Celebrating 130 years - 'Beginnings' 1895-1900

Oldham Athletic Celebrating 130 years – A series of Articles by Paul Prendergast

‘Beginnings’

1895-1900

In 1895, when Pine Villa were formed, it can be said the new club was rather late to the Football Party. The Football League had been formed 7 years earlier and Lancashire was already well represented with clubs such as Blackburn Rovers formed in 1875 and Bolton Wanderers the year before. By 1895, Preston North End had won two of the fledgling First Division Titles. The FA Cup had been a mainstay of Association Football since the 1871-72 season and whilst initially the competition had been dominated by the old Public Schoolboys network, by the time Pine Villa came into existence, Blackburn Rovers had won 5 FA Cups and Preston North End had also won the coveted trophy too.

Yet, all new clubs must start somewhere, and records show that Pine Villa’s first game was a 4-0 win against Booth Hill Albion on November 16^th, 1895, at Hudson Fold. However, after a stunning start to existence, in a style that was to become all too familiar, the team didn’t win any of their next 5 games! The first season from November 1895 – March 1896 was made up entirely of friendly matches. The first records of a Pine Villa goalscorer(s) were from a 3-1 win against Robin Hill in January 1896 with G. Bullough, Clayton and Goddard on target.

The 1896-97 season was another one of friendlies for Pine Villa – although there were considerably more (19) fixtures between October 1896 and March 1897. Only 12 games had been played in the inaugural season. Home games were now played at Berry’s Field. There are conflicting records of where Berry’s Field actually was. Details from 1926 show that this pitch was probably the grassed area between the Rifle Range and Broadway. However, Beckett (1995) offers that the location was closer to Burnley Lane end of Garforth Street.

At the start of the 1897-98 season, Pine Villa accepted an invitation to join Division Two of the Oldham Junior League – and their first season of competitive football saw them pipping Greenacres lads to the Championship. The club was on the move again before the start of the 1898-99 season, moving to the Shiloh Ground which was located on land that was to be later occupied by the Elk Mill, and now the site of the Retail Park of the same name. Villa’s season in the First Division of the Oldham Junior League was another resounding success with the team finishing second – this time it was last season’s rivals Greenacres Lads gaining the upper hand in the title race.

Before the 1899-1900 season there were big changes afoot. First, the club accepted an invitation to join the Manchester Alliance. Then, around the same time, a suggestion had been made to make use of the now defunct Oldham County’s ‘Athletic’ Grounds at Sheepfoot Lane, meaning it made sense to change the name of the club to Oldham Athletic – although the red and white striped shirts of Pine Villa would remain.

The men who made it all possible – creating Oldham Athletic in 1899

Oldham Athletic’s first recorded game was a friendly on Saturday 2^nd September 1899 against ‘Berry’s Blacking Works’ Reserves (a team of Shoe Blackers from Manchester). Athletic’s outside left, Hernan, scored the only goal of the game, therefore becoming Oldham Athletic’s first ever goal scorer. A crowd of over 1,000 people attended the game, and many were unsure whether the club could be sustained – particularly after the demise of Oldham County. Others thought the new club had a chance of lasting out the decade! It seems the famous ‘optimism’ of Latics fans has roots going back right to the very beginning! A week later, on Saturday 9^th September 1899, Athletic kicked off their Manchester Alliance season with a 4-2 win over Nook Rovers at the Athletic Grounds. Another successful season ensued, securing 3^rd Place and reaching the final of the Manchester Alliance Cup, losing to Failsworth Springfield 3-1 in the final at Brewery Lane, Newton Heath.

Overall, the club’s first five years, although successful, with two promotions and a cup final appearance, there was also a lot of upheaval with name changes and moving grounds several times. However, it could not be denied that the Oldham Public were beginning to buy into the concept of having its own club in the form of Oldham Athletic.

To be continued…

In the next instalment, I will look at the period between 1900-1910 which sees more promotions and the club appointing its first Full Time Manager in David Ashworth – the man who oversaw entry into the Football League.

Part Two – Oldham wants League Football!

Coming soon…

References

Dykes. G (1988). Oldham Athletic: Complete Record 1899-1988. Breedon Sports Books

Dykes. G. (2012). Oldham Athletic 1895-1915. SoccerData

Beckett. Stewart, W. (1995) Pine Villa and Oldham Athletic: A 100 Year Journey. Stewart W. Beckett

Wikipedia Contributors (2025). List of FA Cup Finals . [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_FA_Cup_finals&action=history [Accessed 21 Jul. 2025].

Wikipedia Contributors (2025). List of FA Cup Finals . [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_football_champions [Accessed 21 Jul. 2025].