AS spring turned into summer in 1982, Joe Royle was at the cross-roads of his life. A persistent knee injury had forced him to hang up his boots 12 months earlier at the comparatively young age of thirty-two while playing for Norwich City. He was living with his wife Janet and three young sons Lee, Darren and Mark in idyllic surroundings in the Norfolk countryside. In many ways life was regal for the Royle Family. The head of the household was making a living - and a good one at that - selling cars in partnership with a friend. Not surprising, really, that Joe Royle was successful in his first business venture. Joe has a gift with words he could sell sand to the Arabs. But something was missing in Royle’s life back in the summer of 1982 — soccer. He’d been involved in the game all his adult life, and he was missing it. Throughout his 17-year playing career he had never given much thought to becoming a manager in his own right one day. Too much of a poacher to ever become a gamekeeper. But now the thought of having his own team was beginning to intrigue him. Back in 1982, Royle didn’t know if he had what it takes to become a successful manager. What he did know was that he had to find out.

So, more in hope than anticipation, he applied for the manager’s position at Oldham which had become vacant following the dismissal of Jimmy Frizzell. And salesman Joe certainly ‘‘sold’’ himself to the Latics chairman Ian Stott - because he got the job. ‘‘In truth I wasn’t Oldham’s number one choice,’’ admits Royle. ‘‘They wanted to give the job to the former West Brom defender John Wile but couldn’t agree on the terms. I wasn’t sure whether I was cut out to be a manager and Oldham weren’t sure either. So we decided that initially I’d sign a one-year deal which would give either party an easy way out if things didn’t work out.’’ In July 1982, Royle travelled up to Boundary Park from Norwich for his introductory Press conference and made instant headlines as the Manager Who Fell Off The Back Of A Lorry. ‘‘It was a bit embarrassing really,’’ laughs Royle. ‘‘My jaguar blew its engine on the motorway and I had to cadge a lift to Boundary Park on the back of a lorry. The Press had a field day with that one. Fortunately my new chairman was a car dealer amongst many other things. He very kindly provided me with a new engine which cost me more than a new car would have done.’’

It may have been an inglorious start to Royle’s managerial career but in no way was it an omen of what lay ahead for the rookie boss - or for Oldham. Because the union of Joe Royle and Oldham Athletic was a marriage made in heaven. A modern day fairy-tale. Without doubt the most amazing and successful period in the entire history of the little Lancashire club. ‘‘I can still remember my first game in charge,’’ recalls Royle. ‘‘It was a match against Shrewsbury at Boundary Park and 2,900 supporters turned up. I wondered what I had let myself in for. ‘‘Fortunately I had a fantastic relationship with Ian Stott and the rest of the Oldham board. I would go as far as to say a unique relationship. The directors weren’t just my employers. They were my friends.’’

Slowly but surely, the Royle magic began to work at Boundary Park. Players of Premiership quality were somehow spotted before they had reached their potential and snapped up for bargain basement prices. A club which was lucky to attract a gate of 5,000 was suddenly putting up the ‘‘House Full’’ notices with 18,000 fans crammed inside Boundary Park. The rookie boss was now being hailed as the brightest young manager in English soccer. How could a little club like Oldham possibly hang on to such a red-hot property? In November 1989 it seemed they hadn’t - Royle was offered and accepted — the manager’s job at Manchester City. ‘‘City had just parted company with Mel Machin and their chairman Peter Swales asked Oldham’s permission to talk to me,’’ says Royle. ‘‘I accepted without even asking what my salary would be. ‘‘The one condition I asked was that the appointment would not be made public until Oldham had played Blackburn Rovers at Boundary Park on the Friday night which was a couple of days after my interview. ‘‘Unfortunately the news leaked out and the Oldham fans obviously decided to do everything in their power to get me to stay. They paid for a message to be flashed onto the electronic scoreboard throughout the match which said ‘Joe, Please Don’t Go.’ That got to me. ‘‘It was very late when I left the ground and it was freezing. But there was one lad still waiting for me outside. He only had a tee-shirt on and he was covered in frost. His teeth were chattering and I could only just make out what he was saying. And he was pleading with me to stay. ‘‘I couldn’t sleep that night and as soon as it was light I telephoned Peter Swales and told him I was sorry but I couldn’t turn my back on Oldham and their supporters.’ Royle may have been allowing his heart to rule his head. But his decision certainly didn’t damage his managerial credentials.

For the Oldham ‘‘miracle’’ continued. The Latics reached Wembley for the first time in their history for the League Cup Final in 1990 only weeks after an epic FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester United which took a replay to resolve. And the final chapter in the fairy-tale was duly written 12 months later when Royle took his team of mis-fits and bargain signings into the top flight after what he described as nine ‘‘pinch-me’’ seasons at Boundary Park. ‘‘Actually I have always considered it a greater achievement that I kept Oldham in the top division for three years,’’ admits Royle. ‘‘Our policy still hadn’t changed. I still had to sell my better players from time to time to keep our heads above water so to survive for that length of time in those circumstances was something I am still proud of to this day. ‘‘But it was inevitable that we would be relegated sooner or later. That duly happened in 1994 and early the following season we lost against Sheffield United while we were going through a bad patch. ‘‘As I was walking towards the dressing rooms after the match I heard one Oldham fan — just one — having a go at me. I knew then it was time to get out. I had gone as far as I could with Oldham Athletic. The time was right for me to move on.’’

I felt a little sympathy for Blackpool after the Sugden-goal..Football can be cruel sometimes....But it was great fun to see The Latics again. It's a pity that the pitch is in such a bad condition. It's almost impossible to pass the ball.  I liked to watch the younger players . I had never seen Dudley, Jones , Hotte, Boshell play live before. I was especially impressed with Dudley and Jones...I hope we'll get a new striker next season to play alongside Dudley...Boshell is a very promising player as well but he looked a little thin....(more muscles)...

Anyway, it's always nice to visit BP..I hope I can be back again next year.  Hopefully Latics will be fighting for
promotion next season..

All the best Jerry from Sweden 

Biggest Injustice: Adams Handball Vs Gillingham (H) 12th Feb L3-1 - After leaking a calamitous goal and then drawing level, the linesman gave a joke
of a decision. As a wicked cross was to be played into our box, Adams put his hand up to his face to save being knocked out by the ball. The ref looked and decided not to give handball, however the linesman then flagged for it (and at the same time apologised to Adams for having to do so) and the ref this time decided to give it. Adams even needed treatment for a sore hand, due to the force of the cross. Anyway, up stepped Hessenthaler in all the confusion, to cross the ball in and Ashby rose to head past Kelly. That knocked the stuffing out of the Latics and in the 2nd half they waved the white flag.

Best Celebration: Tipton Vs Notts County (A) April 24th W1-0- Tipton latched onto a poor headed back pass by Richard Liburd, to shoot past the keeper and
score. It was a well taken goal and Tipton celebrated with a one arm swing. The Chaddy End have since taken to this and have repeated the gesture to Tipton.

Most Entertaining Game: Wycombe (H) November 2nd D2-2- With 5 minutes gone the score was 1-1 and Wycombe had had a player sent off. The Latics proceeded to create chance after chance, having no fewer than 25 efforts during the game. Then dramatically, Wycombe took the lead with 2 minutes left. However, super-sub Whitehall came on to head in a late, late equaliser.

Biggest Let Down: Colchester (H) November 14th L2-1- After a run of 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat, the Latics faced bottom of the league Colchester. Optimism was high and 3pts were thought to be in the bag, but the Latics put in a woeful performance and went down to the Essex team.

My Season Summary: It is pleasing to see the turnaround of this club. It has been a remarkable season and most Latics fans will feel that there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel we have been in.

The board have had their hands freed to some degree, now that JW Lees have finally parted company and that the squads deadwood is being cleared out,
and David Brierley has been professional and realistic in his bid to get this club on an even keel.

His fore-thought where the stadium and the new youth initiative is concerned  has shown that he is a man who is willing to put the club first. Also, he has broken the often annoying vail of secrecy and has been honest in his approach to the fans and the media. He deserves credit for this.

Where the playing field is concerned, Andy Ritchie has worked wonders to get the results he has. Obviously, the biggest scalps are the most fondly remembered, but there are a few games in which the team has performed to an excellent standard and have shown that Ritchie has become more tactically aware.

One such game was that Vs Bournemouth at home, where we shut out Bournemouth completely and grabbed the one goal necessary to win the game. I thought
this was a great, patient performance.

Also, we have now got an air of expectancy at the club, which normally has been negative in that, we hav