During the 1993–94 English football season, Oldham Athletic competed in the FA Premier League.

Season summary 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.

Final league table

Results Oldham Athletic's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

FA Premier League DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers 14 August 1993 Ipswich TownH0–312,182 18 August 1993 Swindon TownA1–011,970Bernard 21 August 1993 Blackburn RoversA0–113,731 24 August 1993 Coventry CityH3–310,872Ritchie (pen), Bernard, Olney 28 August 1993 WimbledonH1–110,633Bernard 30 August 1993 Leeds UnitedA0–128,717 11 September 1993 EvertonH0–113,666 18 September 1993 Tottenham HotspurA0–524,614 25 September 1993 Aston VillaH1–112,836Halle 4 October 1993 Manchester CityA1–121,401Sharp 16 October 1993 LiverpoolA1–232,661Beckford 23 October 1993 ArsenalH0–012,105 30 October 1993 ChelseaA1–015,372Beckford 8 November 1993 Newcastle UnitedH1–313,821Jobson 20 November 1993 West Ham UnitedA0–217,251 24 November 1993 Sheffield WednesdayA0–318,509 27 November 1993 Norwich CityH2–110,198Sharp, Makin 4 December 1993 Ipswich TownA0–012,004 7 December 1993 Swindon TownH2–110,771Holden, Halle 11 December 1993 Blackburn RoversH1–213,887Holden 18 December 1993 Coventry CityA1–111,800Bernard 27 December 1993 Queens Park RangersA0–213,218 29 December 1993 Manchester UnitedH2–516,708Sharp, Holden 1 January 1994 Sheffield UnitedA1–217,066Jobson 15 January 1994 LiverpoolH0–314,573 22 January 1994 ArsenalA1–126,524Sharp 5 February 1994 SouthamptonH2–19,982McCarthy, Bernard 12 February 1994 ChelseaH2–112,022Jobson, Sharp 28 February 1994 Leeds UnitedH1–111,136Sharp , Beckford 5 March 1994 EvertonA1–220,881Sharp 19 March 1994 Aston VillaA2–121,214Beckford, Holden 26 March 1994 Manchester CityH0–016,464 30 March 1994 SouthamptonA3–114,101Benali (own goal), Sharp, Holden 2 April 1994 Queens Park RangersH4–110,440Jobson, McCarthy, Beckford, A McCarthy (own goal) 4 April 1994 Manchester UnitedA2–344,686McCarthy, Sharp 16 April 1994 West Ham UnitedH1–211,669Holden (pen) 23 April 1994 Newcastle UnitedA2–332,216Jobson, Sharp 26 April 1994 WimbledonA0–36,766 30 April 1994 Sheffield WednesdayH0–012,967 3 May 1994 Sheffield UnitedH1–114,779Beckford 5 May 1994 Tottenham HotspurH0–214,283 7 May 1994 Norwich CityA1–120,394McCarthy

FA Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR38 January 1994 Derby CountyH2–112,810Beckford, HoldenR429 January 1994 Stoke CityH0–014,465R4R9 February 1994 Stoke CityA1–019,871BeckfordR519 February 1994 BarnsleyH1–015,685RitchieQF12 March 1994 Bolton WanderersA1–020,321BeckfordSF9 April 1994 Manchester UnitedN1–1 56,399PointonSFR13 April 1994 Manchester UnitedN1–432,311Pointon

League Cup

+RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorersR2 1st leg21 September 1993 Swansea CityA1–25,056SharpR2 2nd leg6 October 1993 Swansea CityH2–0 (won 3–2 on agg)6,433Bernard, Halle R326 October 1993 Coventry CityH2–010,071Beckford, SharpR430 November 1993 Tranmere RoversA0–39,477

First-team squad Squad at end of season

Left club during season

Notes

References