Oldham Athletic fans will stage a peaceful protest prior to their final home game as an EFL club, amid supporter unrest at under-fire owner Abdallah Lemsagam.
The Latics were relegated from League Two on Saturday following defeat by Salford - a game that finished almost two hours later than planned owing to a pitch invasion that meant it had to be restarted behind closed doors. Those fans who stormed the Boundary Park pitch made their ill feelings towards Lemsagam clearly known, with a huge banner on display pleading with the Moroccan to sell the club that he purchased in 2018.
Fans' group Push the Boundary (PTB), who have been vocal against Lemsagam's ownership of the club for some time, have now called on a peaceful protest to take place prior to the final game of the season at home to Crawley on May 7.
A statement published by the group says: "The clear intention of this protest is to let the owner know that he needs to go and that this situation is all of his own making. It is yet unclear if this game will be played behind closed doors, but in the event of this, the protest will still take place before the game and more detailed plans will be announced in due course."
Speaking to the Mirror, PTB member Steve Shipman says the planned protest is a chance to yet again show the anger towards Lemsagam's regime.
"We want people to voice their concerns and voice their anger over what's happened the last four years," he said.
"He's got to sell. He came out in January and said he was going to sell but there's been no visible signs of progress on that front. He brought John Sheridan back so we (fan groups) stepped away from what we were doing to try and give us the best chance of staying up.
"It just feels like yet more broken promises. It seems as though he has no intention to sell. The ideal scenario is he sells or works with fan groups to find someone suitable to sell to - lock, stock and barrel."
Monday saw the Oldham Athletic Supporters Foundation announce their intention to take the club over, calling on local businesses and fans to fundraise in their attempts. To that end, OASF and PTB are coming together with other relevant groups to host a fans' forum on May 12 - just five days after that Crawley finale. Whilst fan groups and former directors have been vocal since the Latics' relegation was confirmed, there was an eerie silence emanating from within the club. That was until a statement was released on Monday late afternoon.
The statement alluded to the club's owners being "devastated" at relegation, that they aim to keep Sheridan as manager and that the process of selling the club is still high on the agenda.
It said: "The plan for next season starts now. The objective is clear, promotion and a return to the EFL. Our budget will be unchanged due to EFL parachute payments and we want to start preparations now. Key to that is keeping the manager. John Sheridan did the best he could in a short amount of time. With backing and preparation, we think he will get this club promoted back to the EFL, which is where it belongs. In the following days, we will meet with John to agree on a new contract with him.
"The club's owner remains committed to selling the club. There is a clear process in place for interested parties. Each bidder has been asked to sign an NDA and provide proof of funds. Conversations with those qualified bidders are ongoing and will continue."
Mirror FootballSpeaking prior to that statement being released, Shipman added: "They sit in the shadows, they make decisions from wherever they are in the world, they don't communicate with supporters."
Oldham's relegation means they have become the first side to play in the Premier League that has gone on to drop into non-league. They played in the first two seasons of the newly-formed Premier League from 1992 to 1994.
