Oldham Athletic ran through 10 managers under one owner and left the Football League

In April 2022 Oldham Athletic's defeat by Salford City confirmed relegation to the National League, ending 116 years in the Football League. BBC Radio Manchester reported that Oldham became the first former Premier League club to drop out of league football. Fans stormed the pitch in protest against owner Abdallah Lemsagam with 14 minutes left, the referee took the players off, and the remaining minutes were played behind closed doors.

Since Lemsagam arrived in January 2018 the club had had 10 managers. Richie Wellens, the manager when he arrived, said managers were not given time and that recruitment and selection came under pressure from above, including from the club's sporting director, Lemsagam's brother Mo. Paul Scholes lasted 31 days, Laurent Banide left after 11 games and Harry Kewell was sacked after seven months. Wellens said that in one January window he heard that a player he had never heard of had been signed, and two days later that player was in his first team.

Off the pitch the club fought over the ownership of Boundary Park and its North Stand with its former owners, with unpaid rent and safety concerns leading to the stand being closed and reopened. A pandemic-era dispute over wages and a strained relationship with former player David Wheater added to the turmoil. In December 2021 three fans were banned for promoting their dislike of the club, one calling it a "dictatorship", and the bans were overturned two days later after an outcry. Lemsagam said in January 2022 he would be willing to sell, four months after saying he would not.

Relegation to the National League in April 2022, ending 116 years in the Football League.

The owner and his brother, the sporting director, were widely reported to interfere in recruitment and team selection.

Ten managers in about four and a half years meant no stable plan, according to former manager Wellens.

Fans were alienated by the protests and the bans, and a supporters' federation director said the owner stopped listening to advice.

A long-running dispute over the stadium and North Stand drained attention and money from the football side.

Constant managerial turnover and owner interference in selection destroy the stability results depend on, and then the fans leave too.

The club said it was devastated and that its immediate aim was to return to the EFL, with John Sheridan in his sixth spell as manager. Barry Owen, an advisor to the board, said Oldham could not operate in the National League as it had in the EFL and had to cut costs, including by not using all four sides of the ground. The club had not been sold when the BBC published. Oldham had not finished in the top half of a division since 2009.