Oldham Athletic fans' groups demand to meet owners amid protests

Abdallah Lemsagam took control of Oldham in January 2018

Two supporters' groups, including 3% shareholders Oldham Athletic Supporters Federation, have called for a meeting with the Latics' owners and board amid fan unrest at the state of the club.

In a statement, the Push the Boundary group and OASF have clarified the meeting must be with one or both owner brothers Abdallah and Mohamed Lemsagam.

The groups say communication from the owners has been "insufficient".

A deadline of Tuesday, 31 August has been set for the owners to respond.

"Given the trajectory of our club under the custodianship of Mr Abdallah and Mohamed Lemsagam, it is now up to them to openly discuss the very serious concerns of the fans directly," the joint statement reads.

"We legitimately fear that the next phase for the football club is likely to be administration and relegation from the EFL, for the first time in our history.

"As fans, we can not allow this to happen unchallenged and must insist that if you cannot immediately demonstrate a sufficient plan of action, that you must officially put the football club up for sale with immediate effect."

Fans have protested against the ownership by entering the pitch at the end of the past two home matches, and threw tennis balls and a flare onto the pitch at the EFL Cup tie with Accrington, calling for change at the struggling club.

Oldham have been owned by the Lemsagam family since January 2018, when the takeover from Simon Corney was finally completed.

Since that time, the Latics have been relegated to League Two - albeit they were already in danger at the takeover point - and are bottom of the English Football League, while over the past three-and-a-half years there has also been late payment of salaries and threats of player strikes plus the threat of administration, which was eventually avoided.

Boss Keith Curle is sympathetic to supporters but is focused on trying to turn Oldham's fortunes around.

"We don't change our mindset, we are here to play football," Curle told BBC Radio Manchester. "I don't want to get involved in the feelings of anger and disappointment. I can't change that.

"I've had a few supporters message us and wishing us well and that is what we're about.

"Every supporter will want their bit of face time with the owners and that's understandable."