The local lad who was a successful striker, then went away and became a midfielder, is back at his boyhood club and raring to go
When Mark Allott signed from Chesterfield for John Sheridan's men in July 2007, he didn't need any directions to Boundary Park: he came up through the youth ranks and made more than 150 appearances for the Latics in his first spell at the club.
The Ashton-born lad had originally come through the Latics youth system as a striker, scoring within 10 minutes of making his debut as a sub against Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers in December 1996 and topped the scoring charts for two successive seasons before being made available for transfer in late 2001.
He went on loan to Chesterfield and the deal was made permanent in February 2002. Allott moved back into midfield and went on to become Player Of The Year and the club captain. But after making close to 250 appearances for the Spireites, he moved back to Oldham in summer 2007, when the Saltergate club were relegated to the bottom tier.
Allott made his second debut for his boyhood club in August 2007 and was a fixture in Sheridan’s side for the remainder of the campaign.