Match ends, Oldham Athletic 1, Salford City 2.
Oldham Athletic have been relegated from the English Football League for the first time after defeat by Salford City in a game interrupted by a supporters' on-pitch protest against the club's owners.
It ends 116 years of league football for the Boundary Park club, and also means they are the first former Premier League team to drop into non-league since its creation in 1992.
The Latics, who needed to avoid defeat to keep their hopes of League Two survival alive after wins for both Barrow and Stevenage, trailed 2-1 with 14 minutes to play against Salford when fans poured on to the pitch.
The players were taken off by referee Bobby Madley as supporters staged a centre-circle sit-in against owner Abdallah Lemsagam, despite appeals from boss John Sheridan to return to the stands.
Protests remained in place for some time after, but once the pitch had been cleared, the teams returned to play out the remaining time behind closed doors.
An EFL spokesperson said: "This afternoon's League Two fixture between Oldham Athletic and Salford City has been concluded behind closed doors.
"The remaining 14 minutes played resulted in a final scoreline of Oldham Athletic 1 Salford City 2, and as a result Oldham Athletic have been relegated from League Two.
"Despite the earlier announcement of the abandonment of the fixture, after discussions with both clubs, match officials, and stadium security it was agreed the match could be concluded today.
"The decision was taken in order to maintain the integrity of the competition given the importance of the fixture at both ends of the League Two table."
Salford, who needed the points to maintain their play-off hopes, took an early lead through ex-Oldham striker Matt Smith who tucked into an open goal.
Davis Keillor-Dunn stroked home a penalty to give the home side hope after a handball by Jordan Turnbull, but Brandon Thomas-Asante's near-post header in first-half injury time restored the Salford lead.
With pressure mounting, Oldham went for the goal they needed to delay the drop, with Keillor-Dunn's tame chip saved by Tom King after Jamie Hopcutt's header was ruled out.
No further score was achieved after the resumption, and Oldham's fate was sealed before eerily empty stands.
Latics' fall from grace
Relegation to the National League marks a huge fall from grace for a club who were founder members of the Premier League, League Cup finalists 32 years ago and Wembley FA Cup semi-finalists as recently as 1994.
In a cruel twist of fate, they are set to begin their first season outside of the EFL on the 30th anniversary of the breakaway division.
Oldham's likely drop rounds off a miserable spell for the club in recent times.
Keith Curle, appointed in March 2021, looked set to inspire some hope in the beleaguered Latics when he arrived at Boundary Park.
Arriving at the club having won promotion from the fourth tier with Northampton as recently as 2020, supporters would be forgiven for thinking he could turn around the fortunes of a club who have slumped to their lowest point in recent memory.
It took seven games to find a win in any competition this term and the club's form did not noticeably improve in the first half of the campaign.
Curle left in November, just eight months into his tenure, amid the backdrop of heightened tensions with the club's support.
Three fans were banned in December for "promoting their dislike" of the club, with one of the trio branding it a "dictatorship".
The bans - which were issued directly by the club and were not court-issued football banning orders - were overturned just two days later after a public outcry, but the damage was done.
Protests continued and less than a month later Lemsagam announced that he was willing to sell the club, a U-turn on the position he had taken in September 2021 when he claimed he did not want to.
Under his tenure there have been accusations of late payment of salaries and threats of player strikes - as well as the prospect of administration, which was eventually avoided.
After more than a month without a permanent manager, Sheridan arrived in January for his sixth stint at the club.
Despite a bright run of form in February which took them out of the League Two drop zone, as well as two successive wins in March and April, nine defeats in the past 11 games before Saturday saw a slide into trouble that could not be halted, not even by a club legend.
Line-ups
Oldham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 23Rogers
- 7Adams
- 2Clarke
- 15Jameson
- 3Hart
- 28Missilou
- 8WhelanSubstituted forVaughanat 74'minutes
- 17StobbsSubstituted forHopcuttat 68'minutes
- 10Keillor-Dunn
- 9HopeSubstituted forCoutoat 89'minutes
- 29Luamba
Substitutes
- 1Leutwiler
- 19Da Silva
- 26Hunt
- 27Hopcutt
- 32Sutton
- 33Couto
- 34Vaughan
Salford
Formation 4-3-3
- 1KingBooked at 90mins
- 4Lowe
- 42Vassell
- 16TurnbullBooked at 32mins
- 3Touray
- 17Kelly
- 8LundSubstituted forLoveat 49'minutes
- 7Watson
- 37Thomas-AsanteBooked at 78minsSubstituted forHendersonat 85'minutes
- 19Smith
- 10HunterSubstituted forBoltonat 66'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Love
- 6Ndaba
- 15Burgess
- 24Bolton
- 31Torrance
- 32Shephard
- 40Henderson
- Referee:
- Robert Madley
- Attendance:
- 5,752
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home51%
- Away49%
- Shots
- Home19
- Away11
- Shots on Target
- Home6
- Away5
- Corners
- Home10
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home10
- Away16
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Oldham Athletic 1, Salford City 2.
Booking
Tom King (Salford City) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Foul by Sam Hart (Oldham Athletic).
Post update
Matt Smith (Salford City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Ryan Watson (Salford City).
Post update
Sam Hart (Oldham Athletic) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution
Substitution, Oldham Athletic. Benny Couto replaces Hallam Hope.
Post update
Foul by Hallam Hope (Oldham Athletic).
Post update
Matt Smith (Salford City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Sam Hart (Oldham Athletic).
Post update
Ryan Watson (Salford City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Salford City. Ian Henderson replaces Brandon Thomas-Asante.
Post update
Attempt missed. Matt Smith (Salford City) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the right.
Post update
Attempt missed. Junior Luamba (Oldham Athletic) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Post update
Attempt missed. Nicky Adams (Oldham Athletic) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right following a corner.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Nicky Adams (Oldham Athletic) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Hallam Hope.
Post update
Corner, Oldham Athletic. Conceded by Luke Bolton.
Post update
Corner, Oldham Athletic. Conceded by Ibou Touray.
Booking
Brandon Thomas-Asante (Salford City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Comments
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But surely the result has to stand.
Up The Dale - Not For Sale ✊🏻
Play the game out , if relegation is going to happen it will.
Obviously if they had played better throughout the season and got the points, they would not be in this position now.
Unfortunately they could get a points reduction before next season starts and so the struggle continues
If Oldham are given the opportunity for a replay then watch how many others stage a pitch invasion next week
Sad for the true Oldham supporters but it’s the only way to deal with this.
This wouldn't have happened if the council had followed the examples of Huddersfield, Wigan, Hull, etc, instead of reneging on their original promise to build a new joint stadium.