In January 2018, a Moroccan former agent took over the running of a League One football club: Abdallah Lemsagam became the majority shareholder of Oldham Athletic.

This takeover was long in the making. Former chairman Simon Corney tried to sell the club for many years. He was honest about being unable to fund the club in a sustainable manner and fans had begun to grow tired of stagnation during his tenure. In August 2017, Corney revealed that a “businessman from Dubai called Abdallah” was undertaking due diligence at the club, with a view to taking on ownership of Oldham Athletic. It was deemed that Lemsagam was the “right person” to take the League One outfit forward. It was Corney’s vision for the club that investment from a new owner would allow the side to achieve a top-six finish in League One and potentially move up to the next level.

The Significance of Investment

To really appreciate the significance of this takeover to the fans, a broader look back at the last 15 years is needed. Some Oldham fans would pinpoint the downturn of The Latics as Mark Hughes’ dramatic late equaliser in the 1994 FA Cup semi-final, but this link is tenuous to say the least as it ignores the major financial mismanagements of the club over this time period. A more relevant time to begin this story is with the takeover of the club in 2004. To those less familiar with the plight of Oldham Athletic, it may still seem a stretch to consider events 15 years old to still be relevant, but it is essential to consider this for context.

Having been under the ownership of Chris Moore since 2001, the club were placed into administration in 2003 and bought by “The Three Amigos” (Simon Corney, Simon Blitz and Danny Gazal) in early 2004. Oldham were saved from the death with hours to spare. A few difficult years were to follow but once finances stabilised and real investment came, the club managed to reach the League One playoffs in 2007. This is an achievement that hasn’t been repeated since.

In 2010, two of the Three Amigos left the club due to personal and economic reasons. With Blitz and Gazal gone, Simon Corney was left in charge of the club as owner and chairman. At the time, Corney said: “We are also talking to potential investors, but they have to be the right people to take the club forward. What we don’t want is a short-term fix.”

Investment never came.

The club went on to secure themselves a place somewhere between mid-table obscurity and relegation scrap in League One for the next seven years. The only real success came in FA Cup giant-killings and a period of stability and promise under Lee Johnson’s management between 2013 and 2015.

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The last few years of the Corney-era were dominated by off-the-field issues. First, it was the attempted signing of then convicted rapist Ched Evans (who has since been acquitted of these charges), then a very poor manager, then HMRC bills were reported to have been paid late. It felt like the club was at a real low point.

Having avoided relegation during the 2016/17 season, it eventually came to light that the club was to be sold at the start of the 2017/18 season. Following months of due diligence and EFL checks, this takeover was approved to the overall delight of fans in January 2018. Though some rumours of Mr Lemsagam’s credibility were beginning the circle, there was a general feeling of optimism. This feeling is perhaps best summarised by an extract from Dave Stringer’s blog:

“For his [Dave’s son’s] whole life Oldham Athletic have played in the same division.  Most of it in the bottom half of that division. He’s attended a single play-off season and numerous relegation scrape seasons.  But never a promotion or relegation.  Yet we seem to love it.  The disappointment, frustration and occasional moments of unparalleled joy.

“It’s a club that needs new ownership.  The existing man either doesn’t have the funds to bankroll the club or the will to do it.  And for the last few months a Dubai based Moroccan businessman has been in talks about taking it over.

“Today an announcement that subject to dotting a few I and crossing a few T bits of paperwork the takeover is nearly done.

“Although nobody seems to know how wealthy Mr Abdallah is he seems to offer new hope to long suffering Oldham Athletic supporters.  Perhaps a decade of glory lies ahead.  And I really hope it does.”

A new hope had arrived at Boundary Park.

The Lemsagam Era

Lemsagam’s first act as the new owner was to secure the return of the three fan favourite players: Jack Byrne, Kean Bryan and Eoin Doyle. Though it has since been reported that this significantly increased the club’s expenditure, it won favour with the fans who felt hope under the guidance of Richie Wellens. Despite this investment, though, Lemsagam’s tenure as owner got off to the worst possible start as the club was relegated to League Two following a 2-2 draw with Northampton on the last day of the 2017/18 season.

The financial situation of the club looked to be perilous over the summer of 2018, a report in the national media showed that the finances were in a precarious state. £500,000 was spent by Mr Lemsagam and the annual wage bill almost doubled. This has since been followed by a statement:

“[Mr Lemsagam] will continue to invest whenever it is needed but our ultimate goal is to run the club in a responsible and sustainable manner.”

The reported issues under the ownership of Mr Lemsagam have not been entirely financial. Indeed, some could argue that the finances of the club are perhaps in a less precarious state than when he took over as a result of financial restructuring. Other issues have stemmed from the reported mistreatment of staff. Former players in Ousmane Fane, Craig Davies, Jack Byrne and Anthony Gerrard have all left the club in unusual circumstances following disciplinary actions. This continues to this day, with contracted players Chris O’Grady and Giles Coke missing from training and the list of squad numbers. More recently, George Edmundson and Jose Baxter have hinted that “political” issues prevail at the club.

There have previously also been reports of late wage payments, though this issue now appears to be dealt with. Mr Lemsagam has blamed these financial issues on the previous owners, which is likely to hold truth; it is known that Mr Corney took several loans out during his time at the club. Trust Oldham have reported that the club’s finances appear to be improved.

The reported mistreatment of staff isn’t limited to the playing staff. In April 2018 it was announced that Academy Boss and fan-favourite Tony Philliskirk had been suspended by the club. He has since been appointed Head Coach of Burnley’s U18s team. It is understood that Philliskirk, along with several other former employees, have taken the club to a tribunal for unfair dismissal, Breach of Contract, Redundancy, Working Time Regulations and unlawful deductions from wages. It has also been reported that the club has not been paying the staff’s pensions:

Nothing is ever clear

Lemsagam has been a somewhat mysterious character since his arrival at Boundary Park. People have been unsure of his wealth, where the money is coming from and, indeed, what may be his motives for buying a third-tier English football team. He has previously spoken of his intentions to be transparent and this was instilled as an expectation of Trust Oldham in their capacity as 3% shareholders of Oldham Athletic.

However, a lack of transparency has remained. The club filed its accounts late and without a profit/loss report. The club were also late in presenting these to Trust Oldham as they are obliged to do. Though on paper there appears to be a significant improvement in the club finances, the accounts are unabridged and so conclusions are difficult to make. It is believed some of this money is from writing off the cost of the North Stand when it was transferred to Brassbank Ltd (the leaseholder of the stadium).

Once again, it isn’t just finances that have been unclear. The contractual status of many players, such as the aforementioned O’Grady and Coke, have not been revealed to fans. Nor has it been revealed to fans (via official club channels) that the capacity of the stadium has been reduced.

What do we know about Lemsagam?

The best reference we have of Mr Lemsagam is an article in France Football from April 2019. The article referred to him as “Marco”, the name he gave himself working as an agent on the continent. It was revealed that he had made his money via the transfer of some of Europe’s heavyweight players such as Juninho, Ze Roberto, Lassana Diarra, Ismail Bangoura and Alvaro Negredo. An extract from the article describes him:

“…….as a danger or crook, Abdallah Lemsagam knows how to place himself, he is sneaky. He is Intelligent, multilingual and an effective dealmaker and has made a name for himself in the Middle East”

Other references to Lemsagam have come from former players most damning of which was the string of tweets from former striker Craig Davies, where he stated:

“With all the good at the club I wish it well in an unclear future because I can honestly say in the 14 years I’ve been a professional footballer I’ve never worked for someone that thinks it’s acceptable to treat his staff and players in such a bad way

“This will have an effect on the mood of the club, not just the playing staff but the office staff too.

“I wish the club, not the owner, nothing but good fortune for the season and the future.”

The ongoing feud with the “Fan led Group”

It was revealed over the summer that a group of fans, otherwise known as the FLG or “Fan Led Group”, were in the process of purchasing Boundary Park from the current owners, Brassbank Ltd. Brassbank is a company run by two of the “Three Amigos”; Simon Blitz and Danny Gazal. Lemsagam did not take kindly to this news and the club has been suspicious of the group in question.

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As the group took over management of the Oldham Event Centre – the hospitality facilities in the stadium’s North Stand – the club decided it wouldn’t work with the FLG. The club has instead moved hospitality facilities to other areas of the stadium, under the control of local hospitality provider “Quirky Catering Company”.

The club claims that the FLG have made use of the North Stand facilities difficult due to “unreasonable commercial terms”. The group responded by claiming the increase in cost of use of the facilities was to cover rising food costs and the rise in the minimum wage. They have maintained that there is the ability for negotiation around the type of package the club want, as outlined in an open letter from FLG representative Paul Whitehead.

The club have since responded to Mr Whitehead with a letter leaked to social media by a previously inactive twitter account (under the name “John”). Mr Whitehead has claimed much of the information in the letter to be inaccurate.

An uncertain future

With such animosity at Boundary park, fans now fear for the future of the club. There is a disconnect between the club and its fans which has led to a significant reduction in home attendances; the first home game of the season was attended by 900 fewer home fans than the equivalent fixture last season.

There are now serious talks of protesting Abdallah Lemsagam and his brother Mohammed. Many fans consider the two to have ruined their football club. These frustrations spilt out after falling to a 3-0 defeat away to Bradford City when fans began chanting “we want Abdallah out”.

For some, the Fan Led Group provides hope of a brighter future. Others feel there is no hope. It is currently rather tough to support Oldham Athletic and fans are finding it increasingly difficult to get behind an owner they don’t trust and behind a club they no longer recognise. The club’s traditional message of “keep the faith” has begun to fade away.

It is certain that rapid positive change is needed at the football club but whether that will come under the guidance of the Lemsagams is unclear. Many consider it unlikely.

Hope is needed. Within the hearts of many Latics fans very little hope remains.

Words by Chris Stinger, D3D4’s Oldham Athletic correspondent. Thanks go to Steve Shipman for his assistance in compiling this information.