Oldham Athletic relegated from Football League
Match against Salford City was abandoned after crowd pitch invasion and protest
Last updated 25th Apr 2022
Oldham Athletic have been relegated from the football league - a team that were once in the Premier League.
The Latics 115-year stay in the Football League came to a chaotic end at Boundary Park.
A 79th-minute pitch invasion by protesting Latics fans initially halted proceedings with Salford leading 2-1 and the club's relegation rivals Stevenage and Barrow both leading in their fixtures.
Both sets of players were escorted off the field by referee Bobby Madley, with the last of the protestors then not leaving the pitch for almost an hour.
After an initial announcement over the tannoy that the game had been abandoned, the EFL later insisted it must restart, which it did at 6.28pm behind closed doors.
Salford City co-owner Gary Neville was at the game and was among many to tweet the protest:
The final 11 minutes plus stoppage time produced little further goalmouth action, meaning the result remained at 2-1.
Oldham, who had issues with pitch invasions earlier in the season, are now likely to face severe punishment from the FA and the EFL.
Earlier, furious fans chanted "We want our club back" and "We're not going anywhere" as stewards struggled to maintain order.
A confirmed fourth straight loss also means Oldham are the first former Premier League side to drop out of the league.
Salford, meanwhile, remain on the fringe of the play-off picture.
Neither club issued any further reaction to the awful scenes after the game was finally completed at 6.43pm, but the EFL did release a statement explaining the decision to restart the game.
A spokesperson said on the EFL Communications' Twitter account: "This afternoon's Sky Bet League Two fixture between Oldham Athletic and Salford City has been concluded behind closed doors.
"The remaining 14 minutes played resulted in a final scoreline of Oldham Athletic 1 Salford City 2 and as a result Oldham Athletic have been relegated from League Two.
"Despite the earlier announcement of the abandonment of the fixture, after discussions with both clubs, match officials, and stadium security it was agreed the match could be concluded today.
"The decision was taken in order to maintain the integrity of the competition given the importance of the fixture at both ends of the League Two table."
The Latics were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but were relegated two years later and have seen a steady decline - ending up in League Two since 2018/2019.