“Former Everton and Manchester City star Joe Royle had been in the job for just a few weeks shy of five years, maintaining Oldham Athletic’s place in English football’s second tier without previously threatening to end their 64-year exile from the First Division. By the end of the 1986/87 season though, the Latics were pushing hard for one of the two automatic promotion places having become more adept at turning defeats into victories, primarily through a much tighter defence than in previous campaigns. Their chief rivals were Portsmouth – managed by Royle’s former Everton team mate and World Cup winner Alan Ball – and the soon-to-be Robert Maxwell-bankrolled Derby County.” Football Pink (Video)