Oldham had looked down and out by February when they were nine points from safety but a remarkable run at the end of the season saw them dramatically survive the drop on the last day of the season. But the club was struggling financially and despite selling Ian Marshall and Neil Adams they could only manager loan deals and free transfers from Norwegian clubs.
They in fact were one of the first clubs to set up a strategic partnership with a number of Scandinavian clubs where they saw multiple players go both ways in what was going to be a fashionable market for big clubs to dip into.
