Athletic drop into League Two

Athletic will have to prepare for next season as a League Two team after they failed to get the win which would have guaranteed their place in League One.

A draw at Northampton Town coupled with Rochdale claiming a 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic at the Crown Oil Arena meant Dale jumped over their rivals and condemned Richie Wellens’ men to relegation heartbreak on the last day of the season.

The confirmation of Oldham Athletic’s relegation ends a 21-year stay in the third tier of English football and also casts into doubt boss Wellens' future at the club.

Going into the game at Sixfields Stadium, Latics knew all they had to do was match Rochdale’s result at the Crown Oil Arena in order to beat the drop but it looked like they’d do better than that when George Edmundson gave them a first half lead.

The defender fired a shot into the net from 15-yards to bag his first goal for the club.

But thoughts of going into half-time in the lead were quickly dashed as Northampton drew level three minutes from the break as Matt Grimes converted from the penalty spot after Sam Hoskins was fouled.

Things went from bad to worse for Latics as the Cobblers made sure they went into the break with their noses in front thanks to captain Ash Taylor slotting home a rebound.

At that stage Oldham were in the bottom four with 45 minutes to save their season and it was another of their crop of young defenders who gave them hope just before the hour mark.

18-year old Tom Hamer, who only made his football league debut last month, headed in the equaliser to put Rochdale back in the bottom four at that stage.

However it wasn’t to be as Joe Thompson scored a dramatic winner for Dale to keep them in the division and, despite frantic last minute pressure from Latics, send them into League Two.

The post-mortem on Athletic’s season starts here with players and manager, Wellens, set for crunch talks on their future with new owner Abdallah Lemsagam this week.

After that though attention will have to turn to next season and their first in the fourth tier of English football since the 1970s.

Wellens was unsurprisingly stunned after the game, but he did offer his thoughts.

The former Leicester City and Doncaster midfield playing star said: "We started well but it was a ridiculous mistake to give the penalty away and then their lad has a shot from 20 yards and the goalkeeper’s just got to push it around the post but he drops it and they put it in the net.

“We responded really well but we conceded two really, really poor goals.

“I thank the players in the dressing room because the majority of them give absolutely everything in training.

“There are some players that let the group down and, all in all, it’s probably cost us.

"The players who are successful at this level have character and they show heart and desire.

"That’s what the Oldham fans want but it’s just a shame that some don’t do that.

“We’ve made too many individual mistakes throughout the season and that’s why we’re in this position, and I think the injuries have caught up with us as well because we’ve got a lot of players out.

“It’s just really hard for me to speak. I'm absolutely devastated. I honestly didn't think it would come to this.

"The club now needs to restructure the way that we recruit players,

"It's no good just looking at a piece of paper and and saying 'he looks good we'll sign him.'

"We need characters. If you look at the players who are successful at this level, they might not have the best ability but they're characters and show heart.

"The majority of our players give everything every single day in training, but some let the group down and all in all that costs us."