The OASF Board welcomes today’s announcement in which Abdallah has publicly stated that he is putting the club up for sale. This news comes after a conversation between directors of OASF and OAFC who agreed that announcing this news was in the best interests of the fans. We thank Abdallah for releasing this statement. We have communicated to the club our desire to only look forward from this point focusing on our goal of achieving the best deal for Oldham Athletic.
Neither Abdallah, OASF or the fans are in the position that we had hoped for when he took over at the club in 2018. We can’t alter what has happened over this period but we sincerely hope that the encouraging new dialogue between directors of OASF and OAFC will continue and we can work together to broker the best deal for the football club. There is still time for Mr Lemsagams legacy at the club to be looked back on with a sense of pride and positivity, if we all move forward with this in mind.
This announcement by no means brings this chapter to an end, there are still plenty of potential pitfalls and hard work ahead. We intend to continue with what we see as our “firm but fair” approach towards the club and with that in mind and looking forward to the planned protest on Saturday ahead of the Orient game, we would once again like to call for all fans to behave in a peaceful, dignified and lawful way when expressing their feelings about or towards the owners of the football club.
We have demonstrated that a direct, principled stand can be effective but only if it is done appropriately and with an accordingly level of respect. Please remember that Mr Lemsagm, the directors and all the staff at OAFC are human beings with private lives, families and feelings, therefore we strongly condemn any behaviour that is potentially harmful, intimidating or threatening. Of course we encourage you to express your thoughts, feelings and emotions honestly, but we implore you to do so with a level of decorum that shows us off to the rest of the football world in the best light at all times.
The results of our recent survey were clear; there is no support for Mr Lemsagms ownership to continue and that revenue generated by fans next season would be insufficient to run the football club. However, it is apparent that there is still a desire among many in the fan base to support the team in the fight to avoid the disastrous, but very realistic prospect of relegation out of the EFL.
We have expressed to the club that we see no more than six months from now as an appropriate period of time for the sale to be completed and we will offer them all our support to ensure suitable investors are found and put in place. Should this deadline not be met for reasons we believe were avoidable and OAFC start next season under the current ownership, we will endorse the wishes of our members and undertake the appropriate action.
With regards to this season, our stance has not changed; we believe that you are free to choose if you wish to attend the matches, be that home or away. All that we ask is that if you do, you sing your hearts out and back the players like our EFL survival depends on it.