0 3 6 766 30 April 1994 Sheffield Wednesday H 0 0 12 967 3 May 1994 Sheffield United H 1 1 14 779 Beckford 5 May 1994 Tottenham Hotspur H 0 2 14 283 7 May 1994 Norwich City A 1 1 20 394 McCarthy FA Cup edit Main article 1993 94 FA Cup Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers R3 8 January 1994 Derby County H 2 1 12 810 Beckford Holden R4 29 January 1994 Stoke City H 0 0 14 465 R4R 9 February 1994 Stoke City A 1 0 19 871 Beckford R5 19 February 1994 Barnsley H 1 0 15 685 Ritchie QF 12 March 1994 Bolton Wanderers A 1 0 20 321 Beckford SF 9 April 1994 Manchester United N 3 1 1 a e t 56 399 Pointon SFR 13 April 1994 Manchester United N 4 1 4 32 311 Pointon League Cup edit Main article 1993 94 Football League Cup Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers R2 1st leg 21 September 1993 Swansea City A 1 2 5 056 Sharp R2 2nd leg 6 October 1993 Swansea City H 2 0 won 3 2 on agg 6 433 Bernard Halle R3 26 October 1993 Coventry City H 2 0 10 071 Beckford Sharp R4 30 November 1993 Tranmere Rovers A 0 3 9 477First team squad editSquad at end of season 5 Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player 1 GK nbsp ENG Paul Gerrard 2 DF nbsp ENG Craig Fleming 3 DF nbsp ENG Neil Pointon 4 MF nbsp ENG Nick Henry 5 DF nbsp ENG Richard Jobson 6 DF nbsp ENG Steve Redmond 7 DF nbsp NOR Gunnar Halle 8 MF nbsp ENG Andy Ritchie 9 FW nbsp ENG Ian Olney 10 MF nbsp IRL Mike Milligan notes 1 captain 11 MF nbsp SCO Paul Bernard 13 GK nbsp ENG Jon Hallworth 14 FW nbsp SCO Graeme Sharp 15 DF nbsp ENG Andy Barlow No Pos Nation Player 16 DF nbsp NOR Tore Pedersen 17 FW nbsp ENG Darren Beckford 18 DF nbsp ENG Neil McDonald 19 FW nbsp ENG Roger Palmer 20 MF nbsp ENG Mark Brennan 21 FW nbsp WAL Sean McCarthy 22 DF nbsp ENG Chris Makin 23 DF nbsp ENG Richard Graham 24 GK nbsp ENG Andy Woods 25 MF nbsp ENG Rick Holden 27 MF nbsp ENG David Beresford 28 FW nbsp ENG John Eyre 29 MF nbsp ENG Stephen Price Left club during season edit Note Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules Players may hold more than one non FIFA nationality No Pos Nation Player 12 MF nbsp ENG Neil Adams to Norwich City 21 FW nbsp ENG Neil Tolson to Bradford City No Pos Nation Player 26 GK nbsp ENG Lance Key on loan from Sheffield Wednesday 30 GK nbsp ENG Gary Walsh on loan from Manchester United Notes edit Milligan was born in Manchester England but also qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally and represented them at U 21 U 23 and B level before making his international debut for Republic of Ireland in 1992 References edit Norwich 1 1 Oldham Oldham Athletic Football Club Official Website 7 May 1994 Retrieved 18 June 2012 Oldham Athletic 1993 1994 Home statto com Archived from the original on 17 May 2012 Retrieved 18 June 2012 About Man Utd Manchester United vs Oldham Athletic 10 Apr 1994 Archived from the original on 25 June 2012 Retrieved 18 June 2012 About Man Utd Manchester United vs Oldham Athletic 13 Apr 1994 Archived from the original on 25 June 2012 Retrieved 18 June 2012 FootballSquads Oldham Athletic 1993 94 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1993 94 Oldham Athletic A F C season amp oldid 1221887765, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
