Oldham and Scunthorpe stare down drop after 188 straight years as league clubs

If you want a relatively straightforward summary of what teams who suffer relegation from the Football League are up against, then just cast your eye over the National League table.

A study of the top half shows a division awash with former EFL stalwarts, all battling for relevancy.

Nine of the current top 12 were once upon a time League One and League Two regulars, including the likes of Wrexham, Chesterfield and Grimsby Town.

Plenty drop down; not many come back - not in a rush, anyway.

Unless a dramatic turnaround in form occurs in the next few weeks, Oldham Athletic and Scunthorpe United risk being added to the aforementioned list.

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Relegation would bring an end to 116 uninterrupted years of League football for the Latics, 72 for the Iron, a combined total of 188 years of proud history. Cloths would have to be cut and despite the obvious pull of both clubs in the National League, there are no guaranteed return tickets to the EFL.

Oldham's myriad of off-field issues have been much discussed, and all more or less stem from Abdallah Lemsagam's purchase of the club in 2018.

A team that were one of the Premier League's founding members back in 1992 now stands on the edge of a previously unthinkable drop.

Steve Shipman, of fans' group Push The Boundary, says a feeling of discontent has long set in at Boundary Park.

"You name it, it's happened," he told Mirror Football.

"We've had the owner here for over four years and in that time there's been 10 managers, rumours of interference, fan protests, unpaid wages, winding-up petitions.

"The culmination of all that is, of course, results on the pitch.

"There's a general malaise and people have fallen out of love with the club - because of him (Lemsagam)."

Whilst the ownership issue rumbles on, the club's on-pitch future is approaching its end game.

Oldham are two points from safety with 13 games left to play. The recent re-appointment of John Sheridan (who has surely set some kind of record after being hired as manager for the six separate occasion) has seen results pick up slightly but a tough battle remains to keep the club's heads above water.

It could be worse for Oldham - they could be in Scunthorpe's shoes.

The Iron's situation is far more perilous. The Lincolnshire side sit rock-bottom, nine shy of safety and with no games in hand to use up.

Matt Blanchard, of the Iron Bru podcast, is a regular at Glanford Park and says the current situation is a culmination of a failed shot at a Championship return - a division they spent three of four seasons in, from 2007 to 2011.

Scunthorpe lost out to Rotherham in the League One semi-finals as recently as 2018, when a side containing Ivan Toney were narrowly denied a place in the Wembley final.

"Since that defeat to Rotherham it has been a rapid, embarrassing slide to the bottom," admits Blanchard.

"The fans are pointing the finger at the chairman (Peter Swann) and there is a resigned acceptance to relegation.

"He (Swann) had a good go at getting the club promoted to the Championship but the spending it required.. it wasn't sustainable.

"Ultimately the writing has been on the wall for the last three seasons and it has been a long and drawn out humiliation that sadly shows no signs of letting up."

Despite both clubs edging ever closer to the relegation trapdoor, there is a contrasting viewpoint from both supporters with regards a potential escape.

Blanchard appears resigned to the drop - "We seem unable to arrest the slide.

"I firmly believe we will be nearer to the National League trap door than pushing for a swift return next time around."

As for Shipman, he believes Sheridan's latest return has at least given them hope.

"The place is still a circus," he adds. "But it feels as if we've got an acceptable ring-master."