I watched Oldham Athletic secure promotion glory – they can could easily emulate Wrexham & Stockport County in League Two | OneFootball

Oldham Athletic are back in the EFL for next season and the Latics will believe they can push for promotion next season.

Oldham Athletic are the only team to have played in the Premier League as well as in non-league but, next season, the Latics will be returning to what the club and their supporters will believe is their rightful place in the EFL.

Oldham went into the National League play-offs on the back of an underwhelming fifth-placed finish in the fifth-tier of English football but, when it came to the crunch, their experienced squad, led by experienced manager Micky Mellon, blasted their way through the play-offs, before a dramatic victory over Southend United in the final.

The Latics hammered FC Halifax Town by four goals to nil at Boundary Park, before producing an impressive performance to defeat a York City side who had amassed 96 points during the 46-game regular season by three goals to nil in Yorkshire.

In the final, Oldham leaned on that experience to come against Southend to take the game into extra-time, and then come from behind in extra-time thanks to second-half strikes from James Norwood and Kian Harratt.

As they now begin what will no doubt be a busy summer transfer window, Oldham will believe they have what it takes to emulate several teams from recent seasons by challenging for back-to-back promotions into League One.

Oldham’s EFL-like setup

As well as manager Mellon and the likes of Norwood and Harratt, Oldham boast a squad chock full of EFL pedigree, with the other goalscorer from their final victory against Southend, Joe Garner, another seasoned EFL striker.

At the back, they possess former Tranmere Rovers and Northampton Town centre-back Manny Monthe, as well as Mark Kitching and Charlie Raglan, whilst talent is littered throughout the squad higher up the pitch, such as captain Tom Conlon, Jake Caprice, former Accrington Stanley man Joe Pritchard and Northern Ireland international Corry Evans among the other standout names.

I expect that Mellon and Oldham will be fully aware that the squad needs to be built upon and owner Frank Rothwell is likely to have to fund a few signings over the summer to ensure that Oldham don’t just ensure they preserve EFL status but also once again kick on.

It is a club that, in my opinion, belong in the EFL and perhaps belong a little bit higher than being simply a League Two also-ran, but the squad that they possess is already well set to challenge next season.

Emulating the likes of Stockport and Wrexham

Stockport County and Wrexham are perhaps the best examples of clubs going up from the National League and immediately challenging for promotion in League Two, but several other clubs have done it too, with last season’s National League title winners Chesterfield reaching the play-offs in the fourth-tier this season.

The difference between Oldham and those sides would be their actual performance level in the National League, with all three producing remarkable campaigns in the top level of non-league football.

Chesterfield won the title by late-March, whilst amassing 94 points, before Wrexham smashed the all-time National League points tally, earning 111 points a year later.

However, I believe that Oldham, whilst not at the heights of those sides, are capable of more than holding their own in League Two – and their league finish in the National League was underwhelming for a reason.

That reason being that, with the manager they have and the squad at his disposal, Oldham were expected to do better, and it could well have been, as they managed just three victories in 16 games before a final day victory against Ebbsfleet United.

That poor run of form at the end of the season can be put down to a variety of factors, with one that I would suggest being a lack of motivation, with the vast majority of players perhaps believing that they are at a level below where they should be, but being paid well for it.

I think that argument can be supported by the fact that, when it came down to crunch time, Oldham’s experienced players but in their best, most assured and dominant performances of the season.

That state of being too comfortable cannot exist in League Two and the excitement at potentially propelling themselves forward, using the momentum that they now have, to emulate recent newly-promoted sides of the recent past is one that should mark them out as legitimate contenders next season.